I agree. I ran from Detroit to the bottom of the river and back yesterday, probably $80-100 in gas. I was having a great time myself, so it would feel strange taking $$. But the offer is nice.

I thought we all bought these boats to try and fly through the air like Black Sunday? :eek:

When I was shopping, the lack of working room in the bilge of the twin 28s was not appealing, since I do my own work. I was looking at single 28s for that reason alone.

I ended up with a 24 twin outboard boat: I got my twins and plenty of room in the bilge ;) I definately would not try to "day-boat" with 5 people in/on/hanging-from my boat. You're gonna need a 28 for that!

Now a twin O/B 28 with extended cockpit would be the pimp ride. Enough room to party and enough speed to keep you happy.

well, twin sbc will be a very hard find in a 28 pantera...
But you just missed your boat about 2yrs ago. It was in Wisconsin.
Anyway, you may want to broaden your horizon, including the mags, mirages, and sabers.
And the hoist should be set the same for any of them... 24deg 8ft beam.

Any one know if littledcsrodshop would sell his 28 saber?

Docking's no problemo if you plan properly. I'm certainly no old salt (as Senor Luhrs would say) when it comes to docking, but I really don't have much trouble with it. The ramp that I use has 2 peirs and the wind nearly always blows straight across them. I always come in on the windard side, go slow and let the wind help push me in.

Its no problem as long as you take your time and don't freak out! :D

not really the forum for this, but he's looking...
http://www.offshoreonlyclassifieds.c...o25767-en.html

There was a nice one just a few months ago!

http://www.offshoreonly.com/forums/s...ghlight=austin

slp,

Go directly to the source, if you are serious about learning about the Pantera boat and its different configurations, call Jo or Pepe at the factory (786) 331-7100. They are super nice guys and welcome all inquires on their products. They will gladly answer all your questions and enjoy talking about their products. I know them personally and I will gladly take you over to the factory for a tour and a sit down with them if you happen to be in town.....You'll have to put up with Pepe's cigar though. Seriously, take advantage of their "open door" policy. And, when you are ready to buy, they will even assist you in finding the right used boat for you through their customer network. Most Pantera owners stay close with the Nunez family over the years and many let them know when they decide to sell their boats.

Good luck in your quest.

Frank

I like that one,

or this one... for sale local to me... i think.
26 Hustler
"New Merc 350's, and new Alpha drives: under 10 hours. New trailer, too much to list, e-mail for more pics. Asking $25000

Hard to find a SBC???
 

This is where i might call JO. but hard to find a small block boat??? did most of them come with BBC??? if they did then im cool with a big block, besides for the lack of room. but i did work on cadillac's for 6 years and not much room in them either.

Where is the factory located i have friends in Naples Fl and a few that live on Markos(sp) Island FL..

I did talk to JO. an and maybe is son. Really nice just tons of info. i Actually called on the 24se Black Perl. but found out the boat really was not for sale and then i decided to go with a 28 Ft.

Twins are much easier to dock than a single. If you find a 28 with twin small blocks consider yourself very lucky, you will most likely have to install your own. I really wasn't impressed by the numbers I've seen from the very few stock small block owners with 28's.

Is that a wooden door they slapped on that thing, WTF?

The BBC
 

was not thinking to much... Most all were BBC. so ill be fine with some BBC. i bet its going to be a pain to work on. OH well.

Boat looks ok but its a salt water boat. and that door looks like a 5min fix.

i know it takes me to be in some pretty decent size waves for me to launch. i also go to be over 60mph to even jump out. but hes right when driving it feels very sticky. im just puting in my $.02 on my boat. i dont know how the 28" is tho.

Where is that boat listed? That ssems like a good price, to bad it is Alphas.

www.boats-4-sale.com
Nothing wrong w/ alphas behind this power.

Wow! what a cool thread! I have been tied up at work for a week and didn't see this until today.

I can toss in some comments being one of the newest Pantera Single owners and having been the prior owner of a Twin SBC 28 Cig SS, Twin BBC Top Gun, Twin BBC Formula 302, and two seperate times twin SBC Nova Spyders and other boats.

I really like the single right now for my current lifestyle ..... very little time to use the boat, not a big $ investment so I do not feel guilty when I'm not out on it like my Top Gun made me feel. No overnight trips - all "day boating" with the family so the cabin space is no big deal. Outstanding cockpit space and sunpad/swim platform for hanging out all day.

The single makes the 28 VERY easy to trailer with the low weight and take along on driving trips up North. Great fuel economy .... I am at 2 MPG so far with the 532 HP 502 single with a 55 MPH cruise at 4K on a stock 26 B1 Prop with a Bravo X drive. My boat is set up like AR15's winning F1 boat so with a single power package, relocated smaller 75 Gal fuel tank, all pumps, battery etc. are mounted low and centered .... the boat has an outstanding center of gravity and stability and flys level.

