There was/ is a procharged 292 on here running in the 80's quite nicely if I remember (it is for sale in Florida). A blue motor 292 with 350ish prop hp per side runs high 70's. Will 800- 1000 get you in the 80's? Yes it will. Will it re sell? Who knows but a built 292 sold on Powerboat listings last year with some bigger hp carbed 383.. So anything is possible!

If I was you try to sell your boat on your own. Boattrader.com and yachtworld.com and ebay would be a good start.

Most Cobalts use Volvo Penta products as they do not have a hard time selling them new and used. My area at one time for new boat sales was 60 % Volvo to Mercruiser sales but Merc racing was always 100 % with no compitition for sales.

Also I work on both Mercruiser & Volvo's does not matter to me as I have almost as much OEM training on the Volvo side compared to Mercruiser.

Also In Jan. 2016, I taught Volvo Penta service training classes in Florida ( yes little old me) and they were Packed with Mercruiser certified techs and independent shops from all over, with that said, many techs out there will work on Volvo's including Mercruiser techs but many will not work on the 1994 and back stuff including myself.

So far, 7 people say sell it, 1 guy is on the fence with no firm opinion but he says the boat can do mid 80's with bigger power. Reminds me of a quote from Martin Crane in the sit-com "Frasier"......

He was asking Roz for advice and he said "If it sucks (the advice) I can always ignore it".

If you're hell bent on doing this, I wish you all the luck in the world. Formulas are excellent boats and if you can get yours up to the desired speed safely, you'll have an amazing boat. If boat projects had to be financially viable, nothing new would ever happen, all boats would look the same and they'd all do the same thing! Good luck and hope you start a thread "The Formula for speed."

RR

[QUOTE=phragle;4421417]I couldn't figure out where you got that from and I figured it out. Your looking up BBB stuff on a different company. The name of his company is race engines, out of green acres wa. His company name was taken and so he had to come up with something for eBay. I contacted him after you posted that questioning him and he started looking and looking on the net claiming he had no knowledge of any issues that you mentioned. Hung up thinking I can't do business with this guy, even after talking to referrals and my builder having spoken with him on several occasions to plan things out. After that call he called me back and told me he found out why and told me what I said in the first sentence. However now am spooked and trying to figure this out.

Btw, I work in the automotive realm for manufacturers. Would a parts content breakdown by country of origin for the most reliable manufacturers in the world, year after year, really surprise you? Are those bad products? China makes fine products and they make junk. Same as this country.

I have no interest or desire to fight argue or debate with you.... I tried to save you some butthurt, that is all. All I ask is that you come back and tell us how well 5 grand of fresh green zombie 500 hp runs when you lay the throttle on the dash.

I actually sent you a pm and as I look now I don't see it and or know why you didn't get it. I actually want to say thanks, and I'll just do it here. My builder and I had spoke to the guy a few times, and referrals and all seems/ed to line up. I am trying to figure out if the two companies are one in the same because I really couldn't find much on "race engines". Complaints and problems don't scare me because they will happen, it's really how they are handled and how frequent they are. I mentioned I worked for manufacturers of automobiles, no amount of care, money, engineering, or execution will kick out a perfect product every time.

Someone said something about billy bob building engines in one of the previous threads....... I've had some bad experiences with some big names, specifically with that 29 canopy boat from some big names that were involved in different aspects. I feel like while there were big names involved (again not arneson) they had employees doing the work that may or may not have led to many of the issues I've had in that build and others. My personal best experiences are the the guys with the small operation who can't afford alot of problems and who's names are on the line with every build and do stand behind problems when they inevitably happen. Guys that maybe rely on word of mouth vs advertising. In fact my stang is out getting a new heart put in 800 miles from me by a guy in a cornfield with dyno. Worth every penny to get it there and pay him to me.

If anyone has any advice I'm open, I'm definately not trying to fight, or argue. That's why I posted, and if it's criticism, let me know.

This is one of the other builders I was looking at, has a website, you tube videos, good reviews and only 45 mins from me. A bit on the higher side but maybe better to do business with a local?. http://www.ebay.com/itm/420HP-Twin-3...ZT9VnA&vxp=mtr

As others have said, my advice is to sell it as is.

After you mentioned 29 canopy and arneson I remember your thread under Force boats I was following years ago. No offense, but I am surprised after that miserable experience you are not looking for a stock, turn-key and go type of boat. Now you are talking about working with engine builders with basically unknown results in high performance marine applications, etc. Sounds like another round of potential headaches if you ask me. But hey, good luck to you! But keep in mind how positive and upbeat you were at the beginning of your Force build though...

http://www.offshoreonly.com/forums/f...ace-drive.html

I'm sensing a little bit of this........

That's the thing, it was a bad experience. I however have had many good experiences before that. I've been running stock boats with stock power and am ready to play again. To me, what I'm discussing here is so mild and I think a good first step for me. There isn't anything crazy about this.

To continue with where I'm at. I've found a few people interested in an outright purchase of the volvo stuff and one firm that wants to consign it. I very big name in the volvo world on the coast. Basically I can crate the engines and drives. They will run them, pressure check drives, etc. List them and even offer a warranty to the end consumer after they check out. He believes them to be worth 10k per side, not including props which I can sell on my own. So worse case scenario I have a very nice rigged (minus power and drive) for about 8.5k after I pay his fees on the sale. I am going to take the boat to a reputable rigger in my area tomorrow to have him take a look and get a better estimate. He comes very highly regarded Bob Shudder of.. https://www.facebook.com/Boatrepairsplus/ .. Also investigating this performance shop (local in Tennessee) http://shop.whiteperformance.com/Eng...7.htm?page=all . They have a nice 406ci marine engine.

I'll update as I go

So there are a lot of issues to address on your boat.

First off, twin 500's probably won't be enough to get you into the mid 80s. I have a 312 fastech and with 1250hp total, it runs upper 80s.

Secondly, there is no way in hell I would run a boat that fast without hydraulic steering. That is just plain unsafe.

Lastly, I agree you got a smoking deal on that boat, you are in right. I say your best back is to sell it and move on to something more equipped to do what you want.