I am getting ready to dive into my first offshore boat.. It was originally powered (1982) with 454's borg warner trans and TRS lower units. This will be a learning experience for me so take it easy... I feel perfectly capable of taking it back to stock... (it is a bare hull) or even mildly building 454's but i was wondering....

What would i be getting into if i upgraded to 502's ?

Would i have to reglass if i switched lower units... say XR's or is there a drive out there that has a bigger transom assembly and would just require larger transom holes.?

If you were me and you haven't purchased power or lowerunits would you upgrade from stock.... or stick with TRS and borg warner and build the 454's ?

I haven't started and i don't want to get half way through and change my mind... or wish i would of.... and i ain't rich

First you are going to have to decide your budget. You can put whatever you want in it, but the money is going to decide what your options will be. Konrad makes a complete conversion for the TRS.... but like anything else that says marine on it, it is expensive. Do some research and get general ideas on a budget then you can narrow down your choices based on your budget and ask which would be better.

What kind of boat is it? Some boats like the engines forward for balance. It always seems to me that flat bottom Cigs and Formula 311's and such run better with the TRS then they do with Bravo's.

I assume from your handle that you are talking about a 38 excalibur early 80's vintage. That is a heavy boat. The trs drives can handle the load. Especailly 502's You should be able to run 500HP to 600HP without difficulty to the TRS drives. I had a cigarette mistress 35 that had TRS drives on it/ eventually I put on Konrads. The boat was fine for 100 hours with 675HP. Then I had a TRS failure. Put that is quite a few ponies and alot of hours. Get the motors done run the boat. Worst case is you have a drive problem and then you will have to make a decision.

Also as stated many of the boat ride much better with the added weight in the rear on older heavier boats. If you put Bravos in that boat, you are moving the motors back becasue there will be no transmissions and you are screwing up the balance.

Plus shiftable drives in my mind are much nicer to have. Just my 2 cents. Good luck

Thanks... Thats what i was looking for. Yes it is a 1982 38 excalibur 8' beam, notched transom, 5600 pds w/o power and drives. I tried earlier to scan the spec sheet on it but no luck. I am glad to hear good things about TRS and the more i read i will probably start with those then go with konrads. The only reason I didn say anything about konrads earlier is because i heard they were pricy. I talked with a mechanic last year and he had me worried about TRS and trannies... He said go with XR... I wanted more opinions before i started on this boat and went in the wrong direction... As far as budget goes I am willing to be patient to get the boat done if it saves me headache on the water.

There's a TON of info and opinions on here in countless different threads. Search the drive threads, excalibur threads, cig threads, general questions etc. about TRS, Bravo swaps, Konrads, and anything about older offshore hulls, etc. etc. It can be alot of reading, and can send you in different directions at times, but in the end it will help.........just my 02.

and have fun with your project !!

Run the TRS until they break or you can afford to upgrade the drives. Don't be scared, they are great drives. Plus with the transmissions it helps to be able to reach the back of the engine if you have to do anything mtce-wise.

I really wish I knew why alot of guys scare others from TRS.. they are better then people give them credit for, as far as upgrading to Conrads, why spend 25,000 on drives for a boat worth 15,000-20,000 no matter what it has! only boats I see holding value at all really that makes it worth it are Cigs even then, thats alot of money to spend on a older boat on top of everything else, I see TRS hold 600 hp all the time and parts are still out there...

I also love the transmissions of the TRS, nice and smooth!

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Compl...=p4506.c0.m245

Make him an offer.

I bought a pair of TRS's! i have will have everything but the engine's and tabs now. I will pick them up from the guy in a couple weeks.

Couple more questions.
The drives were still on a boat when i bought them and he says they are bolt on ready... is there any way i can check these out or do i need a mechanic.... (i was told they take special tools to work on...) I plan on draining the oil and looking for metal/water but I didn't know if you could tell anything from removing the plate on the upper.

Also thinking about engines.... I can find 454's everywhere... how much horsepower can you build into a Carbureted 454 (bored) and it still be reliable ...

Headed to Cumberland.. see ya there.