The boat can totally handle the Lake Huron water on any day you would want to be out there, I was afraid when I bought the boat it would be light feeling and easily skip out of the water like my 21 Cig or my 18 Donzi, but no worries, the boat hammers the water and really impressed my Top Gun friends and one that owned a 47 Black Thunder this summer. It blasts right through the Blue Water Bridge slop coming out of Lake Huron into the St. Clair river.

I love the space around the motor to get to maintenance items ...... the only problem I had this year was a trigger wire falling off the starter, I sat right down next to the engine, saw the wire dangling in the air, reached down picked up the washer and nut and put it back on ..... voila' instant fix where on a twin I could have been digging around the bildge scraping elbows.

The only thing that I don't like about a RELIABLE single engined 28 boat is the difficulty of docking in tight spaces .... a single 28 Pantera has a LOT of sail with tall freeboard and if there is a cross wind you have to use the wind to get you into the right slip :eek: ...... the boat and the wind tells you which slip you want! :cool: not the dockmaster! I have been OK all summer but I go real slow and pre-plan everytime.....I do miss the rotational ability of twins.

You are welcome to check to boat out anytime but it's about 2 hours from Metro Detroit, and I am not on the boat again until the second weekend in October due to dirt bike trips in Northern Michigan and daughter High School swim meets. I'll be winterizing the boat that weekend to pack it away.

If gas stays high $ I always feel a fast cruising 70 MPH top speed great riding full 28 sized boat will have a strong resale value since a guy can drop down from a 30-35 whatever feeding two BBC's and not give up much ride or useability for a decent fuel economy, trailerable with a regular SUV cool looking single 28 foot boat.

Sooooo.... chalk one more up to recommending a single!

:food-smiley-007:

Mike thanks for all the input. Im still torn but there are the things i really like about singles

Towing weight. (Never through of it but since im going to be lake jumpping makes all the sense in the world)

Love the idea of having room to work on something.

I agree. I have beat on alphas pretty hard in the past, and just look at TripleD!ckless. :party-smiley-004:
The only twin alphas I have been around were not counter rotating and they just handle funny coming off of wakes etc.

Ok I guess its my turn to throw in the ole 2 cents worth...

I have Not read this entire thread only bits & pieces here & there so pre-forgive me for any oversight... However from what I have read there has been some good input as I would expect...

As we all know this is Always & will continue to Always be a highly debated topic with strong points from both sides... Which would explain a 4 day old thread already having 100+ replies...

I will start by saying that in my humble opinion there is No wrong answer as to which one is the "Best setup" They are both equally good & both have their stronger & weaker points.... Ultimatley the "best setup" is the best combo for the specific individual & his uses , needs , ect...ect...

That being said I have owned both setups in a 28 Pantera (Single with a twin turbo BBC) & (Twin SBC's) & to be honest I loved them both !!
& As many of you know I wrestled with the decision for quite some time as to how I was going to rig my current 28 Saber... I had both Twin SBC's that were ready to drop in , & I also had a big power single BBC... The boat had a clean transom & stringers set up for twins...

After Many conversations with myself & Much debate I made the decision to go with big single power... Now I will say that Many factors came in to my decision...
With everything as simple & complex as they may be from :

--- How the boat will sit in the water...

--- How the transom looks sitting on the trailer...

--- How the engine compartment would look...

--- How it would sound...

--- How the boat would perform speed wise with the
given power I had availible to me at the time...

--- Fuel consumption & what type will need to be ran...

--- Towing to & from the water & overall weight...

--- How the boat was currently setup & the amount of work &
time it would take to change it over...

--- Drive longevity with given power...

--- Maintnance issues , not only from $$ perspective but since
I do all of my own work I looked at it from a time &
workability perspective...

--- & Ofcourse as Always in my situation $$$$$ From every
aspect !!! From $$$ it takes to run & maintain the boat
to $$$ that I had availible to rig the boat how it deserved
to be rigged... ect...

I can easily & have often been be accused of being an overthinker, however I tend to be a patient person for the most part & I wanted to make the best possible decision I could for MY Personal situation , needs , wants , preferances , ect...ect..
Did I make the right decision ??? Well I'm not quite sure yet but I would like to think that I did... LOL... When its all said & done & the dust settles I would like to think that I will have a little of the best of both worlds for a few reasons...

One thing I intentionally didn't give a whole lot of thought to was re-sale & the reason for that is b/c I am building the boat for Me... I also subscribe to the belief that if done right there is butt & a buyer for every bolster... Not to sound arrogant in any way but I try not to ever focus to much on other peoples opinions on any build I do no matter what it may be... That doesn't mean that I don't consider , respect or value other peoples opinions , input , experiance , ect...ect... b/c I do, I just try not to let the non-essentials dictate my vision & plan...

