Wellcraft 26 Nova ST
 

It has the look of a Scarab.


Any comments?

heavy wave crusher for the size

I have a 90 Wellcraft Nova 26 ST. I've run it from one end of loto to the other. Theres not a nother 26 that will pass me.:cool-smiley-011:

Excellent Hull, takes some ponies to really get movin' though

All my buddys have bigger boats I have to run pretty hard to cruise with them. I'ts tough for what I've put it threw. Still a solid sounding hull with a mag.

I got one when my wife uncle passed away, He left her a sock
of cash and there was this Nova 2 that no one wanted, It was
in his barn in KANSAS and I was only used in fresh water.
I worked at Team Scarab in SoCal for a few years and made
a lot of trips to Wellcraft so I know a little about the History of
a number of their bottoms "GOOD EYE" and I had it hauled to
SoCal and its in my shop right next to my 26 Flat Deck Scarab.
Mike J

What year is your Nova Mike?

I absolutely love my Nova. I run with a lot of 311 Formula's and have no problem handling the same seas. I'm very impressed with what kind of waves that nose can push through.

I am looking for a set of bolster seats for my wellcraft nova 11 can anyone out there help.I have two buckets for sale in good condition with stands vending(paul)ph# 561-750-9747 any 24"bolster will do

Check with Premier Upholstery in Sarasota Fl.

We have quite a few bolsters. Go to our website www.ppi-fl.com to check them out. PPI's phone number is 941-752-6271.

I assume all Nova 26s are more or less the same? How fast would an '81 be with a pair of small blocks? Would you need big blocks to get into the 70s?
David

1200 Hp ... 26 Nova ST
 

I have a 1990 Nova ST with twin 600 plus engines ... raised the drives 1.5 inches ... it has run 91.4 on gps on a good day 88.7 any other day of the week. The thing is a rocket and can out accellerate just about any boat out there. It is a handfull to drive on flat water (chine walk) ... much better in a nice chop ... other mods include 24 inch tabs ... imco full hydraulic steering and XR drives with nose cones.

Mine does 60 on a good day, so big blocks for sure to get to 70

yours does 60 what kind of props are you running?

23p 3 blade clevers

oh I have 23p lazer 2's and they suck i dont think im near 60mph. Comes outta the water like crap. I bought 21p revolution 4's for this year hope they are better. I also only have stock 350 mags what do you have for engines?

Well no wonder... Brownie is the man behind that hull....

as far as I know he did the original hull which pretty much remained with slight cosmetic changes (deck hatch, companion way etc) thru 77, in 78 they used the same hull, but changed the deck enitrely to resemble the scarab, with twin engine hatches. the deisgnation remained a 250. the hull is recognizable by the rounded heavily flared bow and rounded keel. the area on the transome where the drives are also sticks out a bit from the rest of the transom. While not 100% sure, i believe the 25 and 26 are different hulls

asolek88, mine are 260hp's. Don't think their mags. Have alpha drives. I mean one alpha drive, the other one has been in the shop all winter getting rebuilt, but i guess you can't complain when you have over 600 hours and this is the first problem. This is my first twin boat , and I really like everything about it, gets on plane real easy and handles big water probably as good as any 26 out there.

I just bought a 1990 nova 26 ST on Monday and really like the lines. This isn't very tech-talk-ish, but first can anyone who has one post a photo of how the swim platform was originally supported? Mine is only supported with the 5 in-line bolts on the top and has too much wiggle without something lower where the side brackets are missing on mine.

Second, what are the gauges and switches? I'm going to need to replace several but am hoping to match the originals if possible.

Many thanks.

Never mind -- found a photo of the platform's original underside fiberglass pods. Haven't decided yet if I'll mold some replacements or just replace with metal brackets yet.

Next up is to figure out the make of the gauges and decide if I'll be able to replace some or have to replace all to have them match. Same for switches :(

I had the same problem. Lost one of my brackets. Found one on this site some one had and bought it.

Thanks nova 26! Much appreciated.

On yours do you find the small "stringers"/stiffeners under the engines trap everything spilled and any water that gets there, until it evaporates? It seems like they made a nice structure, but didn't provide a means for the water to drain out of the wells created by it - no weep holes in the fore-aft small members for water to get to the bottom of the bilge. Although maybe it's better for it to sit on the interior fiberglass than have the weep holes that allow the members themselves to start to rot.

I never understood why wellcraft did that ... I drilled mine ... made some inserts from cpvc water line , We sealed them in place ... now they drain down to the plug.

I have to be careful for what I wish for -- turns out my transom assemblies were toast - or at least the port side. So engines had to be hoisted out to install new transom assemblies, and now I get the opportunity to install weep holes on those small "stringer" stiffeners under the engines (will put inserts in with epoxy so no water gets into wood.) Good news is that the transom looks good. Was worried I would find something requiring even more work when pulling the transom assemblies, but was glad wood in transom looks good.

Inspecting closely while I have the room, I've found a single hollow sounding spot about 6" in diameter on the fiberglass bulkhead in front of the engine compartment (the bulkhead directly under the back of the back seat.) It's midway between where the fuel lines come through and the starboard side of the boat. The rest of the bulkhead seems fine from tapping the fiberglass every couple inches. Before I drill into this to check for delamination/wood issue with that bulkhead, has anyone seen this on their ST? (just want to make sure wellcraft didn't leave a "port" there in the bulkhead core for some reason and then fiberglassed it over in my boat before I make an unnecessary hole.)

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That's correct (at least in mine). It sounds like the trim limit switch needs adjustment or is bad on that outdrive.

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Here are a few pictures

http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f2...i/DSC03459.jpg

http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f2...i/DSC03461.jpg

http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f2...i/DSC03462.jpg

http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f2...i/DSC03463.jpg

http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f2...i/DSC03464.jpg

Ripper thats a damn nice looking boat!

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HEY! Thats A nice looking boat!!!! Brian its Alan, i Sold you the boat. There is small holes drilled on the underside on the engine hatch. Look closely im almost positive they are their. I think I also have the bracket where the lift cylinder connects to still at my house. I see you had some stumbling... Change those fuel filters I didnt do it this year I told you that. Dont bother with the plugs they are brand new last year along with the mallory high output distribuator, coil wires, and plugs.

Picked up the filters today, and a set of plugs just in case. This boat rides great! Its a lot of fun!

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Just curious - how much? I think I saw the ad for that boat, emailed seller with some questions but didn't get a response.

(I ended up putting an additional $8000 into my 26 so far with two new outdrives upper and lower and two new transom assemblies.)

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