Offshoreonly.com - Formula 233

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I’m new here so I can’t post links until I get 10 posts. That said, after years of fishing and owning fishing boats I’ve recently caught the go fast bug and purchased a 1976 Formula 233. Boat is all original to include the old 351w / OMC electric shift outdrive. Took it out in a small craft advisory yesterday and the formula hull performed as advertised. One thing became apparent almost immediately...I need more power! I will post some links to running video once I get a few more posts.

Nice old school boat with a pedigree, and well done for wearing sun protection and a life jacket in less than perfect conditions. :)
Congrats, enjoy the new toy.

RR

Id be nervous about putting any additional power to that generation of OMC outdrive. Do your research on parts availability and power holding capacity for that model.

Probably best to leave it alone and enjoy it. It hurts me to say that..I modify almost everything...lol

Quote:

Originally Posted by SS496 (Post 4688705)

Yeah I’ll enjoy it for now...when it’s time for new power it’ll get a new drive to go with it and redo the transom. The funny thing was I was nervous about something going wrong as this was the first time out in this boat. I bought it from an older gentleman who never got it running so best guess it hadn’t been run in 10 years. Hence the wetsuits and portable VHF and life jackets! The old electric shift worked perfectly after I rebuilt it. Very smooth as there are no shift cables. Ended up towing in a newer model parker that was having issues with new controls 😂😂😂 go figure.

Cool boat ! Back in the day my friend had a 19 footer with the 225hp package and the same drive. We ran that thing hard . cruising , extensive skiing and wave jumping at every opportunity and the drive was virtually trouble free . I'm not a fan of the engine mounting system on them though but it's all part of the design.
One thing though about the outdrive , there should be a button under the throttle/shift lever that you need to engage to be able to shift from N to either F or R . If you accidentally shift too quickly out of gear and don't let the button lock/pause in N and hit F or R before everything has settled down a bit it damages the shift springs in the lower and you'll loose either F or R depending on which way you were going when the accidental shift occurred . Been there , and luckily it happened near to the dock !

Quote:

Originally Posted by madbouyz (Post 4688873)

Funny you should talk about the old electric shift that way. Seems most are quick to label it “the devil drive” or to say it was a complete POS. There are certain parameters that you must stay within i.e. 650 rpm or below for shifting, making sure the ground is good from the lower unit and the lower has good oil. The drive is more maintenance intensive than newer models however if one has a good understanding of how it works the drive is a capable unit. I am familiar with the button your mentioned but I don’t have that model control.....the one I have has the switch incorporated so when the throttle is moved forward it energizes the forward coil. Interesting piece of engineering for sure!

Looking back I'd say it was a pretty cool piece of engineering for its day. It was probably the lowest maintenance unit ever. It had no bellows to worry about and to remove it you only had to disconnect the electric shift line and undo (was it ?) 4 bolts and there was no engine alignment hassles. But don't forget to carry spare shear pins for the prop !
Back then there was a guy here who had a heavy 24 footer running a 300hp engine and he also had no problems with his unit . Unfortunately they aint the most hydrodynamic units around but I guess we can't have it all !