Re-rig/ Conversion pics from Pulse Drive to Bravo
 

Here are a few pics that I thought you guys might want to see. It is a 32' Envision that had a twin Pulse Drive with ZF transmissions and Young Performance Marine 650 EFI's. The boat is now being coverted to Bravo's. It's not complete, but well on the way. I will post more pics as it progresses. Enjoy, Eddie.

Before pics:

More before and during pics:

During pics:

A few more pics:

Holes cut, transom completed and bilge painted, finally!!!

Looks good. Prop shafts looks like they are going to be burried. Whats the X?

Nice! . . . i love these kinda threads. What was the reason for dropping the PulseDrives? I am considering one for a single screw project i have.

Keep the pics coming.

I would have loved to have the drives a little higher, but do to the rear seat/ hatch design, I can't. It has what Envision calls XS seating. It is a U shaped rear seat that really invades the engine compartment and causes hatch clearance issues. That is why the boat got rigged with the Pulse Drive in the first place. Envision said that twin Bravo's could not be done with this seating arrangement.
I got the X from Envision. Due to hatch clearance, I had to go 2 1/2" below Envision's recommendation. We will run a 2" IMCO shorty, so we will only be 1/2" lower than Envision's preferred height. I'm sure the X could have been raised above what the factory said, but we just don't have the hatch clearance.
Eddie

I read the entire thread you had going on Sean H's boat about a month ago. I had read over 10 pages before I realized the thread was that old. Still made for some great reading. I learned a few things and laughed my a$$ off.
The Pulse Drive is a really nice piece. Their props aren't much. We had some adapters made to go from their square drive to a Merc spline so we could run any prop, not just what Pulse Drive had. That really made all the difference in the world when I went to a 5 blade Merc cleaver. The boat just has too much natural stern lift for a surface drive. It has some huge strakes, and really got loose in the back end over 75 mph. I know of at least 4 other guys who run a Pulse Drive on older Cigs and love them. They seem to work real well on older, heavier conventional bottom boats. However, I knew a guy who had a single on a 21' Seebold. Very small, very light boat. It had some pretty big power and was a rocket. The guy swore by the Pulse Drive. Thought it was the best thing since sliced bread. What are you thinking about putting it on?

Eddie

Cool project!:D
Dean

:D . . yea that was a fun thread, it pops up from time to time. Was it Tom Lang that had it on the 21? cant really disclose much about the project right now but it probably wont see much actual water use, it is for the SEMA show and a tour after that. We were looking at the Pulse drive because of the visual impact on this perticular boat but i think it would work really well to.

I'm not sure of the guy's name. This was down in La. quite a few years ago.
I think the drive looks pretty cool. If they could do something a little better with the rudders it would help. The newer drives are actually quite a bit more streamlined looking. They have done a lot with the platforms to help the asthetics. I think the singles look really good, especially on a smaller boat.

So when patching you dont rebuild the whole transom? I thought you had to. I might be going down that road and was really concerned.

Great job.

I was just thinking the same thing! wouldnt there be too much stress on that square that was patched in the hole from the drive stress?

What you are looking at is only the first layer of plywood. There are 2 more layers that went over that. That was put in that way to be able to fill the outside. I did not want to cut the outside of the transom and mess up the original glass and gelcoat. You just fill the outside and make it flush with what is already there. The inside then got 2 full layers of plywood with glass in between each layer and then over the top of the last layer. All layers of plywood are 90* to each other to prevent any flexing. It is probably stronger than it was, because the holes you see in the first pictures were open. They were there for the transmission to pass through the transom. Now the transom is solid and has the gimble tying it all together.
It is also almost a 1/2" thicker than it was. You guys are right, just patching a transom with a small piece of wood would not be sufficient in my opinion.

Eddie

I'm glad I talked you out of just stuffing the holes with newspapers soaked in Elmers glue!

:evilb: :D

It certainly would have been cheaper!!!
I just didn't have the spare time to do a structural analysis of the newpaper vs. the Elmers. It would have been affected to much by the gravitational pull of magnetic north, not to mention the angle of the dangle. Of course, everyone knows that is directly proportional to the mass of the meat.:evilb:
Greg,
It's coming along nicely. I'm very pleased with it so far and I think you will be also.