Had project $$ not been an issue my boat would not only be Done but it would have had a Big single with Both of the XR ITS's hanging off the back... Would that have been the Ultimate setup ??? For everybody ?? I will say possibly not , but for me at the current time: Thats another story for another time so I won't get into that... lol..

I will finish with were I began & say that you can't go wrong either way if you buy smart & it all comes down to not only Personal preferance , but your Personal situation with the Who-What-When-Where & how much $$$ is availible for everything from Maintnance , to Future plans , to Future Mods. , ect...ect...ect...

I will add that if $$ wasn't an issue my pesonal ultimate 28 Pantera would be a new T/S either with Twin SBC's making around 600 HP or so... (possibly even the Raylar setup previously mentioned) Hooked to ITS's

Or it would be powered by a Single 1075 Merc hooked to a #6

So hows that for a Non Answer ???

If I can help in any way just let me know...

& As for Storms ?? about the Saber being availible C'mon Rob you know me well enough to know that all fiberglass has a price.... Lol..:D

After seeing how long my last post was I came to the realization that its not only getting late here & my mind is foggy... But that I havn't got to spend enough time working on my boat lately all while knowing many of you guys will actually be on the water tomorrow burning cheap fuel that you paid way to much $$ for as I pretent to be doing the same in my feable mind...
Combine all that with the fact that I have been drinking alot of water tonight & the outcome is :
I really think I just wanted to see if I could beat MikeB4 for the longest post so far in this thread....

Did I do it ? Did I do it ? :D:D LOL...

Scott

When I looked on the Pantera page and saw that you had replied to this thread at 2 something in the morning, I was thinking "he stayed up late". Then I saw the post. I bet he started writing it at 11:00 :D

Well, many of the 100+ is me whoring posts! :D
Scott, it was very nice of you to take 3hrs of your time yesterday to write that post.:evilb:

I concede! :ernaehrung004: you DEFINITELY win! plus too late at night for me!:musik010:

in the begining of ur post u said u didnt read all the other posts in this thread. i have a funny feeling no one is going to read your post at all. lol i started to, then thought to myself,wtf am i doing? the wheather and ocean has been chit for over a week.but today its 91 and not a cloud in the sky and ocean is like glass. IM OUTTA HERE BOYZ!!!! time to blow a nickle in gas today. peace out

I knew you guys would appreciate that & show the love...

Does that mean you guys will buy the book ?? Rob I will even let you write the forward for being the "king post whore"

Chris you can have a chapter all to your own since we live 50 miles apart & have never actually even been on the same body of water at the same time....
Mike you get a free copy for being a man and admitting that you got took down..:blaster:.
As for Joe since you actually use your boat & will probably be to busy tearing up the beautiful waters of south FL in that sweet 36 to read it, you get also get free copy to keep in the cabin just incase you want a good read while on the can...:readinghelp::p:D:p

Now I will crawl back to my forum where it takes 6 months to get this many posts...lol...

Scotty, 5 posts and no one who's stunned that a redneck can write something that long without a single "hells ya!" or "Hey boys watch this!"? I'm stunned. I was reading it last night on my email and my mind was completely blown. Of course, I'd killed a 12er of PBR at that point too...

Joking aside, some good points made. The most important of which is "everyone has their own opinion on the right way to do things" (Funny, its in quotes, but it's not a quote! :D ).

Scotty, is Sabre dead? (Figured I'd ask here where nobody would get pissed!)

Sean , I must say I'm kinda suprised my self, but what I'm really suprised at is that I actually used punctuation (I didn't say correct puntuation) I would usually rather just go with one large run on sentance... lol..

As for Saber (I can't say much here either b/c they monitor all my movements JK...) I am not Real sure but from what I know & what I have heard they are done but who knows ?? I really hope not b/c they did build some Great boats.. I don't know all the details just bits & pieces so I can't or won't really say for sure.. Definatly makes for a more rare boat that was already Way rare before all that junk happened... Mine is #21 out of the 22 28 footers that were built..

Twenty two 28s! Damn that makes our 300 or so 28 Panteras seem almost mass produced!

Funny reminds me of a conversation I had with one of my buddy's who's a Mopar guy... We were talking about how "rare" '69 Z28s were and he got laughing becuase (I don't remember exact numbers) he told me they made more Z28s in '69 than they made 'Cudas of any package. I guess that's why a '69 Z goes for $150k and a hemi 'Cuda gets 10X that much!

Hey guys Ive read every single one Big help Keep it comming. thanks Kyle