Well it might be close to ending this thread. The Panther spent the majority of the summer as an organ donor. The power was pulled out and transplanted into my new project hull, a 37' Active Thunder. After spending a couple of months this summer fully rigged a bare hull. Good thing it was a bravo boat the Panther is still intact. I have a line on some 502 Efi's to replace the 454's so I can sell it. Should be an easy winter project.
http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e3...828_145843.jpg

Kinda sad! :(

ole white knuckle's gonna make someone a great boat.

Yeah, I've had it for years. I don't know if I can sell it. It don't need to.
A lot of blood sweat and tears...
Oh, I forgot $$$$, lol
It should. Now that the power is out I checked the transom and stringers out. They're still pretty solid. I have always joked about how I'm eventually going
to need to redo them, but they are actually quite solid. My new AT... not so much. Transom soon in that.

2 months of hard work and the transplant was a success. Just working a few issues out of the new boat.
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http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e3...925_132725.jpg

This thread is filled with awesome information....I'm very interested in purchasing a late 80s panther, what are some thing to look for or look out for? Does anyone know anything in regards to the two in the classified section? Any info would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks, I'd look out for anything that you should on any boat that old. Stringers, transom, deck/hull bonding, steering cable, pivot pins, tiller slop, transom assy slop and engine leak down. The ones in the classifieds look great.

Well I decided to resurrect the old girl and this thread :) I bought new old stock power. Back to the original 420's that I had originally.
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http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e3...8_163552_1.jpg

I have an 85 panther that the bottom has been done the engine compartment stringers were replaced the transom was replaced forward stringers are wet so I cut the floor out and stringers the hard work is done. all you will need to do is re install stringers. I am selling the hull and trailer looking at something bigger and newer if you are interested . pm me

in what corner of the mother lovin world did you find 2 original 420's

a month ago i'd a given either ball for 1 that wasn't all frankensteined up or really wasn't even a 420 to begin w/

nice find

Craigslist locally, guy is re-powering an '89 35' TRS Formula. One is drop in running the other needs a rebuild (crank and pistons 0.060" over). Since I have them out I might upgrade to hydraulic roller cams.

3.5 yrs later the Panther is going to be resurrected. Should be back on the water this spring! The new mills are Merc 420's with upgraded Gen VI 500 EFI hydraulic roller cams.

https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.off...9b0c5e5f5.jpeg

https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.off...7b95c83c3.jpeg

Don't know how I missed this. What kinda horses and speed are you hoping for Jason?

I never could figure out what my problem was with my 30' til we got back from the bahamas in June. (I never could figure out why my left motor wouldn't turn the rpm's the right side would) l I broke my left U joint and had to cripple back from the other side of bimini. When I got the boat back home I pulled the left drive off and looked at the carnage. For kicks I turned the the left prop one round and watched what was left of the yoke. It turned about 1.25 turns. In other words the whole time I had the boat my drives were mismatched. Rt. side was 1.5x:1, Lt side 1.2x:1. That boat would still run 70mph with the wrong drive on the Lt side with about 500hp with 25pitch mirage props. I wish I knew what the problem was earlier. I'm putting those motors in my 38 project.

Those 30' scarabs are cool boats. I always liked the looks of yours and am glad to see you getting it back together.

Thanks Heath, I have always loved the lines of the Panther and was my dream boat growing up. It's going to be tough selling it when the time comes.
I'm hoping to see low to mid 70's with the new power, should be ~460HP. All TRS drives are 1.50 ratio I have heard of a TRS diesel drive that was 1.33 you might have found the Sasquatch.
A couple of pics from the last time I was on the water.
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Nice work.its nice to see that kinda work from someone who’s not an expert

Just a quick update. Progress has been a little slow on the Panther while I have been tearing apart my Active Thunder. I did get my engines in the other day, made new oil lines, 3D printed oil cooler mounts and received my new oil coolers. Hopefully have it back on the water next week.
https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.off...f3d230f36a.jpg
https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.off...089c9ac5e1.jpg

https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.off...1d2a0b3751.jpg

Looking good.

Thanks, I'm getting closer. It has been a tedious task getting all new hardware (nuts, bolts, washers), building new -10AN oil and -8AN fuel lines, paint brackets, pumps, match up belts and hoses. I just need to clean up some wiring and should fire them in the boat tomorrow. Water test sometime this week.
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https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.off...ce31fd69f.jpeg

Very nice! Best of luck at the splash.

