Budget Boat Build 233 Eclipse
 

Here it is I'm going to bring this back to life for as little money as possible. It's a 1989 Wellcraft 233 Eclipse. I got it with the trailer for $1000. The cockpit interior is shot and it has no engine. It does have an Alpha 1 Gen 1 drive on it. My goal is to get a new interior, an engine and 65 mph for as little money as I can. I'm thinking small block 383.

I will take a look at your interior for you. I am in Vt. every few weeks. Feel free to give me a call at 603-520-0364.

Doug
Shorline Cover Works

looks like a good place to start, good quality boat. What motor was in it before? It will make a differance as the smaller powered boats had higher ratio drives. You want a 1:50 drive for a V8 if possible. Stroker 383 will be a good choice.

It had a 260 hp v8 so it should be a 1.5 I haven't checked it yet.

Thanks Doug but when I say little money I mean little money. I'm gonna have to do it myself.

There's a bloke on here, TomZ who built a mean 383 for his Chris Craft Stinger 222 who could give you a few tips for the build. As long as you're gentle on the up and downs, the Alpha will hold well enough to get you going.

Make sure you start shopping for a good aftermarket exhaust straight up. Don't bother with stock, you'll just want to replace it later and unless it's free, it's not worth it!

If you know the package you want for the engine, great. If not, start looking for key parts; intake, carb and exhaust. I'd run a 750 DP on a decent 383. Intake? Edelbrock Performer RPM Air-Gap. Good Cheap manifolds? harder to find for the SBC but you could get the GLMs faily easy and grab a good set of Stainless risers to fit.

I'd do the motor and wiring / plumbing first, then worry about the interior. Saves getting it dirty!

If you run an SB2 Block (roller), I have a surplus NASCAR cam sitting around you can have! I can't find the damn spec card though, it must have gone with my last boat's receipts.

Good Luck!!

I had one, same colors and all, except mine was the bowrider version(232). Mine did high 40's with a tired 260HP 350 in it, and bottom paint, so a healthy 383 should get ya in the 60's. It will be hard to do thru-hull exhaust though due to the design of the transom/swim platform. I went over the platform on mine, but if you do, make sure you run mufflers, it got downright annoying loud up that high out of the water.

Here's my latest pile I picked up for short money. I'ts a 260 v8 unfortunatly it's a two bolt main so I'm probably not going to use it for this build. The good thing is it has all the pieces starter, alternator, distributer, bell housing, coupler, brackets, ect. I also stopped by Vermont Engine service today to see if they had a good four bolt I could use and I finally got a peek at the 572 I'm building. The thing looks like a giant diamond. Merlin III block Callies crank. All new parts the thing is beautiful. If this Eclipse had a Bravo drive on it I'd throw the 572 in just for fun.

If I go through the transom I'll go just under the swim platform.

Thats what I was saying, its a tight bend to get it plumbed down there.