Boxes on a 40 OUTLAW

[ozarkdevil]

I am wanting to add a pair of extension boxes to my
40 OUTLAW but I am not finding much info on 40's with boxes. I have a pair of whipple charged 525 motors with XR outdrive and my prop shaft height is 4.5" (factory) from bottom of boat. I think I would like to use the Stellings boxes for the flexibility in prop shaft height and keep the stock lowers. Any ideas or suggestions to get me headed in the right direction would be great.

[J.T.]

Hawkeye has had a couple 40's w/boxes,
you may want to check with them.

If you are indeed at 4.5" now, you could be ok
with the stellings and stock lowers.

Mine ( on a 33) are at 3" with the boxes, set in the middle hole,
I would think that you might want them a tick lower on a 40 though.

After driving a friends 40 w/575's last fall and it had to be trimmed
to the max to get it loosen up, boxes might not be a bad idea.


Something else you'll want to figure in is some mods to the
steering ( externally)will be required.

[ozarkdevil]

Hawkeye has had a couple 40's w/boxes,
you may want to check with them.

If you are indeed at 4.5" now, you could be ok
with the stellings and stock lowers.

Mine ( on a 33) are at 3" with the boxes, set in the middle hole,
I would think that you might want them a tick lower on a 40 though.

After driving a friends 40 w/575's last fall and it had to be trimmed
to the max to get it loosen up, boxes might not be a bad idea.


Something else you'll want to figure in is some mods to the
steering ( externally)will be required.

From what I have read a 4.5" (factory) prop shaft depth is pretty shallow w/o boxes.I even went and measured twice to make sure it was right. Maybe that is the culpred to my high prop slip #'s. Even @ 4.5" I have no problems at all getting on plane.

You say you are in the middle hole so I would assume there is 3 holes and that I should start in the bottom hole? Or around 3.5"-4" P.S. depth.

[Griff]

There are 3 holes on Stellings. The bottom hole will raise the box the most.

[J.T.]

The top hole, lowest setting, is neutral, zero raise.

The middle is 1" up

The bottom is 2" up


I've heard of mixed stories with running in the bottom hole
( highest position) with excessive u-joint angles and such, but
never have heard a defineative answer on that.

Whenever you move it back, you need to move it up.


Where your at now, I'd set them in the middle hole.

[WOTW2E]

There was some fabrication done at the Baja level to make the switchable exhaust work with the stellings boxes. It seems to me that they had to do some machining on the inner transom plate for clearance. I was thinking there was an aluminum piece (cast maybe??) that bolted to the transom assembly and offset the 12" back inside the boat but JT, your saying this is a rubber hose?...trying to jar my memory here.....I'll make a couple calls tomorrow to see what I can dig up.

The typical twin 40 was cut at 18" on the X corresponding to just slightly more than 4.5" below the bottom on the 15deg transom.

The cutout in the center for the stellings box is different from the standard bravo. It can get pretty tight in there if you choose to leave the water supply feed from the drive. You may want to consider going with external pickups. This allows you to raise the drives as high as possible and only worry about slip and speed with no regard for water pressure and quantity.

The stellings boxes do require a significant change to the steering mechanics on the back of the boat. The rams moved to the outside of the drives above the tabs if I remember correctly. There were very large triangular stainless plates that bolted to the top of the drives. All components were "off the shelf" so to speak from Latham.

I agree with JT that Hawkeye would be a good contact for performance gain estimations and test props. Don't be afraid to go to high (using external water pickups) on the X. The five blade large diameter props such as Maximus were designed for just this type of application.

[J.T.]

I'm fairly shure it's a rubber exhaust hose.

I've got my engines out now, I'll take a peek at it again


Me and the boat love the Maximus's, but the drives really
don't care for them

[ozarkdevil]

I'll make a couple calls tomorrow to see what I can dig up.


You may want to consider going with external pickups.


The stellings boxes do require a significant change to the steering mechanics on the back of the boat. The rams moved to the outside of the drives above the tabs if I remember correctly.



I have external pickups, I have outdrive low water pickup and transom pickups tied together to the sea pump then I also have external pickups to my Whipple coolers. Do I not need the low water pickups on the outdrive?

I will have to move my steering rams to the outside of the boxes?

Will I be able to use my original inner transom plate.

[ozarkdevil]

I'm fairly shure it's a rubber exhaust hose.

