Volvo Penta Drive
 

Friend of mine is looking at a Sutphen with a Volvo Penta drive and wants to know what would be involved in swapping it for an Alpha, transom cutout, etc. anyone have any experience...thanks: Matt

Re: Volvo Penta Drive
 

I'd stay with the Volvo, its stronger then a Alpha. Yea you would have to redo the transom then recut you hole for the alpha gimbal ring, not worth it to change to an alpha???!!!

Re: Volvo Penta Drive
 

I'll second that. :D

Re: Volvo Penta Drive
 

yep . . what they said, stick with the Volvo. what model drive does it have?

Re: Volvo Penta Drive
 

I got a Volvo drive on my Checkmate. My friend did the boat with a Volvo 502 with a Dp drive go figure. I wish it had a Bravo like every one else. I figure I will keep it until it blows up. But to tell the truth so far its working great. I did paint it black and removed the decals though. Looks much better.

Russ

Re: Volvo Penta Drive
 

Volvo drive is much better equipment......switching to an alpha would be making an even trade of a Mercedes to a Mercury. :eek:

Re: Volvo Penta Drive
 

Stick with the Volvo! My AQ250 (1970 Donzi) has 35 years of hard running and wave jumping and has never been rebuilt! These drives are bulletproof!

Re: Volvo Penta Drive
 

What they said.... Stick with the Volvo

Re: Volvo Penta Drive
 

No, you don't! :D

Volvo makes one tough drive! Fobes, what model volvo is it?

Re: Volvo Penta Drive
 

I've run 5 years/250 hours with 600 hp through DP-X drives in a 12,000 lb boat. Oil changes only. The Swedes are very good.

Re: Volvo Penta Drive
 

I wish I had volvos!!!!

Don't do the switch!!

What everybody else just said... PLUS: The smoothest shifting I/O in the business. Your friend will be the new docking champion of the world.

Re: Volvo Penta Drive
 

Glad to here I'm not alone. Now what do we do for performance props?

Russ

Re: Volvo Penta Drive
 

I've had both, and currently have a Volvo. One more vote to keep the Volvo drive.

Re: Volvo Penta Drive
 

I bought my boat with a volvo and just repowered the motor and drive with a volvo....not the norm here on OSO but I have heard very good things about volvo.

Re: Volvo Penta Drive
 

uhhh . . . actually maybe you shoud change 'em. . . .tell ya what . .. i'll trade ya my alphas for your Volvos :D :D :D

Re: Volvo Penta Drive
 

Vipers are decent, Turbo, and if you get a Flo-torque II hub for your drive you can run all the Merc hi-perf props. :evilb:

And boy do they shift smooth!!! :D

Re: Volvo Penta Drive
 

even the old 280's didn't earn the nick name" rockcrusher" for nothing.

Re: Volvo Penta Drive
 

No boat I have the Dual prop drive.

Re: Volvo Penta Drive
 

Ahhhh, yeah that's a different story. But in stock applications those props HOOK UP! Only problem is when you start modifying/changing the motor/hp/rpm.

What boat do you have?

Re: Volvo Penta Drive
 

I have a 25 Checkmate Convincer. Pictures are posted in the Checkmate section on this site. The experts say the drive with slow a boat down. I have a stock 502 (415hp) and so far saw 73.1 on gps only turning 4600 rpm. I need to turn more rpms. But dont know if I can get my props reworked or get new ones. If I get the RPMS right and maybe build some more HP to gain some more speed I have another problem. External streeing? Does and one make a set up for the Volvos?

Russ

Re: Volvo Penta Drive
 

What model drive? If its a DP-S, there is a huge range of "F" series stainless props and gear ratios. The gearcase shape is quite good as well. Don't know about external steering, though....

Re: Volvo Penta Drive
 

Russ seach the thread archives... there used to be a build your own hydraulic steering thread..... also you might want to talk to fred and trick and get a standard setup.... then have the drive wings machined to fit or something....

Ernie

Re: Volvo Penta Drive
 

I agree but the problem is if you're already running F9s and you add power(at the same rpm) then you have to re-gear. And that stinks when you could have just used a bigger prop(s) if they made one.

I haven't found anything for external steering. I already had a helm and I picked up a ram, transom mount and wing plate bolt for mine. I'm just gonna do some measuring and have my local fab shop make my wingplate.

