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I just bought a 2002 38' Ocean Express. I don't have any seat time it but I was told from the previous owner that the boat porpuses at 70-85 then it will push through once you get over that speed.
I plan on repowering the boat. It has 572/750hp motors with ASD-8 Arnesons. The boat doesn't have trim cylinders and I also was told to add them as well.
I am going to push the motors to 900hp's

I appreciate you help and any advice you could give me on this boat.. New beast for me but very excited about it!!:ernaehrung004:

Thanks in advance

Here is my 39. Sent you an e-mail with some answers. If you have any questions just ask.

What is the name of the boat? What power and are they ASD-8's on the rear of that lady... Look kinda nice!! LOLOL

I will get a few pic's of the newest family member!!

I need to really pic your brain on this. You mentioned you may have a set of Rolo's?? Do you have trim cylinder's on the boat?

Also I am signing up for the Tres Martin school for May of 09. My insurance thinks it will be good for my policy? Any thoughts?



Thanks

Heres my 39 with Arnesen Drives 8-18.

Shot from Powerboat Magazine helicopter. It was a 3-4 ( one-thousand) launch at 80-90mph. I don't how high we were but it got quiet for several seconds. I was driving and Dave Wesseldyk on the sticks.

what kind of speeds did you get out of the 1000's. I wouldn't mind picking your brain on the phone one day. I was told you are the master of the Ocean Express. The guys I am buying the boat from said " there is a guy that owns the Chi-town hustler that helped us when we first bought the boat" He knows more then Ocean Express knows"

I guess that is you!!

Thanks for the info!!

Mario :evilb:

Funny Everyone knows me from my old boat.... Pure Adrenaline I have send you a pic of it. Good Name!!

I think this one is going to be called "Rump Shaker"

I am going to Fly all the Nauti-Goose Saloon logos all over the boat. I am working a deal with the owner that is a very close friend so he can sponsor some poker runs for us.

What kind of speeds to you think the boat is capable of running once it is set up. The motors will dyno 900-950hp I will get a set of Rolo's too.
Still learning alot about the drives!!

I know that The Menace knows more than I do. Everything that I know, I learned from Dennis. We both learned about these boats 1 inch at a time.

So you are the one that is my new teacher. What kind of speeds should I be looking at with 950's in it. I went on to Rolla props. Where can I get them local. Also Once I get a set who can tweak them for me?

I got my new Arneson Shaft yesterday. I had to have a local machine shop tweak it as well. Looks great. I will get the drive back together this week.

I really apreciate any advice I can get. I don't mind spending the money but IF I don't need it I won't buy it. I "thought" I needed the Trim Rams for the drives. I guess I will need some advice as far as adjustments... Do I go off X-dimensions to find center then where would I set the adjustment arm. Is there a certain height... angle...

Thanks for your help!

Come on Summer:evilb:

You take a 10 foot string and tape the string on the bottom of the boat about 5-6 feet from the back. Pull the string from the end tight on an angle below parallel to the bottom of the boat. Start lifting the string until it makes full contact with the bottom. The string should make a straight line. The drive should be raised or lower so that the string is at the same height as the middle of the prop nut. The drive is actually at negative trim. Contrary to belief, you should only throw a small rooster tail.

Thanks.. I was told that it needed Negative Trim. Wasn't sure. So I hold a straight edge to follow the bottom of the boat... Then I make sure the center of the nut to the prop shaft is center of string..... I can do that.. I am General Contractor. I work of Center lines. I can't mess that up!!!

I REALLY appreciate the advice!!

I am still really curious of speeds this boat is capable. I know not all boats will do the same.. But if I had an approximate point. I won't beat myself to death thinking something is not right!!

I have heard the 900-950Hp this boat should run 130+.. ?????

What do you think??

Do either of you have any pictures of your dash and interior. I am going to add some gauges and some gps speedos to the back head rest. I have quite the list but want to get some ideas. I looked at the OE website.. Not much infor there. I googled Ocean Express and got a few boats. Not a lot of Ideas. Most are diferent then mine. I will post a few pics tonight. Maybe the both of you can give me some Ideas.

