scarab 31 viper
 

Hello

I have bought an empty,91 scarab viper hull,it was rigged with bravo,s and BBC,s .

My question is ,Do all the Vipers have an hook in the bottem ?
there is some sort of pad in the bottem ,aprox 13 ft long,and 10 inches wide,and the hook is started +- 4 ft from the transom.

I was thinking to convert it to outboards,and use 2 x 250 mercury,s or maybe 3 x 250 merc,s if $$$ are enough.

Do you guys think I should remove the hook with outboards ?

When completely empty I found out this hull isn,t that heavy,I didn,t weight her on a scale ,but she feels like 2500 LBS empty.

I have 1 BBC blower engine with 750 hp and 2 bravo,s,and could also decide to buy another BBC and go the original IO way.

Also I have 2 x SSM #4 drives that I can use ,but then I need to move the engine,s more forward to make some room for gearboxes.

What do you think ?

Sterling

The Viper should not have a hook in the bottom. This may have something to do with the way the boat was stored but they were not built that way. The pad you are referring to is what is known as a "delta pad". Many scarabs over the years have been built with delta pads or modified delta pads. The pad helps them run faster by creating a flat survace for them to run on at higher speeds. To run them quick, th trick is to keep the boat balanced on the pad while running.

I think you are right ,I took a closer look under the hull,and it seems that someone did made that into the ,,pad,,
if I take a straith edge ,you can seeit start exactly 4 ft from the transom,and they made it rounded off at the transom.
so its not totally flat where it meets the transom.

I cant post a pic here to show you how it looks like.

thx sterling

Not sure about the viper but I have a 94 29 and my bud has a 96 29. The 96 has a hook and the 94 does not! Both boats were optioned the same way , 270 hp carb 350 mags and alphas , bennett dual ram tabs. I always wondered whats up with that?

I know exactly what you are talking about. That is a modified delta pad. they are rounded at the stern to prevent the boat from landing as hard as if the pad was completely flat. Trickier to balance the boat on though.

Hunster, are you talking about the wedge molded into the bottom of the boat between the outer strake and the chine, or are you talking HOOK?

I know high perf hulls need as much support as they can get to avoid hull shape,but it doesn,t look like its out of shape
I found also the center stringer that hold both engines up in the center is a massive 20 inches high and 3,5 inches wide beam glassed in ,exactly where the hook is,so that must be done all right by the manufacturer ?

Should I remove the hook if I go for a set outboards (2x 250 hp) ?

I was hoping to get it on a straith pad at full throttle to lift it as high as possible ....

thx sterling