Re: Volvo Penta Drive
 

Yep - F9's is as far as they go out of the box (and carry a lot of pitch). I had Chad Hill re-work a set of E4's for me a few years ago. They weren't particularly pretty (or consistent from blade to blade), but they DID have more pitch. Since then, I've heard that General Propellor in Sarasota has done some good Volvo tweaking. What gear ratio do you have right now? I have some Volvo connections, and might be able to help you out with parts.

Powerwise, I'd consider the DP-S to be as strong as most Bravos, but more sensitive to mistakes when re-entering the water. With all that blade area (and bite) you can't be too far off.

Re: Volvo Penta Drive
 

C-spray I am running an SX drive but a friend has the same boat I do with the DPS and running F9s.

I think the both the SX and the DPS are stronger than the Bravo.

And I agree about the blade area biting hard but man do they seem to be tough. My friend beat the piss out of his DPS in Lake Michigan for years and it never gave him a bit of problems.

Re: Volvo Penta Drive
 

You don't WANT to know what I've done to DP-X's.... :eek:

Re: Volvo Penta Drive
 

My Sutphen's had a Volvo 290 for 15 years. Dead-reliable and shifts like butter! I bought an AQ311 Volvo/Penta package from Dipietro-Kay in CT, featuring a small block 350 Chevy with about 330 horsepwer with riser exhuasts. Slapped on a Bob's nose cone and a custom Hill prop for speed near 70mph. Only problem is props are hard to find, but someone mentioned there may be adapaters for Merc style props? Good luck!

Re: Volvo Penta Drive
 

C Spray- Could you give me some more info on the E4's you ran? Drive ratio, speed, etc. Thanks- Toolz

Re: Volvo Penta Drive
 

No adaptors that I know of for the 17-spline Volvo shaft. Probably because the Volvo AQ shaft is too fat; however, Solas has recently come out with a line of three-blade high-performance props specifically designed for the older Aquamatic (AQ250 - AQ290) drive. These props are not yet shown on their website, but they are available. Testing on an 18 Donzi with a built 351C / Volvo-Penta AQ290 with a Hydromotive nose cone (a must) showed that the Solas outperformed both the Hill and the NLA Volvo Ultra prop.

Go to http://www.donzi.net and search on Solas for more info.

Toolz - I run DPX-A drives (E2 and 1.59:1 gears, 72mph) in my Magnum 27 Sport with small blocks and have a couple of sets of brand new E4 props for cheap if you need them.

Re: Volvo Penta Drive
 

Toolz - I had 2" of pitch added to the E4's, which brought them up to about 31.5". With 600 hp and a 1.59:1 DPX-R drive, I saw 92 mph at 5300 rpm, which works out to about 8% slip. I have since switched to a 1.47:1 DPX-A drive, and use stock E4's now. I still have the props after General Propellor cleaned them up if you're interested in them. I keep the tweaked E4's as spares, but also have a set of stock E4 spares as well, so I'll make you a good deal. Somewhere, I even have the specification sheets that came with them from General.

Re: Volvo Penta Drive
 

I had an AQ311 in my 18 Donzi too...She ran 58-60 mph.
I purchased a new prop shaft from Eddie Marine shop. The prop shaft had merc type splines so I could run all merc props. The next year I installed a 383ci small block, the boat ran 66-68 mph. That fall, I switched the lower unit to an old race lower unit called an E:Drive. With the same engine I picked up 8-10 mph and ran 76-78 mph. The E:drive lower units have not been made since the eary 80s and you can't get parts. The next year I installed an Arneson and she ran 80.
And haven't looked back...

The old Volvo 270,280,290's are great strong drives, but they do not work well over 55mph. They have way too much drag. A Bravo would be 3-4 mph faster.
An Alpha would just break, don't do it.
There are two ways to switch from a Volvo to a Merc.
1) Glass in the transom and cut a new hole.
2) Purchase a Merc adapter. The adapter bolts up to the Volvo outdrive holes in the transom and has new smaller holes in the adapter for you to bolt up the Merc drive.

Re: Volvo Penta Drive
 

C Spray- Thanks for the info- that's what I needed to know. Working from your figures, I should end up in the mid to upper 70's, about where I want to be. I will be testing the E4's next week, and if they aren't enough, I may be interested in your worked ones. I was tuning and breaking in my new motor this morning using the C4's- what a joke! Made my 27 Fountain act like a ski boat. Thanks again- Toolz