Thanks:ernaehrung004:

I am going to upload some pics later.

Sorry for all the post.. I am like a kid at Xmas with this boat. I want to go use it now....

I got the string thing down pretty easy... The question I have is I have two elevations I can go from. I have enclosed a pic.. which one should I use. The one is 1" higher then the other

Speed: 130 is possible depends on your motor RPMs. I would not worry about spending too much dollars until you get the boat wet. You have a totally new style dash which is different than most.

How many diferent times did they change the dash. I am not sold on it. I may have to add some angle bezzels. I think once I am running to scan the gauges acurately may not be that easy.,

I took a pic of the dash so you can see.. I like to have everything real clear. Especially at 100mph.. I sat in the seat and some gauges you actually have to tilt to see clearly..

Maybe its me but that is why i wanted to see some others.

Also let me know about he string thing and what area is that started from

Thanks

Mario

String thing: inline with the drive.

You have the newer dash panel. I was going to switch to that dash panel. You have 2x the room than the one I have. I would have put a gps in the lower section and trim indicators on the right side. rpm guages are the most important on the top.

Start with the lower then raise to try. You should get a video of how the boat rides. Remember that it is not a V-hull. Cats ride flatter. How does the boat get on plane. If your props are trimmed too high, the props will wash out in the turns.

The boat actually comes out like a ski boat is what my buddy told me. There was a guy who was looking to buy it before me and he took it out for a ride. He said it came out pretty nice. He said he couldn't find the right props for it... Just to take a test ride. ( I can play with that once I run it next time)
He said the carbs were messing up. Mostly because it sat so long... The marina I am getting it off of say they only used the boat "maybe" 8 hours in four years. They have a huge high and dry and only have off Monday's here and there.

Thanks I will let you know the out come.

Dennis sent me an email....

Get your boat first and run it for a while. Then you will know what you
need. Arneson's rarely need anything. An oil change should be about it
unless they are damaged from hitting something.

Motors? Hard to tell what shape they are in. Change oil and run them for as
long as you can.

A good speed in that boat is cursing around 80-85.

I was told that the boat was cruising at 90mph at 4000rpm's

What poker runs do you guys do north. We are going to 1000islands next year. I wanted to do a couple other then the ones we do here.

You ever get a chance come do "Rock The bay".... A lot of fun!!

Trim Indicators??? I don't have adjustable trim cylinders.

I wasn't cool with the oil pressure gauges are angled. 50lbs is realy clear. above that I have to look around alittle.

Mario

I have an Old School 39' OE. 1988. Here is a picture of the old style dash. I need to redo the location of gauges because of the in-ability to scan gauges quickly.

Wow. Where are the throttles. What kind of power do you have?

I agree with the dash thing. I am meeting with a guy over the weekend to look this dash thing over a little better...

Do you have any pics of the whole boat?

i got about 20 more questions for you.... LOL... I am like a little kid at Xmas with mine. I just got it and what to go out in it so bad... But I am going to get everything right then run it...

Do any cool Poker runs with yours??

My OE is a work in progress. I just had to have a motor rebuilt this past summer. Never used it this year. After installing motor I'm trying to still track down a clunking noise while in gear. I have other projects that need to get done also. The back needs some fiberglass work and paint to clean it up. Need it to be mechanically sound first. Might redo dash this winter. Throttles are in seat. When I get to my home computer I will include pictures.

Hee is a picture from further back. You can see throttles in seat. The other side I manufactured a custom plate to cover hole. I can't find the photos with plate and new speedo.

pic

If this is your boat and this is a shot of your drive, you do not have ASD8 drive units. Sorry but those are 1600's and you therefore most likely have a 19 tooth propeller shaft spline.

This should come in handy if you are searching for propellers. Positive note; you can use a standard Merc propeller with these drives as we make an adapter to fit them to the 19 tooth spline shaft. Else you would have been stuck with 25 tooth propeller most likely.

Rik

Wow I did an all day searching on this drive the other day... I was told they are asd-8's Then the guy who is fixing the drive said something about 1600...... I did more research and found out more about it and then I learned they were 1600's....

