[QUOTE=murfman;
The bulkhead at the front of the engine compartment is tabbed in, would it affect the strength of the hull drastically if I were to cut it out and make it removable for engine servicing? It doesn't look to be structural as its not very rigid in the center. It would mean that I would have to relocate come wiring and the fuel filters, but it would sure be nice for maintenance and service.[/QUOTE

A few here (Mark & Bud) completely removed the engine bulkhead's from their magnums ( they say with no structural compromise to the rest of the boat) and also hinged the portion of the back bench seat to fold down for better engine acessability.......you do give up alot of mounting space when removing that partision, but you have to give-up to gain some.
Venice Marina is in the SheepsHead Bay section of Brooklyn (I still share my time between SHB and Jersey) Venice had a big market in 60's and 70's and brokered alot of go fast boats...lots of Glaspar g3's, Donzi's 18's, mag 27's, Glastron, etc...............Don Aronow was born in SheepsHead Bay!
Murf..............looks like the boat dollys are serving you well!

[QUOTE=scippy;4165497][QUOTE=murfman;
The bulkhead at the front of the engine compartment is tabbed in, would it affect the strength of the hull drastically if I were to cut it out and make it removable for engine servicing? It doesn't look to be structural as its not very rigid in the center. It would mean that I would have to relocate come wiring and the fuel filters, but it would sure be nice for maintenance and service.[/QUOTE

A few here (Mark & Bud) completely removed the engine bulkhead's from their magnums ( they say with no structural compromise to the rest of the boat) and also hinged the portion of the back bench seat to fold down for better engine acessability.......you do give up alot of mounting space when removing that partision, but you have to give-up to gain some.
Venice Marina is in the SheepsHead Bay section of Brooklyn (I still share my time between SHB and Jersey) Venice had a big market in 60's and 70's and brokered alot of go fast boats...lots of Glaspar g3's, Donzi's 18's, mag 27's, Glastron, etc...............Don Aronow was born in SheepsHead Bay!
Murf..............looks like the boat dollys are serving you well![/QUOTE]


Here is how my sports back seat looks being hinged, no structural problems as when the seat is up two 3/8 SS bolts & wing nuts hold it tightly in place & as good as the factory glass tabbing. Not having the seat back in a fixed position make working on the engines much easier. The seat was hinged when I bought it but poorly done I improved that set up. I also located my fuel filters on the side half bulkheads, makes service very easy. I plan to do the same on my sedan I'm working on now. As far as your engine centers most Magnums used 29" to 30". I widen my centers to 31" for my black engines using Crusader manifolds, & that's very tight. I have seen 33" used on few with factory [ the blue ] Crusader 350 Chevy engines, wider centers [ like 33" ] in most cases will not be a problem. The red engines is how my sport looked with after market GLM manifolds on 29-1/2" centers. I'm still up in the air to reuse the GLM manifolds again, they need better tail pipes that don't cause water reversion into the engines like they did... Mark

Defiantly pull the tanks, my sedans tanks did not leak but after I pulled them they did. Like many offshore boats with center fuel tanks corrosion will happen from the outside as well as the inside of the tank due to water intrusion & electrolysis . I just help pull a fuel tank out of a 28' Cig the inside was clean but the outside highly corroded & leaking gas due to water in the bilge. Jeff Hall pulled & coated the outside of his tanks with a coal tar epoxy, worth the extra work.

Volvo drives gear ratio change are done in the lower foot, pending on what engine is being used, [4cyl, 6cyl. 8cyl, ]. The uppers for the 250,270, 280 are interchangeable even the E drive speedmaster you just need to reset the vertical shaft cone bearing preload when changing the mated housings. Most Volvo V8 non speedmaster drives have a 1.61 ratio. Mark

there is no rear seat in my sedan currently, but I talked to a previous owner and he has them in the rafters of his garage and will give them to me, but he is in CT... wish I would have figured that one out when I was in Ct, oh well... I have not seen a sedan rear seat, but from the marks on the floor it looks like it was a simple bench with 2 legs bolted to the floor independent of the engine compartment bulkhead. I'm thinking about removing the bulkhead even with the main floor, leaving the drain trough in tact.
If I unscrew and remove the cockpit floor will the tanks come out, or do I still have to do some cutting? i do plan on removing them and getting them boiled out and check them for leaks.

I drove 400 miles round trip after work today, and picked up a 1.61 to 1 Volvo SP CD trim outdrive complete from bell housing to prop for 800$ It was from a low hour cabin cruiser that spent its life on Lake Springfield. I've seen the trim cylinders for sale for nearly that much.
http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x...ps81cd3ac7.jpg

http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x...ps3ab03e45.jpg

Do you know if the gears themselves are interchangeable? There is another SP drive for sale locally but its a 2.12 ratio, if I could reuse the gears from my old lower in the new 290 lower case I'll go for it.

I dont know about the SP drive comparability with a 270 type drive as I have never worked in one. If this other drive is priced right GET IT, like you said just look what they get for the used trim rams, extra parts are always good.. It would be worth a try to mate a them together..

The second one is 1500$ and the wrong ratio I might be able to get it cheaper, but lowers with the 1.61 ratio are not cheap either...

Got the engines out, and the transom plates off...

http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x...ps308a665c.jpg

http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x...psc422c3d6.jpg

http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x...ps81c49973.jpg

http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x...ps08b19e3c.jpg

http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x...psaa7f1760.jpg

http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x...ps919949b2.jpg

http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x...ps8f523435.jpg

http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x...ps8bc3f9d5.jpg


I posted these pics in the fiberglass and paint section as well. What is the consensus on the condition of the transom? It is dry and has a nice drum to it when I hit it with a hammer. I am going to have to cut the holes bigger for the 290/SP transoms anyway. It looks solid to me, but this is my first rodeo... I was expecting the worse, and thinking I'd raise the X while I am in here, but if I don't NEED to do anything else to the transom it may just stay. Either way I am relocating the exhaust to work with the newer center rise manifolds.

Is there a reason they didn't seal the cutout with resin when they built the boat? Everything else is totally encapsulated in the hull but the cutouts in the transom, I was just wondering.

The drain hole area (which typically was never treated) was notorious for wicking moisture up through the transom and the attached stringers. I promise you there's rot there...................my transom cutout looked better than yours, but below it to the drain hole was rot. It's not often a 42 yr old boat has survived water intrusion at the lower end of the transom.