Eddie

Good bye roost

No doubt. That drive threw an absolutely insane rooster tail. It was every bit of 30 feet high and over 100 feet long if you would really get on the trim. That is one thing I will miss.
Eddie

You're starting to sound like your Brother John!

if you haven't ordered the 2'' shortie they make 3'' which might work better with a B1 prop. higher you go less bow lift. my baja had to much bow lift went with a 2'' shortie its great.

The owner supplied a pair of XR uppers, so the 2" shortie is all that will fit. You have to use the IMCO upper in order to use the 3" shortie. I have actually made a 3" shortie work on an XR before. It took a lot of cutting and making a few plates to close up the holes. I don't really want to do it again as it was not easy or quick to do.
Thanks for the reply, Eddie.

Sorry to get off topic for a second... but, can I assume that your problem is still unresolved? What are you planning?

Honestly not sure yet. I love your boat and especially the performance, but like th cuddy and rough water handling of my Pantera. Always open to suggestions and really appreciate your info and concern.

Thank you,

Kirk

sorry about the post hijack!!

So your larger panels are larger than the holes?

Just trying to learn. I'm a gear head, not a fibeerglass guy...yet!!!

Repair looks spectacular!

I have the opposite problem. Inner strakes run all the way back to the transom. Too much stern lift for a surface drive setup on an Envision hull. I will end up 1/2" below spec on a hull that really needs bow lift, so I'm not concerned with being a little deep.

Yes, I will miss the nice rooster tail, along with a few other features. The overall performance enhancements of the bravo's should make for a better boating experience.

Let the outdrive carnage begin! :D:D

That's a big 10-4!!!

Pantera28
The patch panel that you see was only put in place to cover the existing hole so we could lay glass on the outside of the boat to fill in the hole. Once the glass is built up on the outside, it is faired in with the rest of the transom and gelcoated. On the inside, we removed the inner layer of glass and all but the outer layer of plywood across the entire transom. We then glass in more plywood and fiberglass to build the transom back up to just over 2" thick. You don't want to remove all of the wood or disturb the outer layer of fiberglass. You would never be able to blend in the glass if you cut out the entire transom. The outer layer of glass should always stay intact. You remove as much of the inside glass and wood as possible and build it back up. The picture shows just the first step. I didn't take any pictures of the rest of the wood and glass until it was painted. I just got into it and forgot. I really wish I would have since it would have been easier to describe with more pics.
Thanks, Eddie.

hehe . . . :D . . . never heard that term.



That is going to be a bomber transom layed up like that. looks great an keep the pics coming:cool-smiley-011:

I definetely think the transom will outlive us all. It is very strong. It needs to be with all that Young Performance power in it.:D:D:D

Frequency-
Looks great. Where are you going to start for props?

I will probably start with some B1 32's. That should give me an idea of what it will want. Plus, I have a set sitting here.:D

Hi twanger - I was going to say a set of 30's, but who am I to argue? :D

Nice. Thanks for the pics. Cool project. I've seen this boat on Clinton Lake. Are you going to relocate the sea strainers or can you access the tops from under the back seat?

. . . In case of nuclear attack . . . climb in bilge . . . :D


I dont know why it never occurred to me to run the grain on a 0-90 bias. Great idea!

Plywood is criss-crossed under the veneer anyway I thought. If you were to go at 45* there might be an advantage if you could find a big enough sheet

Are you saying the old transom was thin and you added extra plywood over top the old?

Sure looks like it was patched, faired an glassed over to me, rather than just as a plug for glassing the outside.

They patched layer 1, and glassed in two more layers of plywood over that for a total of 3 layers. Many transoms are only two layers of plywood in the first place.

Should be plenty strong

Half an inch deeper should actually help lift the bow, as long as the prop is dialed in correctly.

I dunno, just seems strange... Then why drill the holes for the tramsom assembly when you have two more layers of plywood to add? PLus, the glass work only goes out to the outter stringers, instead of the full width of the boat.

Maybe pictures of the whole project would have been usefull to show the stages but the pics posted sure do look like it was patched and the thickness once the transom is cut out appears to be about two inches, so the old transom must have been REALLY thin...not a boat I'd want to buy to begin with.

Not trying to start anything here but the extra pictures would have been really helpful.

On mine, pictured above, we cut out the hole for the transom assy before we glassed the wood in so that we could use c-clamps as well as various jacks and boards, makes sure that everything is bonded immediately around the assy. They may have used the bolt holes for the same purpose