What kind of Horse power can they handle? The shaft I just got said it was good to 1200 FT/torque... 1200HP... I had to have the shaft machined for length..
I went on to Arnesons site and it says 800??? Am I reading this right??

Thanks

Mario

Any drive questions should go to RIK only. He knows all.

I think the 800 number is right on.

Rik, I now have 3/4" chains. What would the torque rating be?

Where on what site? 800??

The drives are 1600's and they are rated for 1,000 hp back when they were made. They use two chains on a common shaft to handle the power.

It uses an ASD6 rear housing on the Second Effort or Arneson Drop Box. There were a few different versions of the 1600 made by Second Effort and Arneson back in the day. The input/output shaft seals are different sizes for example, the input shafts are stainless steel vs. steel on some models, etc. etc..

They are all the same but at the same time a bit different. The ratio is the ratio for life in these drives meaning you cannot change a 1.32:1 into a 1.5:1 and vice versa as they were machined for the center distance required. The ASD8's are different in that respect.

I spotted the ASD6 aft retaining ring in the photo and that is what alerted me to what you have.

Rik

1200 conservative. These are the current ASD8 size and its the same chain as the ASD10 uses with a 2,000 lb rating.

Wow you are the man!! I have the 1600. The new shaft is a stainless steel. The machinisht said something in the grade of steel...it was really nice. I too have bigger chains from what the guy working on it was told when he called about buying the new shaft... I guess he was asking questions to Arneson and he found out that I had bigger parts then what factory came. The mechanic told me I would be good to 1200 HP and torque.... according what Arneson told him.... I am only putting 950hp in the boat.. That will be fast enough for me.........................for now.... LOL...

So with this drive I can try a Merc prop.. Any recomedations? I have NONE. I have a set of 34 - 4 blades.. That I can try...Not sure of the Diameter. The guy who was looking at it before me had these. They couldn't spin them up with the 750hp in it. I think I will try his at first with the 950hp maybe I can... Atleast to get a start point.

Thanks for all the advice... Trust me Everyone has been so much help...

These are the motors. They are coming out a xmas. I want to freshen them up... Paint them some colors. Just go through things to make sure I am ready for spring.

Boat need a little LUV... Not much just some really good going over. Couple gauges not working. Engine area needs a REALLY good cleaning. Maybe some fresh paint....
Seats need a good cleaning. I am not happy happy with the dash.. Gotta think about that one for a little while...
Any Advice??

I want to add intercom to the boat... A GPS Speedo and may be two in the head rest of the right and left seats for the rear passengers.... Does any one have a swim platform??

With the drives hanging off the back so far. I thought about a tubular platform so I can at least put someone on the back of the boat when docking??? Any Ideas..... I heard the boat is AWESOME docking. Tranny's help too I was told..

come on Good weather!!

Hmmm. Your drives are not 1600's truly speaking. These are a 10" drop center rather than a 16" drop, hence 1600. Yours are rare so to speak as there are fewer of the 10" drops made back then.

I see you have the ZF transmissions to handle the RH and LH rotation.

I will take some pics of the drive gears today. I will be over there..... I guess I should find out what I have so I know what kinda power I can put to them..

Mario

It was Great talking to you today. We got to get together over the summer when you get yours dialed in. We will be down Red eyes a few times we can come down and get together.

Keep me updated when you get time to get moving on yours. I will post the pics as we get mine dialed in.

I learned more about you today too. My mechanic is John Desmond from MSP Equipment in DE. He ordered my shaft from you for me. His boss was the one going to buy the boat before I did. I never got those pics today but will tomorrow. John told me you have really helpful on my drive.

Thanks I look forward to picking your brain.

Mario

I think I ran those engines on the dyno for Express when they where building the boat.If this is the boat I ran it with the new owner up to 120 the first time out.

SWEEEEEEt.... Now your talking my numbers.


:ernaehrung004::ernaehrung004::evilb:

Getting her back together soon... Gonna take a cool ride maybe!!

I'll post some pics or video once it is running again..