Mid-90's 34 PC "sleeper"
 

Howdy ya'll,
I love things that look boring to the rest of the world but aren't...Holden Monaro/ Pontiac GTO, Fiat 500 Abarth, an old Cobalt bow rider with a big block and a Berkeley jet drive. You get the picture.
Bumped into an F-34 PC today that is cosmetically and structurally decent but engines are in pieces. The boat is currently set up with Merc 7.4's and Bravo 3 drives. Got to thinkin' and took a look in person. Google says this arrangement is good for 35-38 kts. I don't care about all the bells and whistles or I would put her on a very strict diet and purge the genset, A/C, fridge, icemaker, etc. but some of those I cruise with like these features and such things do make extended stays on the islands more pleasant. Any ideas about what to do with this set up? Can I squeeze 10 more kts out of it for a top speed near 47 kts? Maybe even more?
Feel free to say what you like and and don't be afraid to use alittle imagination. I've done sh*t that made people say I was a complete dumb *$$...until they realized it worked. :evilb:
Thanks.

A member here tried with smaller single engine pc, lots of money later, I don't think it was much if any faster.

Wouldn't LWL/amount of wetted surface have something to do with that?

Go for it man- I would love to see a 34 PC with big diesels and arnesons-

I would keep all of your weight though- you want to keep it in the water if you start wave hopping things will break quick. Look to big Magnums for inspiration.

Good point regarding the weight. If I had my way, I would be doing exactly that to a Magnum 35 or 40.

Personally I have found that 9 times out of 10 the sea state is my limiting factor, so I have focused on seakeeping improvements. When it is calm I just run the stock 454 hard.

But isn't it nice when things just happen and you don't have to run anything hard?
When I had the GTO I could accelerate from zero to 60 in about 6 seconds without pushing it too hard (0-60 times as tested were around 4.6 vs that of the C-6 Corvette at 4.5 seconds.) It was still fun and I didn't have to rag the engine out. Now try doing that in the stock Honda of your choice.
Wouldn't it be great to cruise at 35 kts without flogging the piss out of your engines? Not to mention nicer acceleration.
Flogging your engines just to get some WTO time isn't really what it's all about.
What seakeeping improvements have you made? Those make a difference, too!

BudMA,

I say go ahead and do it. I did and love every minute of our 93' 34PC.

http://i235.photobucket.com/albums/e...lge%202017.jpg
http://i235.photobucket.com/albums/e...atform%205.jpg

I love seeing peoples mouths wide open when we pull in to a marina or fire up to leave!! The thru-hulls are great. Started with 454-420 motors, worked up to just over 500HP and 500 ft/lbs, with the Bravo III's and 26P props, cruise at 3100 RPM at 27 knots, have gotten 40 knots at WOT, 1/2 fuel, no water, no gear on-board. At that speed, she is definitely dancing on the chines.

Woohoo! That is what I like to hear! LOL
I would be one of those people with my mouth hanging open in shock and awe.
How is the ride at WOT and on what kind of water do you use it?
I am on Buzzards Bay, Narragansett Bay, and around Cape Cod.

BudMA,

To answer your questions first, the ride at WOT is awesome (for me anyway) not so much for the Admiral!! We are on the Chesapeake Bay and run anywhere from the DE Bay through the C&D Canal all the way down to Solomons.

Here are 2 links, (hope they work) of the repower that we did.

http://formulaboatsforum.com/VBFORUM/showthread.php?6141-Almost-Finished-93-34PC-6-Year-Update

and another over at another forum site

Winter project: Repower for the 34PC - Speedwake 2.0

We have had the 34PC for 11 seasons now and I don't regret a single moment or a single dollar we spent on her, as she is definitely a one-of-a-kind cruiser. I get all the hot rod stuff I want out of it and she gets all the creature comforts, best of both worlds.

Perfect. That's what I'm looking for. A weekend in P-town is about like a week in Europe during the summer. Better to take the accomodations with you when ya can.

It really blows some peoples mind when they hear the open exhaust and then they ask whats in her, and they get a sight of that bilge and the power plants, they're like "WHAAAT!!", its awesome.

