Hello Formula crowd!
 

Just want to introduce myself to the Formula crowd here on OSO, have been asking some questions already in the General Q/A forum.

I'm living in Kuwait but actually i'm german.
I got my '83 233 Formula about 2 years ago and enjoyed it so far even so she isn't the nicest one and has gone through a lot in her life, seen the 2nd Gulf War in Kuwait a.s.o.
The boat is in Kuwait since '86.

It was modified by a previous owner with water tanks to create waves for wake boarding, skiing.
I removed them already and did some other minor work on her (restored the cabin doors etc.)

She is equipped with a 260HP SB carb engine and pre Alpha drive. Before i got her the drive blow up 2 times but since two years all is good. Doing all the necessary maintanance by myself, changed the exhaust manifolds and risers last year.

A month ago i got a complete '95/'96 7,4 LX MPI Bravo 3 ,330 HP at the propeller, package out of an Sea Ray which was converted to outboard.
The guys here don't like i/o engines due to lack of knowledged and experienced mechanics.

I'm going through the engine currently, dismantled it to see if anything has to be done, further i will try to get some more power out of it- i was reading alot here and already know about the difficulties of programming the MEFI system and of the limitations of the piston, crank and heads.
Planning to get a stainless marine manifold/ riser and diverter kit plus a mild cam and some porting on the heads.
(currently is the stock hydraulik flat tappet)
any advice whom to approach for a complete package (cam, hydraulic rollers and mefi adaptation)?
without reversion

here some photos:

http://img36.imageshack.us/img36/5601/snb12508.jpg
http://img205.imageshack.us/img205/7559/snb16771.jpg

was never happy with the arch and the bimini top, was inspired by this photo (just as a quick paint rendering):
http://img843.imageshack.us/img843/3392/0405081325a.jpg

and based on that i got this idea: (rear can be folded forward for trolling, skiing a.s.o., send her next week to the workshop:
http://img31.imageshack.us/img31/847...woutrigger.jpg

folded away:
http://img560.imageshack.us/img560/3886/archnew2.jpg

by end of summer the 7,4 engine should go in, together with the Bravo

Welcome to the board!

Welcome to the board. You will find just about every thing you want to know here.

The 454/Bravo swap into the 233 will be sweet. Feel free to ask any specific questions you may have.

What area do you run her in...Persian Gulf?

This is very cool having someone in that area to communicate with.

thx, sure i will!
you can refer to the sea as arabian gulf or persian gulf, but persia as a country is not existing any more so i would say its the iranian or arabian gulf depending of where you are at the shore...and kuwait will be arabian gulf.
there are some nice islands you can go or also some fishing on the reefs.

thursday after work i removed the arch and bimini top and dropped her of yesterday morning at the mercruiser dealer to remove the old drive and engine since i found a buyer for it.
when the engine is out the boat will go to another workshop where they ll do the new arch and top:

yes and this is how it looks like when its dusty:
http://img266.imageshack.us/img266/6566/snb12737.jpg

this is how the arch/ top will look like, roughly:
http://img69.imageshack.us/img69/1885/snb12735.jpg

Some news, the drive and engine is removed. i was a bit scared that the transom might be wet but luckily all safe and sound
http://th3.bilder-hochladen.tv/7JZ36zUQ.jpghttp://th3.bilder-hochladen.tv/X2I0cW6t.jpg
just a bit wet cuz they washed the bildge, you can still see the water inside on the 2nd pic.

fuerther i bought a nice windlass which will go in as well
http://th3.bilder-hochladen.tv/FJnVA36T.jpg

then i send the heads to the machine shop for surfacing and cleaned the valves yesterday
heads when they came back
http://th3.bilder-hochladen.tv/B1snUWoI.jpg

valves before
http://th3.bilder-hochladen.tv/La23854U.jpg

and after
http://th3.bilder-hochladen.tv/SbhPoCqn.jpg

today i want to clean the ports of the heads a bit and check the valve seats a.s.o.
the only problem i have is the parts supply, the local dealer has almost nothing available, 5 valve stem seals, 1 injector seal kit thats it......to order it will take more than a month!

also found this pic in the net:
http://th3.bilder-hochladen.tv/Cs60FpiK.jpg
for me looks quite nice, i think i will do the bow rail in the same way.

Awesome.........cool thread!

Here is the progress of the day,
the nose is gone and the door of the anchor compartment is closed
http://th3.bilder-hochladen.tv/ECtWbBKS.jpg

the nose:
http://th3.bilder-hochladen.tv/41gtT5hw.jpghttp://th3.bilder-hochladen.tv/Gw5Mjc6y.jpg
bow rail will be done like on the yellow one on my previous post

she looks much better now:
http://th3.bilder-hochladen.tv/NMw365xj.jpg

i couldn't resist to paint the valve covers in mercury racing blue since it will get me 2 or 3 extra mph per cylinder bank...
http://th3.bilder-hochladen.tv/TnweS5a3.jpg

further i started the work on the ports but not too much progress yet, maybe by tomorrow.

some news, almost finished the first head, cleaned up the valve area in the combustion chamber and on the bowl infront of the valves.
Will not put more efforts into it since they are ovl port heads, maybe it will get me a lil bit who knows....

before:
http://th3.bilder-hochladen.tv/MQwaxbB1.jpg

after:
http://th3.bilder-hochladen.tv/IgyuK9q7.jpg
i'll just do a little more cleaning inside the combustion chamber thats it, i think there is not much more possible...

Out of curiosity...what are your fuel prices there?

ultra super 98 octane is 33 dollar cent per liter
super 95 octane 21 dollar cent per liter

nice....