I've been looking to buy an older 34 to have some fun with...but I'm not familiar with the scarabs, there are none around here to even look at....

I've looked at a few 83's, and one 90...what year did they change to the more modern, (for something 20 years old) 90s style interior? I mean the rounded seats, the white dash...

performance wise, are there some engines to stay away from?

I currently run a 21 donzi with 330 hp, borg warner and trs drive, I love that package, so I'm looking at 34's with the same driveline, or similar, trs, bw, and higher hp...

can anyone give me some advice or opinions? should I stay away from the bravo drives?

No comments?

The older 34 Scarab III seem to have a bad reputation in terms of quality. I think they got a little better with the 34 Scarab Excel in the late 80's, style was much improved too like you are asking about. Wellcraft quality got alot better by the late 90's but I think they stopped making the 34 in the early/mid 90's....

Zekester,Dont pay any attention to the crap about a bad reputation of the boat.... The reason why most boats go bad is because someone flogged the dog **** out of the boat,did not take care of it and did not maintain it in a proper manner!!! That can happen with any boat! Not just Wellcraft...
Most people have no idea how to buy a used boat and they wind up buying a junker or a lemon because it looks nice..
Never looking at the inside or too cheap to have the boat surveyed.That will get you the kind of talk above in the foreum..
Wellcraft and Larry Smith were the leaders in the industry for 35+ years and held many racing championships ...They sold a great product and many boats were built,That alone speaks for itself
I had the honor of knowing a lot of these people in the industry and I worked for one of the biggest Scarab dealers in the country---- Copper Kettle Marina ..
I can tell you I do not take kindly to a lot of people trashing Wellcraft and Scarab--- most of these people who trash them don't know Jack!!!!! or had a bad experience with the lemon they purchased......... A good example is above---A zodiac made in France and a 9 h.p. nissan out board made in Japan.I'll bet he knows a lot!!!
As soon as I calm down I will get back to you with some suggestions..

Jim

Jim,

I appreciate your comments and enthusiasm for your boats. Rest assured that my comments above were from experience. I have owned Wellcraft Scarabs and I have owned 38 Larry Smith Scarab. Having owned both, I believe they represent quite different approaches to boat building and share very little other than Larry's bottom design. I hesitate to lump them together in any way with regards to boat building. I've met Larry once or twice and listened to a few of his stories and perspectives. He is an impressive boat designer. I've also spent time at their layup facility here on the West coast watching how they do things.

But about my comment regarding questionable quality of the 80's Wellcrafts, I am pretty sure many on here share my view, also from their personal experiences. In fact, it is my opinion that many of the "volume" boat builders (including Wellcraft's competitors) skimped significantly in the area of quality construction during that period. Conversely, the custom boat builders retained their high quality approach and many of those boats are still strong today. Things seemed to get better in general towards the mid 90's. Quality seemed to become a popular buzzword about then with autos and everything else. Boat building quality improved at many companies who were previously pushed hard by their bean counters to focus on costs. That is my opinion and the original poster asked for opinions.

I would suggest that you not assume to know the experience level, or lack of it, of someone whom you've never met. No offense taken here, but remember you're not the only person with experience owning a Scarab...

On a final note, I still think the best hull for Mr. Zekester above would be the early-mid 90's 34 Excel. The style was updated inside and out from it's predecessor, the Scarab III. Not very many around but price is very reasonable when they come around. Most have 454 magnum engines and early bravos. I think build quality would be fair, but would be a nice reliable setup for a reasonable cost.

Good luck Zekester,
Jody

I remember the day I flew with my dad up to the Tampa Boat show, the star attraction was the Wellcraft Display. That day he bought a 43' Wellcraft Portofino for $186,000 USD (that was in 1987) parked next to it was one AWESOME looking boat which was a 38KV Scarab.

I OWN both of these boats today--My Portofino can hold her own against a lot of HIGH dollar cruisers, and my Scarab 38KV gets all kinds of compliments, in fact last weekend I ran Galveston Bay with another 1987 WELLCRAFT 38KV Scarab that was all original--NOT ONE THING REPLACED since new! The boat looked great and we were running with the big dogs.

I personally have had ZERO issues with either boat. I do not know why some have to dog Wellcraft so much--but I presonally remeber they were TOP DOG for many years in boat building.

I just moved to Texas and see NUMEROUS old school Scarab II's and III's running around! even some old 377's.... I can't say if Wellcraft built some bad boats, but I can say the 38KV and my Portofino are WORLD CLASS MACHINES!

Get a good survey, and enjoy the hell out of them!

CIGBOAT AND jETDOCK speak the truth.. I have owned one of the first ScarabIII's a 1983 for 11 years, this boat has all original transon and stringers, surveyed numerous times for insurance reasons, and is rock solid,,as all it depends on how it was kept. and is a great lake crusher.. World champions for many years.. thats WELLCRAFT SCARAB!!!!

I have an 89 ScarabIII and i have always thought it was a fantastic boat. To be honest its more comfortable for long weekends then the 38 DonziZX i have. Its no where near it in terms of quality but for what it is its a fantastic boat. Well layed out and a pretty solid boat. I refer to mine as the Griswold Family Truckster for the water , she is going back into service later this month. I pulled it from the fleet a year or so ago for fresh stringers and transom. I re set the transoms the other day and pulled two inches out of the X dimension. Mine is a completely stock 365 Mag boat with about 300 original hours, all original gel and stripes to. Shes a cream puff . . . . .

I've owned a 1990 34' Scarab Excel since '95, and I just can't say enough good things about the boat. From a quality standpoint, I don't have any issues. The boat is built like a tank, and accordingly runs like one in the water, slow but solid.

I believe 1990 was just about when they stopped using teak for trim, this gave the boat a more modern look. They also added a bolt on fiberglass swim platform which improved the appearance of the model.

That particular platform however wrapped around the sides of the boat and looked great, but it was a poor design. Waves hitting the side of the boat while underway will flex the hull where the caulk seam is (where the sides of the platform meet the side of the hull near the stern). You can figure out what comes next, and it happened to me during a poker run. It's an oyster bed somewhere in the middle of the Chesapeake Bay. Basically, if you find one with a bolt on swim platform, replace it with a new tubular design.

What's most important is how well the owner has taken care of their boat. It's a lot of work to keep up with the effects of time, weather and the pounding. You need to keep after it, tightening stuff up, fixing things that break, replacing worn parts, nothing out of the ordinary.

With an old boat, you have to expect stuff and be ready to make the investment. I have some 900+ hours on mine now. More than likely you'll have projects ahead of you, could be engines, could be new vinyl, paint, new gauges, etc., but for the most part, those are all wear and tear related.

Forgot to mention a couple other things. The picts of my boat above show it with both the molded platform, and the new tubular design. The gel, paint, trim, everything you see other than the platform are from 1990.

My interior vinyl project was 2007, just an example of what we did to eliminate the gray, and add a grab handle to the main bolster.

One of the picts below shows the design issue I eluded to with the swim platform. The caulked seam was something I would tend to each season. I'd tighten up the screws that held it tight to the side, and add a small bead of caulk to keep water from getting behind it. Forgot to check it, and to tighten the screws one year.

Hope this helps, good luck in your search.