89 scarab 21 excel rebuild
 

this is what i started with last October. I picked up an 89 21' scarab excel for some summer fun. I figured after some work I'd have a fun little wave crusher to cruise around the local lakes here in iowa.

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this was after stripping off all the decals, not fun at all.

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I have buffed out most of the gel coat but I plan on repainting. I need to get some more updated pics tomorrow. I've started to gut the cockpit. So I'll have to get some good pics of that. the engine is out and will not be going back in. I have a thread going on my quest for everything needed for an LS swap. I'll be running a 6.0 ls engine and I'm trying to get my hands on a bravo 1 to replace my alpha. I have recovered all the vinyl on the padding around the cockpit already. Tons more work to do.

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sorry I forgot I did have a newer one saved as well. as you can see all side decals not needed have been removed.

P.S. never mind the mess from cleaning out the boat...lol

Yes I was able to enjoy using it a few times this year. however the engine hydrolocked and bent my #8 connecting rod. both heads are cracked, sadly I believe the heads were that way when I picked it up. But hey we don't buy a project boat not expecting things to break right? I pulled the motor the other week and tore it all down. Its sad as the 350 mag only had a couple hundred hours on it. I can still see the cross hatching in the bores. I know I could rebuild it for pretty cheap but, I want something I have made my own. who doesn't have a small block or big block in their boat? So thats why I'm going after an LS engine. I just want something most people have never seen before. I'm a car guy at heart always have been always will be. I'm not one to leave something stock as it drives me insane...lol It was a lot of fun while it ran, however I made a few new friends when it decided it no longer wanted to run. thank god most boat people are a pretty friendly bunch. :) all said and done, I could easily just buy a new boat for what I will have in it. But where is the fun in that? I get to teach my kids about making things with their own two hands and the pride that comes with that.

Look around for a 5.3 in your local junk yards...should be cheap and plentiful....but if you really want a mover...look harder for a 6.0 LQ9 out of a 2000-2006 Escalade or Yukon Denali. I have a 05 Escalade with that motor and it snatches that 3 ton beast around like a rag doll. Big torque and big power right out of the box. If you go the 6.0 route....consider converting to Bravo because if you like to play hard the 6.0 will rip an Alpha apart in no time.

Have fun with this.

I've been looking for either the LQ4 or the LQ9, im not too picky...lol I really want a bravo but if I cant find one cheap then it will have to wait another year. I have an 05 avalanche with just the 5.3 and it pulls my boat without any issues, so thats why I'm falling in love with these LS engines. not to mention see the HP numbers people are pulling out of stock bottom ends is just insane. I may have a lead on a complete bravo set up for next to nothing, I just have to cross my fingers and hope the cabin cruiser is the right vintage for the bravo... the owner has no clue what year it is. basically if I can get to it I can more or less have it. Or should I say can get it out. a small group of trees have decided they like growing all around this boat and through the trailer.

you have any information on that crank driven pump you've talked about? how is that set up?

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sadly this was all pretty much unplanned. I figured since I have the motor out I might as well work on gutting it. I need to replace the rear bulkhead as it is wet in the dead center of it. So next update I should have of my engine bay and bulk head work. And the fun begins...you can see all the nice new vinyl work i did on the pad around the cockpit. the hardest part was removing a few thousand staples.

I'm thinking of pulling the dash out as well and then the front bulk head and just starting from scratch. I'm wondering if they used marine grade plywood on all the panels? Odds are I believe they did. Looks like I'll be stopping at a lumber yard soon enough.

http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=...44&FORM=IQFRBA

Take your pick...about $250 A-Z including brackets vs. $600 for the Merc belt driven setup. Marine Power, Crusader, Indimar, etc. use these. I have a pair on my two Vortec motors. Works great...no drama...bolts to the crankshaft pulley.

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Hmmm... that looks almost too simle to work...lol I love it. I've learned when out on the water, or off roading simple is usually the best.

Look at this way...you save a belt, pulley, and two brackets that are very hard to find for a small block unless you order them new...plus the pump. If you are out and the pump belt breaks you are done.

hey you cant argue with simplicity i guess. I've been gathering some odds and ends for my boat. Ordered some stainless steel waterproof push buttons that are light up with red halo led lights. Some carbon fiber panels for my switch panels and possibly for my dash if I like them. I'd really love to reshape the dash but the layout is actually very functional. May not look stunning but you get all your vitals in just one glance. So we shall see on that... If anyone has any custom interior pics they want to share feel free to post them.

