Help needed... Volvo DPX to Bravo conversion
 

Im looking for some help from somebody who has made the conversion from Volvo DPX's to bravos. Im considering doing this over the winter and have a million questions.

Thanks

Havent done the conversion, but I can imagine why you want to. Having extensive seat time in both Bravo driven and DPX driven 33s, if you like to run your boat hard, I think you will be disappointed with the end results of the conversion. It is a tough call with parts availability, high cost, and a limited number of competent people to work on DPXs

Yes, the lower unit gears are now obsolete so parts are going to be even more difficult to come by. Im planning to use extension boxes and shorty lowers so hopefully i wont lose any speed and minimal loss of handling. Have you driven a 33 avs with bravos and extension boxes?

Your drives at AADS, or Dominic called me about someone else looking for gear sets? I would recommend reaching out for Innovation Marine on the gear sets

I have driven a Bravo boat with boxes, but not enough seat time to say definitively good or bad. Either way, still not nearly as connected feeling as the DPXs, but again, I understand the motivation.

I have driven both set ups and worked on both set ups/ . The DPX seem more straight line plated and seem better in corners as well. If I recall I think the top end speed was the same

Yes, it was me Dom was calling on behalf of. Im needing a lower unit gear set and there are none available and have recently become obsolete. Pretty frustrating. I might have found a complete used lower but i dont want to miss another season due to somewhat minor drive issues. I will certainly be sad to lose any stability because my boat currently feels rock solid.

forgot to add the dpx set ups 4 sure had better on plane response and times compared to the Bravo s. 4 sure tracked in a straight line planted feel better than a bravo.

Bravo s did offer a bit more trim inwhich did help with top end speed for getting that last mph out of it. I do not remember the X on the bravo s.

One other thought occurred to me. Several years ago when the 1st pinion gear went bad on me, and they are the weak link, I contacted a gear manufacturer and got prices to reverse engineer and produce a few of them. Cost then, probably about 8 yrs ago, was going to be $5500.00. Might be worth a look, when considering the investment for conversion. Keep in mind you will need to do hydraulic steering system also, as you will lose the integrated system.