Hopefully take her out tomorrow or Sunday for a shakedown. Just filled up with 70 gallons of fuel.

https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.off...680b93ead9.jpg

Finally back on the water. Have a few gremlins that will need to be sorted out. Alternator not charging, burning rubber smell, bleed out a little air in the hydraulic steering, water pump to intake bypass hose popped off and maybe a new battery. The new 500 EFI cams sound great and seem to have nice torque. The Craigslist props hooked up nicely. Only ran it up to 3800 for a bit till noticed batteries were not charging. In conclusion it was a successful shakedown.
https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.off...3cb15cf504.jpg
https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.off...742d2476bd.jpg

I saw your 37 yesterday, she’s looking sweet!

Thanks, it's been a ton of work between the 37 and the Panther this summer.

Sounds good. Get it fixed up and shoot us a video. :)

well, little work here and there is part of the game !

LOL, Just a little work here and there... remember I do all this work myself. I don't have the team Heath has. He has a well oiled machine going on ;)
The 37 https://www.offshoreonly.com/forums/...uild-help.html

I do have video. Just don't know how to upload it.

Spent the day on Lake Michigan on WK. Ran it up to 4800-5000 for a bit. I'm not liking the water temps and oil temps. I'm going to pull the thermostats and drill some holes in them and restrict the bypass hose. Hopefully cooling the blocks down another 30°F will drive down the oil temps a bit. Also on one engine when hot after long run the oil pressure drops to 10psi at 600 RPM. It recovers to 40psi at 1000 RPM. It might just be the sender. Pressure is 60-70 hot while running. Might cut the filter apart after next run.

you need a youtube channel free easy to start, edit video and upload. If i can do it !

what props did you pick up and what results did you see at that 4800-5000 run up ?

my 84 "may she rest in piece" had 330's w/cam intake carb exhaust turned 25 mirage plus 4200 and ran 63
you should be haulin balls

edit in, rpm must have been higher, slip is too low with rpm first listed.
no one cares but there is one more box i can look in for those notes.

Standard Mirage 25's. I saw 68mph do not know what RPM was at that speed. Too busy driving and looking at gauges. I wasn't trimming and ringing it out trying for a speed run, Should be able to achieve low 70's around 5200.

This boat is totally different from my AT. Definitely needs to be driven.

After years of use and a few engine swaps the carpet runners have seen better days. I decided to put down some of that seadeck type EVA foam. Looks better than the pic shows. The whole dash/front of the boat is black. I'll get it all cleaned up and take some better pics.
https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.off...2246ce368e.jpg

Looks real nice Jason. Are you using the scarab this season?

That is the plan. Sadly I haven't been boating much this season. Just twice out on friends cruiser. I have fired them up and checked the fluids if that counts.

Tell me about it. Last boating I did in a powerboat of mine was crippling back on one motor from bimini summer before last. At some point I'll get on the water.

Ran WK all weekend with no issues. The new engines ran flawless. Put about 60 some miles on her.

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https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.off...42109ef846.jpg

Rookie,
where do you typically boat at

Remember seeing that boat years ago in GH.
Did not realize it was a Panther

Usually out of Grand Haven. Head up to Muskegon or down to Holland or Saugutuck. I bring it up to Torch and have been going to Croton/Hardy Hot Boat since 2003. It's been in moth balls since mid 2016. Just got it back together.

Lol, Yup it's a Panther. It's been around there forever. I bought it in 2003.

Decided to leave the AT home today and give WK a shakedown before it goes to its new home. Ran flawless as always.
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https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.off...aba8d91033.jpg

Rookie,

A Panther was the first boats that put us on our heels on Cumberland.

I grew up on a 21' Nordic day cruiser with a 900HP 482/6-71 V-drive that dad built from the hull up in '76. We ran ~85MPH on a good day. There were a (damned) few boats on the lake that we knew of that could take us, but, with the exception of those and one of our regular boating friends (22' Shiada, twin turbo 482 V-drive w/ 3sp Linko trans), as a ~10yo, I thought we were near invincible. I remember we were running past Waitsboro at a strong cruise (~40MPH) and a boat much larger than ours, white with big black "PANTHER" on the side, went zipping past us. Needless to say, dad wasn't having anything of that, so he shoved the cavitation plate lever forward and stood on it. I was in heaven. About the time we were almost side-by-side with the Panther, the guy looks over at us, looks down at the throttles, mashes them, and left us like we'd dropped an anchor. Dad just let us settle in, and we idled along, looking at each other, and my dad said, "What the Hell just happened?" I think part of my childhood died that day. :faint2:

Thanks. Brad.