I can post up a few of mine but its in a IMP. I'm almost in the same boat as you. Lol as I was gutting it and changing the seating I realized I could shave some weight as I'm out to get a good top end MPH out of my heavy resin bucket. But there are "other" materials like Pensky and Coosa. I believe they have some weight saving vs. plywood and will not damage from water. But I like your build and can't wait to see how it turns out! Wish I would have kept my Scarab CV w/ 540ci. But again I prefer stand up to sir down boltster seating. Keep up the good work!
Also if you find a 6.0 with a hurt bottom. I have a extra lq9 6.0 crank (probably needs turned) and 243 casting aluminum heads. But if it needs a rebuild most ditch the "crack" rods. I am storing my 6.0 block for my carbed 408 stroker build! ;-) car guy here too!

cool man! we got a competition! lol are you leaving that swim platform on?

I'm pretty dead set on a 6.0, I've seen a few for cheap but with 200K miles on them. I'd love to see what you got going on. I just went on a shopping spree at home depot and menards and dropped almost 200 on lumber. then hit up the local fabric store and got some foam. they had the ultra high end exterior foam but the stuff I pulled out of my boat lasted since 1989 and its no where near the quality of what i bought. I got some green stuff and I figure since I'm fully wrapping this in vinyl I should hold up for some time. my weakness is that I have been into the car audio world for too long and all I can think is why does this interior have to be so boring? its sad because in a car or truck a few extra pounds doesnt mean much, however in a boat adding weight... well we all know what happens then. LOL I picked up some 1/2 exterior grade berch for my main side walls. grabbed tons of stainless screws and quietly wept as i heard my total at the register. I still need to cut out my rear bulkhead between the interior and engine bay. good thing i have a nice dremel... I need to find some wood for that wall, tho i found a sheet of carbon fiber that is bullet proof... sadly its only 2500 plus shipping... I am planning on grey and dark grey with a touch of black for my interior. the white is nice but so hard to keep clean. I'm trying to find some aluminum trim pieces to set off the interior. I'm doing carbon fiber, aluminum, and stainless steel for a lot of the controls. my hatch lift switch is being replaced by two momentary push buttons. thankfully I went to school for electrical engineering since I need to wire up about a dozen relays to run everything since I'm doing away with the factory scarab PCB (printed circuit board) and their horrible surface mounted buttons. so now my lift actuator will be run by relay rather than the switch. far more reliable and less damaging on the switches. So I hope to have some nice new pieces ready for vinyl by the end of the weekend.

Yeah I'm leaving it on, I have two little kids and it makes life easier having it...lol I just wish I could see my stainless tail pipes but oh well. You got two up on me... you got your motor already and you have yours painted. I'm still hunting for my engine, and sadly I dont think I will have mine painted even next year. interior and new motor are sucking up all my extra funds...

yea I wish I would have gone with 6.0 but I got this motor for free so cant complain. check that swim platform out good the quality of mine was horrible. all the bolts that went thru transom had small washers and had started pulling thru. few of them were leaking and were soft around them. I always liked scarabs but after buying this one im seeing the quality isn't very good. I cant speak for their big boats hopefully there made a little nicer. the chapparel I had before this was much better built.

Mine is solid as a rock I've got no soft spots on my transom so I'm lucky. Only rot is the one bulk head due to the rear seat holding crap against it. Oddly enough mine was left outside for the past few years wide open.

My CV was somewhat similar. I would up ditching the back seat as it kept falling a part! " weight reduction right" haha. unfortunately the 540 was low compression as it was a Blower engine originally. Changed the carb from a 1050 dominator to a 850 and went from low 70.s to 75 ish from a carb change. Sold it and the buyer bought the original blower (671) ran it twice and thought you could just "nail it" well...... not with a bravo. It pretty much ripped it off and blew the drive. Some people you just can't tell em take it easy! But try SIM CARBON or the 3m Carbon for wrapping if you need too. It actually works really well and looks fantastic. Im looking to upgrade mine in the same sense you are. I can't afford my active thunder till the other toys are paid off so might as well make it as updated as possible. Im definitely subscribing to this thread. Would like to see some of your ideas coming from a electrical standpoint. I have OCD when it comes to my stuff and sounds like you do to

Lol I just pulled 3 fuse boxes from a couple wrecked trucks today so now I have 20 5 prong relays to power everything. I found a place sells real carbon fiber panels for not much more than vinyl wrap. Yeah I'm a perfectionist so... doesn't help I'm an inspector for a very large company that makes big green machines. So that eye for perfection serves me well...lol. I'm trying to reinvent the wheel or ao it seems with my fuse boxes lol

Yeah I worry about destroying the alpha 1 with the 6.0 but i know its more about how you drive it

Sdg can you post a link of where you found the carbon fiber? Real fiber>vinyl haha the real stuff is always better. I have seen a tread on a another forum about how to make it and mold your self. I'll have to dig it up but it was very Interesting!

http://www.protechcomposites.com/

They have the real stuff.

http://autovinylsolutions.com/

They have the vinyl. I've used the Di noc stuff and its thick

some recent updates


Hmmm... for some reason I feel like something is missing....
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I'm going to be followng a similar design to the new statments dash.