I've got my engines out now, I'll take a peek at it again


Me and the boat love the Maximus's, but the drives really
don't care for them

Why do you have your engines out?

I have real high prop slip #'s as it is now, hopefully I can get them down with a box. I do have a set of Maximus props but I would like to stay away from them do to outdrive breakage issues.

[WOTW2E]

If you have external pickups, you should not need to y in the water from the drive. That will simplify your install slightly. The external pickups should supply more than enough water to cool the engine, especially considering you have a second set to feed the intercoolers.

Just got some more information regarding the exhaust. As it turns out, there are 2 castings, one that bolts to the transom assembly and another one inside the boat that the y pipe mounts to. As JT noted, they are connected with a rubber hose. There is machining that has to be completed for clearance on both the inner transom plate AND the extension box itself. The bad news is that the castings are no longer available and the company that did the machine work no longer has the capability.

IMO it would not be wise to use the merc inner transom plate. It is much thinner than the stellings piece. The boxes add additional leverage to the interaction between the drive and the boat transom. I would want as much strength as possible in that area.

http://www.lathammarine.com/sterndri.../KPLT-7418.htm

This link is a picture of the top plate Latham uses for the stellings boxes (7409 & 7418). They are set up to be outside the drives. The rams travel fore and aft, almost inline with the centerline of the boat as compared to the standard set up which mounts between the drives at ~40 deg angle.

[J.T.]

Those look like the brackets on mine, but they're
between the drives

[J.T.]

Why do you have your engines out?

Head gasket started to go on the port engine, so rather than
mess with it in the boat, I pulled them out, now I'm in the process
of freshening both of them up.

[WOTW2E]

...they're between the drives

Yep, your right, good info. Evidently the plates can be switched on a twin from what Latham designates them as, R to L and L to R. Maybe it was the triple setup that had to be moved outboard? Either way, good info.

[ozarkdevil]

http://www.lathammarine.com/sterndrive-mounting-plates/KPLT-7418.htm[/url]

This link is a picture of the top plate Latham uses for the stellings boxes (7409 & 7418). They are set up to be outside the drives. The rams travel fore and aft, almost inline with the centerline of the boat as compared to the standard set up which mounts between the drives at ~40 deg angle.

I called Latham marine today to check on top plate adapters to make my external steering to work with boxes and by the time it was all said and done it was going to cost me $2045.00. I asked the guy if that included the boxes too, he chuckled but I wasn't. Does this sound right?

[MattBMiller]

Sounds about right... Boxes aren't cheap.

[ozarkdevil]

Has anyone ever used a Imco side mount Ram Bracket on a Stellings box? Can this be done or is there something I am missing. Also the Ram bracket will need to be mounted in the center of the drives(twins). I measured my Hyd. rams and they are a .25 inch shorter(all in & all out) than the ones Imco sells. I was told that a little shorter is ok but a little longer might cause the ram to jackknife against the outdrive when turning. Any tips would be help full.

[MattBMiller]

Has anyone ever used a Imco side mount Ram Bracket on a Stellings box? Can this be done or is there something I am missing. Also the Ram bracket will need to be mounted in the center of the drives(twins). I measured my Hyd. rams and they are a .25 inch shorter(all in & all out) than the ones Imco sells. I was told that a little shorter is ok but a little longer might cause the ram to jackknife against the outdrive when turning. Any tips would be help full.

These?

[ozarkdevil]

These?

Yes, but that is a Imco box and I wasn't sure if the Imco ram bracket could be mounted on a Stellings box with out causing issues.

[MattBMiller]

Yes, but that is a Imco box and I wasn't sure if the Imco ram bracket could be mounted on a Stellings box with out causing issues.

As long as the sides of the Stellings boxes have a flat surfaceon the sides, I don't see why not. What length rams are you using? I can measure mine for you if you want.

[J.T.]

Has anyone ever used a Imco side mount Ram Bracket on a Stellings box? Can this be done or is there something I am missing. Also the Ram bracket will need to be mounted in the center of the drives(twins). I measured my Hyd. rams and they are a .25 inch shorter(all in & all out) than the ones Imco sells. I was told that a little shorter is ok but a little longer might cause the ram to jackknife against the outdrive when turning. Any tips would be help full.

A friend of mine has the side mount brackets on Stellings boxes
on his 36 O/L, but they're mounted on the outside.

The slightly shorter length will result in slightly less turning radius,
but, how often do you ever crank the wheel to the stops ?
....probably not very often.