Cuda: I like your boat but prefer the curved windshield boats and the wife has a different color scheme in mind. The KAAMA drives are probably great...though I can see my mechanic looking at them and saying "WTF I can't work on those!"

245: The 311 does look interesting, but I'd prefer a boat without TRS drives that is stock. I've read that the TRS drives are tough but parts might become scare over the next couple of years.

Even though I haven't bought a boat I have to think about resale down the line...buyers seem to want original boats.

The boat in GA does have 454 mags. I'm not sure what kind of props are on the boat.

The owner says that Lake Lanier in GA is very low and doesn't seem to want to do a lake test. I think that would be a deal killer for me. I understand his concern but at the same time I'd like to see the boat float. The surveyor is going to look at the boat sometime next week. I told him that if it wasn't in excellent condition not to survey the boat and I'd pay him for his time to drive down there. I think the boat has been sitting for a while now, current owner has lost interest. The trailer is a 1996 model and hasn't been on the road in ten years. The owner is going to have it checked out and serviced at his expensive...might require lots of work (tires, bearings, brakes, lights etc.) which could torpedo the deal as well if the owner balks at the investment required to get it on the road.

Nice Chuck. Same colors as mine! My wife is in love with our new 292. I don't know what that means, but I like it!

It seems your thinking clearly. Outlaw is right on the props. With the heavy ass-end you'll definitely need 4-blades. I tried ours last weekend with 3-blades and it was dolphin city.

Some frown upon the Palm Beach colors. I say if your going to drive a classic, why not have the classic colors?

GRIZ

The Kamaa drives are suprisingly easy to work on. All the internal parts are available over the counter. I've had zero problems with my drives.

As far as Trs, they get a bum rap. The transmissions are the weak link in them. I have a Trs in Deb's Donzi. I had the transmission rebuilt, put an extra clutch plate in, and had the drive shaft splines clearanced. It should be good to 600 hp or so.

Galen at Speedmasters has been doing drives for a long, long, time. He was telling me about all these aftermarket drives, that are basically still Bravo's and still break often. He said some of them had taken the shiftabilitly out of the drive, and installed a transmission. He said once you do that, what do you have? A Trs! I ran my 302 by his shop just for him to see, and he couldn't believe how good of condition it was still in.

If you are bent on a 311, I think Russ's is a steal. As a matter of fact, when he put it on the market, I told him he was killing me running down the price of my similar sized boat.

Good luck on your search.

The trs's have been good to us,very reliable,I am just amazed at what people want for stock boats and we have one with thousands un updates and little interest,I know the first person that comes and actually sees and rides/drives it will take it home,just a matter of getting someone here to see it.

True,My friend upgraded trannies,I am not sure if he put that in his ad,He has had NO problems with them at all,the boat at one point had aluminum heads and prob made around 600 hp each with no problems running a best top speed of 80 on gps and average top speed of 77-78 gps.
I know the market sucks for selling boats right now,I just cannot believe what people want for some of them in totally stock form!

Re: TRS drives. Yeah I think they do get a bad rap...but at the same time I think that buyers avoid them.

Re: Modified boats/engines. The same thing is true with Porsches...I learned that lesson the hard way with two cars that I tweaked. I think it is rare for sellers to recover big investments in modifications.

That's because perception IS reality when selling something.

As for the second part, not only do you not recoup your money, you generally will get less for a tampered with engine.

Not really a matter of tampered engines,most boats out there have newer/replaced engines,they are not stock 330 or 420;s either,how many formulas have hp500's or more in a affordable price range?
I kn ow you will never get near what is invested,I have had many race cars and boats so I know how it goes,I just see alot of 292/311's in a 30-45,000 price range that are all stock,I realize some people want a untouched stocker but someone who wants a fast reliable boat is going to buy a stock boat with 330 hp's and see it run 62-64 mph and then want more,well more mph in a older formula costs lots to do,the boat my friend is selling will take just the right person who knows what the mods cost that were done and say,I can save alot of money buying a boat that is done!! This boat has alot more that just the engines done,the mods are expensive and very nice.
I wish I were in the market for the boat,I can get it cheap being a good friend but I guess it is time for a child,I was told baby before new boat!!

My father (years ago) bought a boat that we thought we thoroughly checked out (on a hose because we couldn't get the boat off the trailer because the tide was too low) and the first day we had that baby out the motor let go. To make matters worse, I watched on of the tandem trailer wheel and tires roll past us in the truck as we pulled into our street! What a nightmare!

Chuck, my 292 should be ready for a test ride after the 4th... No excuses...

Surveyor took a quick look at this boat today....described as a nice boat but not exactly what I'm looking for...I passed on having a full survey done.