Formula 233 1976 280 TRS Refit
 

I just stumbled upon a Formula 233. Could not have passed up the opportunity.

1976 Formula 233 with a 280 TRS. Merctrans II.

I can't confirm 100%, but it appears that the hour meter has 224 hours on the hull. (looks original, and still functions)

The hour meter is a Susuki gauge.

A fresh water hull, from the interior of BC, Canada.

A real Gem.https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.off...c898abedc7.jpg

Hour meter on right. Looks original. 224 Hrs.

Maybe not, I just found some links on the model number or the hr meter, that I saw when posting the photo. Appears to be more recent.

This is all coming pretty fast. A lot of info.

The Hull looks amazing.https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.off...b792d2c732.jpg

https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.off...eb3dcaa181.jpg
Floor appears to have had some work done. Around the tank area only. Otherwise, the carpet glue can be seen on what may be the original glassed plywood floor?

Upholstery is redone. Has a nice boat cover, and a double cover system, that I have yet to see opened. Looks brand new, from the outside.

New aluminum fuel tank. Plumbed in. New Edelbrock carburetor, does not look like it has ran.

Crane HI-6M.

The bad....

Looks like the cover leaked water on the engine, and the intake took water into the engine. Water displaced the oil into the upper engine area. May have frozen...and had some green antifreeze come out of one of the plugs.

Engine is toast. Likely not even worth rebuilding the 350 block.

Though it does have the LT1 Rocker covers....original Mercruiser. Interesting.

The Merctrans II...the oil cooler split open. Someone tried to repair it. So the MercTrans has been open with no ATF.

Complete tear down there.

TRS looks ok. I want to use it. Will have to bone up on the drives. Rough learning curve, with no room for error. Looming for TRS tools now. May have found some upper tools local.https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.off...7a721718b1.png

TRS drive. Not as perfect as I would want it to be, but something to work with.

Re-power plans.

I like the reliability of twins. Outboards will never touch this hull, (less kicker) while I own it.

My goals... 60mph max speed medium laden. 35 mph cruise.

I think the single engine with a good kicker would be the best option here. Twins really eat up the room.

I'm thinking 383 at min, or maybe 400 small block Chev. Potentially an aftermarket 400 block.

Looking for 450-475 HP, at the 5800-6000 max RPM area.

With min 400 ftlbs at 1500 RPM.

Not sure if 475HP will push these hulls to 60mph. We'll see. Any more power, and the drive becomes a factor.

Cruise speed TBD....from wide band O2 on the fly carb tuning for max efficiency to speed factor. Prop testing etc.

The Merctrans weak link will have to be addressed. They have very low oil reserve, and are thermally weak that way.

So maybe a larger reservoir built in, and accessed through the big water cooling opening.

Either way, the 72C Borg Warner is prob a better option, but a lot of cost and pain to locate. Merctrans for now.

Though hull exhaust is a must at those power levels. Or at least NA, with the budget I'll throw at it. Exhaust manifolds, so many options. With a lot of cost. May tackle that head on with a custom shorty header system. Or maybe even headers. That may be a bridge too far at the moment. But the original cast manifolds are a pretty big downer in all respects.

https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.off...f52bc1b89d.jpg

Nice hull.

Something in the 425-450 range, 383 or so, should get you close to your goal. I had an old 4 Winns 225.... based off the 233 for the most part... and it ran in the upper 50s all day any day and a couple of low 60s. 383 flat-tappet engine.

The TRS drive will live all day long behind a small block.

A 71c or 72c would be nice. A rebuild of the MercTrans wouldn't be bad either because it would not be taxed too much at all in this scenario. You wouldn't have to change any mounting points if staying original. Just some food for thought.

Cool project!

I've never built a merc trans. I just built a 72c a few weeks ago for the shrimp boat. Easy as can be and took about 2 hours.

Yeah, I may just try to piece together a 72c conversion.

maybe if I'm lucky...a whole drive take-off with trans.

