Sounds like you got a good plan there. When doing power and drivetrain upgrades, do it step by step. Many have done stuff all at once, shorties, boxes, tabs, prob labbing and more power. Then when something dosen't work or add up, it's difficult to go back and see what was the reason.

Let's see some pic's during the project.

I am a contractor and engineer by profession so the planning comes naturally.

I have a good Nikon D80 and enjoy keeping records of before and after so I'll be posting plenty of pics.

If I could do it the way I wanted to I would pull the engines and completely re paint and re rig everything now but I'm going to put a reliable package together now to get on the water as soon as I can.

I will do the real clean up job when I pull the engines to R & R the drives.

I appreciate all of the suggestions and advice.

Any time.:ernaehrung004:

Looking forward to see the pics.

Get the bolsters! I have an '87 242 and added a set of bolsters out of an 00 311 and its the best thing I've done to my boat, other than upgrade the power and drives... Either way Formula bolsters are hard to come buy, bravo drives are not! Get those bolsters!

OK...after a year here is where I am....Got the Bolsters !!! The donor boat was a '90 model 292 Formula SR-1 with McLeod drop-out bolsters. I have all the hardware, new cables and actuator buttons and had new stainless button escucheons made since McLeod didn't have any of the originals. They are going too be a great addition to the boat.

Got new power...2: 365 horse 435 ft lb torque 355 Vortec Rollers. (numbers are per dyno). Just picked up a pair of DUI Marine Distributors from the Swap Shop. Still engineering what I will do with the exhaust...so I'm open. i am leaning towards Holley 650 Double Pumpers for the carbs...I have used them before and I like the mechanical secondaries. The intakes are Edelbrock/Volvo Performers brass lined aluminum.

I am just ready to pull the trigger on Bravo Transom Assemblies and have choices in the new~near new category of Bravo Standard Gimbal housing or HP for near the same money. Question...in this boat with this power is there any advantage to the HP assembly? As the boating budget allows over the next few weeks/months the next move will be to the Bravo I drives and the raw water pump set up with brackets and belts etc.

I would be further along but the steel trailer that came with the boat dissolved a little more every time I dipped it..... so after having a few wheels pass me by and sucking up the seat covers every time I towed the boat....I went to Willie at All American and got a new 10,500 dual torsion axle aluminum and said good bye to trailer anxiety along with several thousand dollars.

I need guidance on the Bravo Gimbal choice because I am real close on that deal.

Meanwhile...pulling the old 260's and No 1 drives and gimbals....updating the rigging and freshening the bilge.

Pics to follow soon...I promise.:evilb:

Bravo's now? What happen to the alpha 2's?

My brother and I are looking at a powerless 38' Top Gun around the corner so we are making future plans....

This ought to be good

The way I look at it is once I get into the Bravo equipment ...I am in and have few restrictions for moving that equipment to a larger boat with more power. The $ value of a 30+ year old boat doesn't go up much more based on what money and equipment is in it...it's still a 30+ year old boat. If I have strong power and drives it is esy to move to a larger different boat.

Say I find an older 38' Top Gun w/o power and drives and I make a move. I pull the drives, gimbals and rigging and move it over. As for the hot small blocks...they are universal and move fairly easily. In this market, big blocks are everywhere and can be had at a reasonable cost. When these Poker Run boys pull their original factory motors on a 2 year old boat for an upgrade, they don't really care what they get for the take out...as long as they get something. I have seen 502 takeouts advertised on the OSO Swap Shop for less than $10K for a pair of drop ins.

So what to do with a 255 Formula Liberator? Re-cap it as a center console open fisherman...hang a pair of 250 horse outboards on brackets and you have a great off shore fishing platform....same thing as a 233 but better.:evilb:

This all came to me once I started looking at boating as a long term hobby instead of quick fix kind of thing.

Got a pair of 2008 Bravo Gimbals coming from boatman22 in Texas next week...God I love this forum!!:evilb: