Thanks for the info airpacker. Looks you've got a fat set-up.

Wade call me.

You need so many tools to rebuild one right, it's crazy. You need all the basic Bravo drive tools, Plus 20 more expensive Blackhawk only tools. I have the Merc. special tools book right in front of me. Not alot of marina's have the tools either. If you blow one up , you are better off getting another on ebay, Parts aren't cheap either and as we all know Merc. will eventually discontinue all parts that are exclusively Blackhawk, just like they are doing with the TRS. Alot of people like them, and if it works for them and they are happy thats great, but there are alot of options out there. I guess it depends on the application, the power ,weight, and how the boat will be used , or abused ! (coming out of the H2o. ) BBB

You may have read this in another thread, but I ordered a 1994 40' Hustler Fiore w/triple 502 Magnum EFIs w/ the Blackhawk drives. It was the first triple application of the BH with gas engines. The guy who owns Hustler now, Joe L., had triple diesels. The drive was in its infancy back then and if you pushed them in rough water they stayed in gear. It was like having three crash boxes that were stuck in forward. While they were working properly, only a race boat could catch me. I did a boat test back then with 3/4 fuel and three guys. Radar gunned at 89 MPH. Boat had air conditioning, refrigerator and a full cabin.

They, MerCruiser, stood behind the drives 100% and we tried different gear sets and different formulas of Lock-tite to keep the cones on the gear sets. Finally they put on 1.50:1 Bravo 1s and I lost 10 MPH on top and gobs of acceleration.

Gary Meisenger is the inventor of the drive and I bet he wishes they would use today's XR and ZX technology to bring the drive back.

They had much less trouble with lighter, single engine boats than my 13,000 lb. behemoth.

With the Bravo 1s it was just another big boat. With the Blackhawks it was really special.

I am curious as to how a switch from a blackhawk to a 3" shortie with a 5 or 6 blade would do on a boat that was set up for the BH in the first place. It should provide the drag reduction and the thrust( due to the 5blade) with the added benefit of the XZ XR upper strength. Has anyone tried this?

Gary Meisenger is the inventor of the drive and I bet he wishes they would use today's XR and ZX technology to bring the drive back.

Gary did use a different set of gears when he rebuilt my drive. When we were talking about the rebuild, I mentioned that other people had told me that the XR gears wouldn't fit. He smiled and said that they havn't had any problems. I've always wondered what gears they used.

Cord:
What boat do you have a Blackhawk running? Have you experienced the same troubles I did in 1994?
Ed

some drive rebuild place should take some old blackhawks and rebuild em with xr gears etc. thatd be one niice drive

Learning curve = $$$$$

Right off the bat, I learned about the need for airation on the BH drive on my cat. I twisted off the end of the vertical shaft within minutes trying to plane off the boat. Redid the drive, drilled a crap load of holes in the right places and have put over 100 hrs on the drive now with no failures what so ever. I run it hard and WFO alot. I run it in big water. I generally beat the piss out of it swinging 31's thru 1.50's with near 600 hp and it still holds together. On the other hand, I popped 3 sets of bravo gears in one season with a bravo hp, 1.50 gears and a labbed 28 bravo with less power so go figure.

Like the Edsel and the Tucker, it was too far ahead of its time.

You are absolutely right about it being ahead of it's time. If it were today Packaged with the ITS transom and XR internals It would be much more versatile and probably work on more hulls. Imagine the 600sci ITS Blackhawk package!!!