Excalibur owners forum?
05-07-2003, 09:13 PM
#23
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Location: charlotte Mi
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Thanks Just Once....I still have lots to clean up on my Hawk....the stripes when I bought it were an ugly gold color...had to go...may remove arch this season and see how that looks, I need to get some in the water pic's, it is a tank but the ride is great, had a 30' Scarab prior to this one what a diff. the size and weight make when it's rough....Fred
05-08-2003, 05:36 AM
#24
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I agree with you Cashbrain....I like the extra room in the boat, the 40' like mine has a 9' beam....I'll gladly give up some speed for more creature comforts.....Fred 
05-08-2003, 07:50 AM
#27
In the mid 80's, a friend of mine bought a new Excaliber 27' (it was either an '85 or '86---I can't remember) with a single big block 330hp Merc with TRS outdrive. It was a very nice boat. I think Wellcraft bought out Excaliber right around the mid '80's or so.
Just as a side note, my friend spent $2000 with a local performance engine shop to have a bigger cam installed, a 750 Holley carb and a dual plane Edelbrock intake manifold, roller rocker arms. Those parts would have worked well, but the shop performing the work did not do any port work or install larger valves to the GM oval port heads and it did NOT pick up any speed---In fact he said the boat actually went about 1-2mph slower. Back then speedos were not very reliable or accurate so who really knows? The well known speed shop that did the work didn't do anything with the oval port heads---no port work, no larger valves installed. If he would have had the headwork done he would have picked up a few MPH----especially if he would have installed a set of aftermarket exhaust manifolds, then I think he would have picked up the speed and performance he was looking for.
Just as a side note, my friend spent $2000 with a local performance engine shop to have a bigger cam installed, a 750 Holley carb and a dual plane Edelbrock intake manifold, roller rocker arms. Those parts would have worked well, but the shop performing the work did not do any port work or install larger valves to the GM oval port heads and it did NOT pick up any speed---In fact he said the boat actually went about 1-2mph slower. Back then speedos were not very reliable or accurate so who really knows? The well known speed shop that did the work didn't do anything with the oval port heads---no port work, no larger valves installed. If he would have had the headwork done he would have picked up a few MPH----especially if he would have installed a set of aftermarket exhaust manifolds, then I think he would have picked up the speed and performance he was looking for.
Last edited by KAAMA; 05-08-2003 at 07:54 AM.
05-08-2003, 08:22 AM
#28
A little early 80's Offshore history....
I forgot to add that in the early 80's I used to see several of the 31' Excalibers around the Lake Michigan area. Many of the guys with these boats would be seen at Saugatuck on the weekends. The most popular engine at the time was the 330hp big block. The price really went up if you went with Merc's 370hp engine or the 400hp Hi-Perf Cyclone engine---this is because of the 4-bolt main block and all forged internals, whereas the 330's were a 2-bolt main and cast internals. The Merc 440hp was just being developed back then. I remember being in Saugatuck on Memorial Day 1982 and seeing a new 38' Wellcraft bubble deck. The guy had TRIPPLE 400's in it with GIL exhausts---boy did that thing get the attention of everyone around---he'd pull up to the gas docks to fill his tanks, open the engine hatches and EVERYONE would just crowd around. That was the first time I had ever seen the Merc 400hp Hi-Perf Cyclone engines and the first time I had ever seen GIL exhausts. Back then GIL exhausts were just starting to become popular and this guy six DRY tailpipes coming out of the stern of his boat and boy did it ever cackle. I was just getting aquainted with all the offshore stuff and you just didn't see GIL exhausts around much back then. I will never forget first hearing the sound of those DRY GILS---I thought the guy had FULL RACE engines in his boat and wondered why most other boats around sounded so dull until I started asking questions and doing a little research and my friend who owned a 1978 24' Pantera with a Merc 330 began to explain the differences. Back then I knew NOTHING about engines or exhausts, etc and I thought that his engines made that deep, thunderous, trash-can cackle because of the 400's he had in it----I had A LOT to learn back then!
Last edited by KAAMA; 05-08-2003 at 08:26 AM.