Had a set of 28P wheels on here at first, a bit slow to get her on plane, but man would she run at cruise and WOT! Then dropped a vlave and it bounced across and blew a whole in the head, so reworked them both again and installed new Brodix heads the second time, changed to a 26P set of props and she has been fine since. Get a nice cruise at 30 mph, pretty easy on fuel (even though she does weich in at 15k lbs). I will say the addition of the extended swim platform made the most dramatic improvement useage wise, as it gives you a whole new area for carrying a dinghy, or we strap a huge cooler out there and keep the cockpit area clear.

Why should speed and comfort be mutually exclusive?

Love what you did with it. Talk about wolf in sheep's clothing! Had any trouble with the exhaust? Did it meet expectations? Mine will have to stay in the water unless my marina will allow a lift so curious about this.

The swim platform would be handy for a dinghy especially when kept on a mooring. Not sure towing one at 40+ would be wise. LOL

The best improvement I made to run in the rough is more weight in the bow. I run with 120 lbs of sand in the anchor locker, and also keep the water tank under the front berth full most of the time. I would still like to upsize my trim tabs as I feel they are undersized in general.

Treads your boat is sweet, love seeing hot rodded PCs!

Thanks for the input beckmwi. Good info! Because I will be cruising the deep blue, perhaps carrying a larger anchor and rode as well as keeping my cantine full so I never find myself in a "Water, water everywhere..." situation are good ideas to begin with. Better performance is just a happy by product of good boater safety.
By "upsizing" trim tabs do you mean just moving to K-planes or similar? Makes sense to me. Others do it on all out performance boats for better handling. Why wouldn't it work on a high-functiining bed & breakfast?
When people put their heads together and talk about stuff while looking for positive growth areas good ideas always come out of it. That's part of what makes you guys such a valuable resource to everyone on the web!

The only way to make the thru-hull exhaust work with the molded shape of the transom/swim platform was to use a 12" drop down from the risers to get below the original platform. This put the exhaust centerline right at the waterline.

http://i235.photobucket.com/albums/e...20PC%20029.jpg
http://i235.photobucket.com/albums/e...20PC%20030.jpg

No issues or concerns with reversion with the 12" drop downs, would take a massive amount of water and a really hard backing down to even possibly fill the pipes and back them up into the motors. On the plus side, it sounds really bad ass when you are just backing into a slip, and right after putting them in reverse, the water rises a bit on the transom from the momentum, then comes back down a little and the pipes are wide open and have a real nice cracking sound to them, makes the heads on the dock turn a bit.

This build/repower has meet every expectation and then some. First couple years after the first repower I was on a lift, then after the second repower moved to a different marina and has been in a wet slip since, with no issues at all. I will typically do a short haul in mid season just to clean everything up, check zincs and what not, usually just an overnight and splash the next day.

We have a 8 foot dinghy, when loaded on the platform fits within the width of the platform. Don't even know its back there when cruising. Throw a strap around it from the center support under platform up and over to the horizontal grab bar on the transom, very easy to load, I can do it by myself.

Thanks for the kind words beckmwi.

Exhaust definitely looks good! Good to know that the set up works without any issues. Where did you find the parts? Would love to hear it. Where are you? South coast of MA here. Looked at the boat again today. Everything looks nearly perfect. Need to find someone to store the boat and do engine work in my neck of the woods. Would stroker kits be the best way to go?

Treads, since photobucket dropped the f bomb on the world... is there any way you can post up the pictures of your engine set up again or email them to me?

Sent you a PM.

Anybody know who I could get to rebuild my 7.4's?

Engines are out, drives are off...and survey says: wet stringers and transom below the water line. :mad:
If I had deeper pockets, lots more time, and a mad love interest in this boat I might convert to diesels and surface drives and do the structural work. Since I don't have any of that, my focus will probably move to either a Riva Tropicana or a Magnum 35 with doesels and ASDs, both of which are locally available...unless somebody has 2 cents they would like to give that says otherwise.

Treads PC looks so good. Think I just might have to keep mine. Looked over the survey again and got some estimates for the glass work. Think it might be something I could do myself even though I have never done anything like it before.
Anybody have any suggestions for how to get started? Videos, books, or other sources of information?

Sell it?
 

Looks like I might have to sell the PC. Got the engines out, drives off, survey was done...and then a bathroom in my 126 year old house exploded. Are the classifieds here good? Really want it to go to a good home because it's still in pretty good shape. What kind of luck do y'all think I would have if I listed it and how much could I get for it?