nova 26' vs 261 liberator??
 

Hello, and thanks for all of the great info.... I'm new to performance boating, but not new to powerboating. I recently sold a 32 ft sea ray and am looking to replace it with a wellcraft nova or a four winns liberator. Twins are my ONLY necessisity. Any info anyone can provide regarding these two brands of boats is greatly appreciated. All of the novas I've seen have twin small block chevys, but I also found a liberator with twin 460s and king cobra drives. Would small blocks w/ alpha drives be better?? I've heard parts are impossible to find for the omc drives??? Also, I'm curious which is a better hull? I've also heard there are a few different nova hulls? Any expertise regarding all of these things would be GREAT!!!! I boat Lk St Clair, the Detroit River and Lake Erie.

Any input from anyone w/ knowledge would be great.. Also, is it possible to COMPLETELY SWAP the drive assembly?? For exp, if I bought the libby w/ twin 460's and king cobras, could I put bravos in when i fuel inject her and add the stroker kits?? My plan is a fuel injected and supercharged boat, under 28 ft, w/ twins.

Thanks much for any advice/ knowledge

My cousin has a 26 Nova. Its a nice boat but with twin 350 alphas but it only rus around 50-55. Switching to bravos from king cobras is gonna cost you more than you paid for the boat probably. Unless your dead set on these boats you might wanna look at something a little newer. You`ll probably come out cheaper in the long run. Theres a guy advertising here and on seriousoffshore that has a really nice 29 scarab at a great price.

The liberator is a decent boat but the Ford engines and Cobra drives will cost too much to keep up. There are not many aftermarket parts for these so you're at the mercy of BRP or Volvo for parts, if even available. Repowering with BB Chevys and Bravos would be nice but you're better off looking for something with Bravos in it already. I've never been too crazy about Wellcrafts, as far as quality goes anyhow. Also not too fast, like someone said maybe a used Scarab, much better than the Novas.

So basically don't waste the money yet.... I am an automotive mechanic, so engine modification is ABSOLUTE in whatever I get... I'm afraid of the alpha drives.... I do not like 'tow in's' which is why twins are mandatory for me. I just figured if those boats went 55-60 in stock trim, I could EASILLY pull 150-200 more ponies out of chevy 350's. Corvette fuel inj would be the first mod... Can the alphas be built to handle 400-500 horsepower reliably??

I had a 24 Liberator with a 460 and OMC Cobra drive. The drives will need upgrades. Stock, they can't handle the HP of the big block ( mine couldn't anyway ) My first season with the boat I popped gears in the drive 3 times before beefing it up. I never had the problem again.

I dont know how to post a link to the classifides but look under Scarab. Hes asking 39K on the ad but hes looking for offers. Theres also an older 30 Scarb panther in there for 17K. I think you`ld be better of with an older Scarab or Formula as a strarting point. They can be found cheap. The Nova and the Four Winns are basicly big runabouts.

Yep....Check out a Panther...Much better starting point