New Owner Scarab II Question
 

Picked up a nice 1982 Scarab II out of the Chicago area and brought it down to here to SE Florida a few months ago. Just getting everything dialed in now. My concern is that at WOT the boat seems to get overly "squirrely;" almost as if there is play in the steering. It feels as if a minor input in the wheel creates significant oversteer and then the bow plants and it feels like it could easily get out of control. This is on smooth ICW water. Just wondering if this is normal or something I should investigate. It has T454 330's and TRS outdrives, power steering, quicksilver 3 blade stainless props. Any direction would be appreciated.

Could be a few things. I would first check your gimbals. See how worn out they are. Check up and down, and side to side play. Also, check for cable slop, or any other worn parts on the steering system on the inside of the transom. Sometimes the pin that attaches to the tiller arm gets really loose and worn out

After owning boats with full hydraulic steering, i would never go back to the old cable style.

I agree with Mid Thunder, also check you tie bar play and adjustment, I switched from Mirage 3 blade props to Hydromotive Q-IV's made a huge differance, them I went ti full hydralic steering and I can run "NO HANDS @ 70+ MPH.. NOT THAT I DO !!!:drink::lolhit:

thanks for the replys! now, can i determine gimbal play by just grabbing ahold of the outdrive and checking for excessive movement up/down, left/right or is it more involved? ill get in the engine compartment and check the other things as well. tie bar looks to be solid, ball joint ends are mint and all hardware seems to be tight.

the outdrives seem to be tight. the port side has about 1-2mm play if I lift up on it, the right seems to have none. dont know if this is an issue or not. on the transom side, the steering seems to have a little play where the cable attaches to the power steering mechanism. the big giant bolt in the center of this photo is what i am referencing. seems to have about .25" play in both directions.http://i761.photobucket.com/albums/x...3/100_0140.jpg

Scarab II steering
 

I have had Scarab II for a long time and am very satisfied with it. The cost repairing cumulative wear and the upkeep on the internal steering is more or as much as going to hydraulic steering. I found steering to be more of an issue in calm water than rough. I also found it only gets worse. Ford once used a similar design for power steering and abandoned it for the same reasons.

I also notice the same issue in calm water. Are your props spinning in or out? There was some discussion about that recently.

Scarab steering
 

The props are spinning out. At first steering became a bit unstable after 60 mph. I decided on watchful waiting while I researched the problem. About every 50 hours of operation speed at which things became unstable dropped 10 mph. By the time I was having problems at over 40 I had located enough parts to make hydrualic steering. The most difficult part was removing the old system and installing the new helm.

I still have the old parts and individually they are not in bad shape; however when assembled there is significant slop in the system

sounds like the solution is going to be hydraulic steering. im not ready for the financial commitment to that project just yet as the boat, manifolds, risers, and waterpumps put a dent in the upgrade fund. hopefully it will stay together until i regroup!