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this is my new sheet of real carbon fiber. I'll be mounting all my switches onto panels made out of this stuff. I love the shine on it.

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I spent most of the day wiring up my new fuse and relay panel. So I didnt get much building done today as anyone who has ever rewired a fuse box knows it takes a long long time to redesign one of those things. but after I'm done its going to look great. everything is run off of relays now nothing will be direct off of the switches. I'll be running new controls for my hatch actuator as well. that will have its own smaller relay panel just for that. All of it will be hidden but easy access once I'm done. the only down side to boats is that everything has to have a ground wire. I do miss having a chassis ground to work with. but I have tons of heavy wire from years of car audio work. Maybe I should run some 4/0 wire....lol no voltage issues with that stuff...lol sadly that stuff is bigger than the battery posts... :lolhit:

I can almost see your face in the one pic! damn that some high quality fiber! nice work! keep it going!

I'm impressed by it. I've never seen a shine like that on $14 worth of carbon fiber before. I'll be buying more from them. I ordered more of my switches but those get expensive quick lol. $16 each and I'll be using 11 to 13 of them. I'd love to be able to buy it all at once but having to be an adult and pay bills kind of trumps toys. If I can get some of my stuff sold that will free up some cash. I am hoping to have enough to get my motor soon. This weekend I should get some actual building done. I got bumped to 2nd shift at work so that slows down my progress since its been near 100 degrees all week. I knew I should have built my garage instead of buying a new car for the wife..lol. :lolhit: oh well she's happy and I got a boat to play with. More updates soon... I hope :)

dang that's gonna look sweet. giving me some good ideas for mine, lol. im working on mine at my parents under that dinky tent thing. trying to decide whether to get garage up or finish boat before winter cause it wont be long til its here.

Well I'd love to have mine built. But at 25x 45 its not going to be cheap. I picked up some fiberglass resin and some mat along with 1/4 exterior grade birch for making my curved panels. As long as the heat lets up I should get some work done.

Can you take a pic of your relay set up? I have a bunch of switches just like those that light up blue when depressed. Was thinking of using them but my electrical engineering is not the best if it isn't direct wiring like a stereo. Randy

Gladly. Relays are easy. I actually took the entire panel out of a truck. But ill snap a pic when I get home. All u need to know is on your relays 85 and 86 are power from your switch and the other is ground. 30 is 12v power in from the battery fused of course. 87 is power out to load ie lights or pumps or whatever else u want.

Thanks, where is Madrid, Iowa?

Just north of des moines on hwy 17 its a small town we only have one stop light. Lol but I'm from upstate NY so I love the quiet lol

your only about an hour & half away, You should bring your boat to the Missouri river when it's done. That would be fun. Randy

I might just have to do that. Although I think your eliminator is a touch faster than mine...lol. I really hope to get the majority of the framing done this weekend. I'm trying to decide if I want to run heavier gauge wire for power and ground. If I had more 4 awg I'd happily do it but I have 4/0... little overkill

Only when towed for now! Lol. Randy

Where did you get the switches??

Ebay lol. I'm using the 22mm switches they have them from 16-25mm. Make sure you get waterproof ones. Mine are stainless too. Pretty solid pieces but only have 5 amp rating so that's why I'm running a relay panel. Takes the load off thr switch.

got a link or description....have a feeling if I search switch on ebay I will get 4 billion hits...
Thanks

also whats the switch voltage?? Saw a couple that were rated 250v 5 amp. in the 12 volt world that equals 115 amps dc.

http://item.mobileweb.ebay.com/viewi...d=140912371957 that should work.

The led is rated at 12v. I'm pretty sure 115 amps would melt the switch...lol. the leads on accept 18-22 gauge wire lol. It states at the bottom its a 12v switch. It also states 5a/250v. I'm just saying the leads would in no way support high amps for more than a few seconds before melting. Lol