Panther

A few pics.... One of the board memebers in Ohio owns her now...pretty sure she's still running around!

Rookie

iTrader: (4)

Great looking boat I have seen pics before! Might be interested in the nosecones, but I need to finish the new power, hydraulic steering and see where I am at. The coolness factor of nosecones are nice, but at the expense of the lowers I might reconsider. I need these TRS's to live a while. I have stashed away a couple sets of gears from e-bay. I had a friend with an '86 Top Gun (heavy boat) with 750HP w/ 4 blades and that was not friendly to the TRS's if he missed the throttle. 1 a summer.

Curious? How did you like your Panther, I know its not = to your Apache but for a 29' 6"' entry level offshore boat. I really like mine but not to much to compare to, I run with allot of 28's Sabers, Panteras and 29 Powerquests. I think I hold my own.

TOASTY

dont use k-cleavers for stern lift use a can cleaver for that boat, i run the can cleaver in flat races and the boat turns like a stepped super v loose and flat...

Panther

Sabers and Panteras are a much more solid boat and comfortable riding boat.

The Panther was a production boat, Welcraft pumped them out back in the 80's. The hull/deck weren't glassed together and no bulkheads up the side of the boat. The hull/deck is bolted together with #10 screws if I remember.... They flex a lot in rough water and not the best riding boat I've been on.

When I owned the boat I separated the hull and deck and 5200 the whole thing and glassed on the inside anywhere that I could get to. I put in bulkheads behind the dashboard, up near the v-berth and tied the firewall in the engine room to the side of the boat. This helped a lot with flex but there were times in some heavy seas that I really felt that boat flex a lot.

On the flip side.... I owned the boat for a number of years and it was pretty good to me. Not many mechanical problems and it served its purpose. If I lived on a lake or bay I would have kept the boat. Having the Atlantic in our backyard I needed something bigger that was safe and comfortable for me and my passengers.

Rookie

iTrader: (4)

It is no Saber you are right. I am doing the 5200 to the deck and hull this winter, seperated mine also. Lake Michigan is where I am all the time and it takes a beating. Thanks for the info on the bulkheads and glassing other places. Mine has treated me great with no complaint. I they are a great intermediate boat if you are just getting into the offshore boating. You can pick up Panther relatively inexpensively.

Back to the original topic: TRS TIPS AND TRICKS.
1. Good throttling
2. Royal Purple (IMO)
3. HP to Weight ratio
4. Apparently NO nosecones (see Panthers sexperience above)
5. Mainteneance (change your oil, also take off you top cap and take a peek)
6. 3 blade Props

US MUSL

I have run nothing but 4 blades since getting this boat restored and very pleased with the results: 72mph at 5200 and 47mph at 3700 with Hydro 25, 70 mph at 5000 rpm and 48 mph at 3700 with Hydro 26, and my final choice being a Bravo 24 with 69 mph at 5000 RPM and 51 mph at 3700.

The Bravo prop has been quick to plane without any blow-out and has an excellent mid range cruise: 45 mph @ 3350 RPM, my cruising speed 95% of the time.

Lucas gear oil every 50 hours.

White Knuckles

Hey US, what kind of tranny you got?

flashhat

First time user here.
I just picked up a extra set of trs. drives gimbles and BW trans. I will use everything but the Trans. So have a set of trans. available.
Question, Have never removed the gimbles, can this be done
without removing anything from inside of boat?
The replacment gimbles need new studs, how do you replace studs?

By the way: Boat is 1983 Scarab III, came with cleavers and was impossible to get on plane in big waves. Put on 4 blade hydro's and boat ran way better.

Thanks,

Chris Sunkin

I've come to the conclusion that the best TRS mod is the Konrad.

I was trying to convince myself this was just a second boat and I didn't want to go overboard. Having missed 2 seasons with a stalled boat project, the thought of missing a 3rd due to a broken drive and searching for NLA parts in the end was just un-appealing. Especially considering the decent boating season up here is about 90 days and half of those weekends it's raining.

Plus, now I can mount the blowers on the motors and still sleep soundly.

Thanks all for the input!

Panther

I think that's the best thing to do also!

I often wish I got a TRS boat cheap and put some Konrads on!

However, I don't agree that the Konrad is the answer for a bravo. TRS to Konrad is the way to go, it's what it's designed for!