Tell me your thoughts on this boat

[drpete3]

http://www.boattrader.com/listing/19...RACER-96149089

My concern is the 850 hp motors and needing service after little use. Obviously the paint and interior look very nice. How about the 3a drives...any concern there and why would they have chosen the 3a's?

[CRT]

I have IIIA's on my Top Gun. Superior Drive to the Bravo to handle the 850HP motors that the cafe has. Don't see many with this setup. The IIIA's are reliable up to 1000HP. Harder to get parts for these days. But they last, so if they are taken care of you should be good. Boat looks nice. Good luck.

[drpete3]

Why didnt they just use #6 drives?

[SKRAMER]

Awesome rig.. I would buy it.. You will love it. But maitenance is everything with that set up... Just my .02

[CRT]

Did CHIEF do the rebuilds??? If they did, I wouldn't hesitate. If someone else did the rebuilds, I would find out who. Chief sets up the motors to run reliable and they should see 300-400 hours, He usually sets up motors on the mild side?!

Maybe when the 502's were rebuilt, they were bored to a 509. Call Tommy. strange to claim 850 with no intercoolers

[ar15meister]

this one is for sale. This is the owner's boathouse boat was lift kept and freshwater since the early 90's.

750 Hawk's and #3's. Had 3A's and took them off; didnt think they were worth the issues such as hard to find parts, expensive props, etc.

I could get you in touch with the guy if you want. PM me.

[ar15meister]

[bigboat28]

How much are props for #3 drives?

[Chris]

Expensive. And getting harder to find any selection- small shafts.

The 3a is rated 800. At 1K they need constant oil changes and 50 hour re-shim/seal. And you will break them.

The problem with the engines is getting a real feel for what's going on inside. Documentation is everything.

P.S. Chief doesn't make a 502" 850. To get 850 out of 502" you need alot of expensive hardware and race gas. Like whipples/intercoolers. The Merc 700 is a 502 and even with the big pulley and ECM they only do 775.

[ar15meister]

The boat I posted was sold to my friend from Lip Ship with #3's. He Went to #3A's and went back to the #3's.

He couldnt get the boat to run as well with the 3A's as it did with the #3's because he couldnt get it propped right. Thats not to say it didnt run well with the #3A's because it did run pretty damn nice if you ask me.

Boat is now back to #3's and the right props.

[inbetween]

http://www.boattrader.com/listing/19...RACER-96149089

My concern is the 850 hp motors and needing service after little use. Obviously the paint and interior look very nice. How about the 3a drives...any concern there and why would they have chosen the 3a's?

That's a great looking cafe!

[drpete3]

So with the 3 a's that set up sounds like that is not for me. Well Im glad I asked you guys

[MrCig]

I don't think those drives are 3A's Look at the lowers. I thought all 3A's had Cresent lowers. Those look Like old 3's

Mark

[Tank]

that's a sweet looking Cafe. Those 3A's are fine with that motor set up.

I don't really think there's a parts issue with the SSM3A's. BAM has plenty of replacement parts. I was at Teagues a few months back and we were talking about 3A's (I have them on our Top Gun) and he said he can get whatever I need for service, parts, etc.

I personally think they are AWESOME drives. Baby 6's. One thing though, parts are EXPENSIVE! For example, 3k for a prop shaft! Ouch!

Why didn't they use 6's? Cost....6's are a lot more expensive.

[Ratickle]

I don't think those drives are 3A's Look at the lowers. I thought all 3A's had Cresent lowers. Those look Like old 3's

Mark

I agree. Here's a pic of one of my 3A's.

[Chris]

So with the 3 a's that set up sounds like that is not for me. Well Im glad I asked you guys

A 3A boat is going to be way easier to prop that an old 3 boat. You have every prop in the world available including custom CNC selections. Finding what's laying around for the small shaft is going to be tough. And with the only difference being shaft diameters, what works on the 3 will work on the 3A

I don't think those drives are 3A's Look at the lowers. I thought all 3A's had Cresent lowers. Those look Like old 3's

Mark

They are absolutely the old bullet-bottom 3's. I believe discontinued in '83 for the crescents.

[Tank]

I don't think those drives are 3A's Look at the lowers. I thought all 3A's had Cresent lowers. Those look Like old 3's

Mark

Here's a shot of our 3A's (I gave up on trying to keep the lowers polished!!). I could never tell the difference between the two, except when you pull the props off. Smaller shaft. And from what I understand the 3A's have twin vertical shafts like the 6's and the 3's have a single shaft ?

[Ratickle]

How are you doing Pete?

My opinion;

You need to get then to count the splines on the drive to see if it is a 19, 3 drive, or a 26 (7?) 3A drive.

They, or a lot of people, don't use 6's because of the cost difference between a 3A and a 6. Double or more for the 6.

3A is a much better drive than a 3. They were built later, the shafts are bigger, they will handle more horsepower. I'm surprised there was an issue with finding props. The large shaft uses the same prop as the 4 and 5, usually a large selection out there. Plus the shorter 4 and 5 leg will bolt to the 3A if you ever wanted to do some really fine tuning with prop height etc.

The price seems high for what it is in this market.

You would need to know the rebuilder 50 hours ago and review what was done with them. Otherwise plan on spending $5 per engine and doing the freshen over. Not worth replacing a $30,000+ engine if the rebuilds can't be documented from a reputable shop.

Chris is right, 850 from 502 cubes is pushing it. May be some Serious boost there which would be tough on the engines without the proper intercoolers.

Check it out. Others on here would have a better idea of its value in this market than I. PM Tank for one, he follows Cigs really close, and happens to own a really sweet one.

[Tank]

How are you doing Pete?

My opinion;

You need to get then to count the splines on the drive to see if it is a 19, 3 drive, or a 26 (7?) 3A drive.

They, or a lot of people, don't use 6's because of the cost difference between a 3A and a 6. Double or more for the 6.

3A is a much better drive than a 3. They were built later, the shafts are bigger, they will handle more horsepower. I'm surprised there was an issue with finding props. The large shaft uses the same prop as the 4 and 5, usually a large selection out there. Plus the shorter 4 and 5 leg will bolt to the 3A if you ever wanted to do some really fine tuning with prop height etc.

The price seems high for what it is in this market.

You would need to know the rebuilder 50 hours ago and review what was done with them. Otherwise plan on spending $5 per engine and doing the freshen over. Not worth replacing a $30,000+ engine if the rebuilds can't be documented from a reputable shop.

Chris is right, 850 from 502 cubes is pushing it. May be some Serious boost there which would be tough on the engines without the proper intercoolers.

Check it out. Others on here would have a better idea of its value in this market than I. PM Tank for one, he follows Cigs really close, and happens to own a really sweet one.

Thanks bro!......And it's for sale!

[10x]

Both boats are super nice. The 3's can use the 26 spline (#5 & 6 ) props as long as you use the prop adaptors which are available from Arneson. It's nothin more than an 19 spline to 26 spline adaptor that goes into the large shaft prop to slip over the small shaft (19 spline) prop shaft.
The parts are still available for both, but the #3 stuff is getting harder to come across than the 3A stuff. Like has been said, Chief does'nt build a 502/850 hp engine. Maybe he "redid" a current one, but I'd take that with a grain of salt before I believed it. You need to get the build sheet #'s and call Tommy before you believe anything. I'm sure if those engines make an honest 850 hp, they're running alot of boost which will require intercoolers. Personally, I'd rather have the Hawk 750's. They're a way under rated hp engine. I've got a pr that make a lil over 800 hp the way they came from Hawk. All top of the line components inside. They also pushed an early top gun to 89 on the GPS with SSM III's and 3 blade props.