I'm pulling a 502 mag mpi converted to carb. Complete with Merctrans , transom assembly , and outdrive. Stainless Marine exhaust. $5000 gets everything. Good luck!!!

Parasail,

I appreciate that option. It sounds like a good running package.

I'm looking into a Velvet drive & TRS complete that is local.
We'll see how that goes.

I was planning on staying small block, and alum heads. Maybe even an LS, but iron block.

Time will tell.

Managed to snag a bunch of TRS parts today, and almost all of the TRS Merc Tools.

A MercTrans II tool kit.

3X RH prop shafts, one that is new.

brand new TRS bell housing in box.

Merctrans II flywheel adapter

spare TRS water intake.

a box of new Merc v-belts.

A good day out.

https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.off...2ea8dfa4ce.jpg

Getting 'er home.

Trailer axles scaled in 5777 lbs.
No fuel in tank. Complete engine and drive. 3x batts.

Tongue weight prob add 500 ish. So 6250 lbs total weight with trailer. About 1550 lbs trailer.

Puts the Hull ready to run less fuel, at 4700 lbs area.

100 gal US tank full is around 600 lbs.

5300 lbs ready to run....no people.


She needs to go on a diet....

I'm looking at some pretty big tq numbers from a big inch small block. Probably look for a max RPM of 5500. It let's the engine and drive breathe a little. As well as give a healthy RPM for some good potential cruise MPH and RPM.

The Merctrans with less low RPM tq will be better off.

The 280 TRS, that came on the boat, has a 14p prop.

My thoughts are to build for cruise efficiency, and then lay out a good foundation for a great top end.

Off the bat, with the 233, by all accounts liking speed, I thinking a 40 mph cruise is a good place to start. There will be a sweet spot for GPH, and MPG. I won't ignore those realities. I feel that the hull will perform better in the chop at 40, with some velocity to help the hull cut through.

I have a 355 with RHS Pro Torker heads that I built up a few years back, that I may throw in just to get some exposure to the hull and gather info.

Final solution would be minimum Aluminum heads, on a healthy small block, or LS. Looking for Min 450hp.

Adding weight is no problem, I'm pretty good at that. I'm thinking a 15hp kicker stored in a custom box in the bow, to start.

Post Covid project re-start!!!
 

Ended up taking some contracts during covid that pulled me away from the project.

Just getting fired up for the off season overhaul.

Was looking at a 400 SBC, but expensive to get the Dart SHP blocks up here.

Likely go 383 2pcs rear, 4 bolt. 3970010
​​
450hp in the 5600 RPM area.

Likely won't push the WOT much.

Hoping to get a high speed cruise, 38-40 mph. 21p prop, low 3xxx RPM, high vacuum. I've read that the 233 hull likes speed to perform. Makes sense, deep vee etc.

Planning for EMI Thunder lowers, and fabricating stainless risers. There is enough in the transom area to put a crossover transverse stainless muffler system. We've used these before, and they really drop off the exhaust notes, whole providing some good flow into thru hull outlets.

I'll dry flow into the cross muffler, and feed the raw water into the muffler, enabling the 106LCA cam for the 383. (Reversion reduction)

Not sure if I'll fresh water cool the lower exh manifolds. Being aluminum, that would really be the better solution. The current exchanger on the 350 is a full fresh water cooled system...including exh man.

RHS heads, RHS Pro Torker 1.94/1.5. Minor porting
Performer EPS Vortec intake
Cam with 1.6 magnum rockers. Not sure om dur or lift. Thinking 227 In ish. Looking for high lift, shorter duration HR.

4150 850 Vac Sec carb

Scat 9000 stroker crank.
Scat stroker 7/16 5.7" or 6" Rods. Not sure yet...if I want to put the wrist pin into the oil rings.
DSS Forged Pistons D Dish
9.75:1 SCR (depending on cam) Vortec chambers use max 32*, enabling some decent compression. (190 PSI cranking)

Great find! Congrats!

Love the vacuum gauge..