these are the #6 with the black tube to get air to the prop.

.Here's a link to a Video.
http://www.donzi.net/cgi-bin/ultimat...=008222#000011

39 NAS-T, I would not have any second thoughts about fitting an Arneson to a Fountain stepped bottom. It's been done and it works. For example, that diesel Fountain with 6LY-STP Yanmars and Arnesons was a good and fast boat. However, 850hp is way over the rated allowance for an ASD6 so you may have to step up to the 8. I have to check this because I know Hustler used an ASD6 on their 388 with KE 675s without any problems or any concerns about reliability. And 675hp is still way over the prescribed limit. So I am not sure what's going on. Twin Disc must be very conservative with their ratings for obvious warranty reasons but how far can you push it without compromising reliability? Anybody? I believe an ASD 6 will still be more reliable with 850s than a Bravo XR though!

Super Termoli:

Thanks for sharing all this information.
I will like to add the Pulse Drive to the list of reliable drives. I have been researching drives that can handle the torque of diesel engines and the Pulse Drive was in my opinion the best for pleasure boating.
1) It has the swim platform covering the propellers for safety and to direct the water under the hull when in reverse ( a plus against the Anerson)
2) It is trimable so it will adapt to any weight changes and/or water conditions. ( a plus against the Trimax )

Dr. Santiago, I saw your Cig in the classifieds and was surprised to see it with a Pulse Drive. When did you fit it and how painful was the process? I think I saw your boat a while ago with yellow-painted sterndrives, right? Anyway, share your experience concerning this transition. If it was relatively easy, others may be tempted to do the same. And I believe Pulse is a great drive for pleasure purposes. It provides you with the convenience and safety of a swim platform and you do not have to build the entire boat around it like you do with Trimax. However, speaking from experience it is not as fast nor as solid as Trimax. It will break with a turned-up Seatek engine for example. But at this level of reliability, it becomes a point which will be of importance only to military people, not pleasure boaters. You do a lot of poker runs and boating in general and you seem to be pleased with it and that is proof enough. I would like to point out that Fabio Buzzi did design a drive system from which Trimax evolved and which strongly ressembles Pulse Drive. It was in 1975 and the first boat to receive it was his racing 3-point hydroplane called "Monster". It had a 2000cc BMW engine, followed by a 2500cc (153 cid) version. It won the Pavia-Venice river classic at an average speed of 79 mph in 1977. Here's an original drawing of it. I think it looks very similar in conception to Pulse Drive. Trimax and its latest version (known as G-drive internally) evolved from this concept and therefore undoubtedly is a "sharper" drive. But by getting "sharper" it may have become too extreme and difficult to handle for manufacturers and public. Maybe Pulse is the best compromise between longevity, performance, safety and user friendliness?

Then Fabio started playing with diesels and left rivers and lakes for seas and oceans. In other words, he went offshore. And he realized that with the torque produced by diesels and G-forces and shocks produced by heavy seas, his drive would not last. Stuff breaking, stuff leaking, he decided to make everything fixed and see what happens. This new drive was still adjustable but manually when the boat was out of the water. He decided that for racing and all other purposes, this possibility was enough. The problem was and still is, his only purpose was racing at the time of this design. It was the first true Trimax drive. The year was 1982...

I believe that the drive will last as long as you treat it well though. With the XR's we are very easy to get on plane and when we come out of the water we throttle back immediately. I think that ASD-8's are probably the way to go though, but you could make the ASD-6's last as long as you did not beat on them. Does anyone know what ASD-8's cost? The XR's are a decent drive though I think as far as merc goes though as long as you are not thrashing them.
Hunter

Super Termoli:

Are those CV joints on the "first trimax"?

vtec

39' NAS'T, I think you're absolutely right but the idea in this thread is to be able to forget about the drives and use them to a maximum. I know that caring for your drives is part of the culture nowadays given the fact that Bravos always needed to be used in a civilized manner but this puts a cap on the "fun factor". You want to be able to boat to you full pesonal potential and not be limited by your drives. Personally, just having drives constantly in the back of my mind would ruin it for me. So go for the 8s, bash it and thrash it, come back with a huge grin on your face and start over again the next day... And VTEC, yes CV joints involved in that one...

ASD6 Kit / Bravo™ to Arneson Conversion Kit

Anyone knows the costs of those kits please?

Anyone familiar with it's use?

I will call Arneson on Monday but would also appreciate input from users and dealers please Thank you.