Shiftless GEOO......

[Blewbyu]

Hey Geoo,
How do you rig a shifting Arneson?What kinda gearbox,and what do they weigh?Do they fit in engine bay of X-18,or did you consider any of this?
I wanna Arneson!!!!But I gotta SHIFT!Just wondering if I overcome all the obstacless-does the added weight destroy most of the speed advantage gained?
I'm probably a year down the road on this,but wd enjoy hearing your thoughts.
Regards-Jeff

[CDMA]

After an intense poker run in Geoo's 18 I too had to have one. The speed of Geoo's 18 is one thing but it is the handling that really is the unsung hero. At 85 mph you can literally take your hands off the wheel. I could drink coffee at 70 and the boat turns at 80 better than my boat turns at 30. I drove the thing and the ride is just undescribeable.

So I too was like you and had to shift. So I looked into it and a transmission WILL fit in the engine comaprtment. However to me it was an unacceptable solution. There was the weight which was not such a critical factor but it was the location of the weight. Center of Gravity is so important in a surface drive boat. So from there I looked at other alternative solutions. To me the best was was to mount the tranny in a transom "box" external to the hull. This would be sealed and so forth but it would aid tremendously in CG as well as another little know surface drive handling charecteristics. At my school ( Webb institiute of Naval Architecture) I have learned quiet a bit about surface drives. Mainly that the farther back the prop the better. So this was the route I settled on for my perfectly restored 18. However I looked into it further. With a little persuasion from Geoo I was talked out of it. It is a tremendous project and the 18 was just almost in a way too nice.

I started looking into a few other ideas including another 18 but the external tranny really is a job and I wanted to do it right. Not to mention I wanted something different. Geoo's boat is the most original as well as, and I don't say this lightly, the best single Donzi I have ever seen. It is not for everyone but to me it is the ultimate.

That being said I did buy a 22 to put the Arneson in instead. Which leads to another point...ever try to find one used..

Chris

PS pictures of the 22 are coming I promise

[Len]

Jeff, (Blewbyu) You might want to look into "Armstrong Marine" They were located in Victoria until about 2 years ago. They had been here about 10 years. They built many styles of ALUMINUM watercraft, mostly commercial taxis, small pilot boats and 25' offshore fish boats. (not like the "offshore florida boats" with 24 deg deadrise) These boats were and still are everywhere up here. The larger vessels had ARNESON ASD#6's as an option and there are some (more than a few) around here. The news here is that they folded up the shop in Sidney, B.C, left a trail of creditors and opened up shop in Washington somewhere. (your town)...This is recent stuff. If you locate them, they might have a "lead" on the location of a "used Arnie" as some boats/owners apparently had trouble with this configuration and converted to I/O. I know of a place here in town that has done a couple of I/O conversions but have no idea where the drives went. There was also a 19' early '80's Formula here with a 454 (car engine) and an Arnie on it but it was a "project boat" and he wanted $7000. Can for the whole mess. Just needed "MINOR" finishing. Yeah, right. It was in our Boat Journal (buy and sell) magazine. Don't have it handy. I'll ask a friend who owns a local boat repair shop if he knows of any whereabouts.

[GEOO]

Blewbyu,

Chris pretty much said it all.
With my set up with fresh water cooling in front of the engine, the transmission would be too tight. However, without a front mounted heat exchanger a transmission could work. The set up would be close to the factory installed TRS drive. The TRS uses a transmission mounted to the engine.
I replaced my fuel tank four years ago, if I were to do it now, I would move the tank back as far as possible, to move the CG back. GEOO

[Len]

Geoo. Would the few hundred extra pounds of a big block help this situation? Who makes the trannies? Here's what I've been looking at. http://www.h-ri.com/Product/ASD/ASD_04.html

Can't find any trans info.

[Looped]

Geoo,
Was that tank (40+ gallon) that you got from Donzi the new plastic or aluminum?

Craig

[GEOO]

Len, I like that site, very informative. You can use most transmissions. Borg Warner, etc..

Craig, I installed a 41 gal. Donzi replacement Alum. tank.
GEOO

[woodsy32]

I was looking into an Areneson for my old 18 Classic, before I picked up my new '22. I talked with a guy over at Arenson and they have an extension box that allows you to keep the engine in the stock location and still fit a transmission. It looked pretty slick, but as of 3 months ago it was not available for sale yet. This might help to solve your problem.

Dave

[Blewbyu]

While we're on this, does anyone know:
How much HP does a transmission eat compared to a Volvo OD?I want to use my current engine "as-is"-and I need there to be a speed increase as well as a handling advantage by installing the Arneson before I bite off the $$$ and time to do this deal.I dont have Geoo's horsepower-I'm currently about 385 HP.As I start to balance the give and take of the conversion-I'm beginning to think I may not gain anything.

[BigGrizzly]

The borg can take as much as 30+ hp off your engine.

Randy

[This message has been edited by BigGrizzly (edited 01-29-2001).]

[Blewbyu]

Chris(CDMA)-Sounds like you're saying not only the prop-but the weight too has to be AFT as far as possible.If the trans went inside the boat(I can't bring myself to add a box on a Donzi),would saddle tanks in the engine compt(with front tank removed/empty) be enough weight transfer astern to counterbalance the lack of trans outside?
GEOO-what kind of prop did you settle on?Are you using a Chopper style?Is bow lift hard to come by with surface drive?

[Blewbyu]

Grizz-How much HP do you think my Volvo OD uses?It's a 270 upper(assume 1.61) and a 290 lower unit.Don't know where to get that info.
My engine was dyno'd "bare" at the factory-again at flywheel just before install @385 hp.I have no idea what current ATP hp is.

[CDMA]

The saddle tanks in the engine compartment would work fine. Would be real tight and call it dumb but I would not be too thrilled about 3o gallons of gas next to the engine. Literally an inch from the starter and so forth. It sounds hard but I would have no problem adding rocker into the center of the hull and hook on the sponsons. This is what I determined was the way to do it and I just couldn't do it to the restored 18.

Propellors are also key in bow lift. Be prepared for some of the prices thought $1000+. Might need to try a few and not exactly as easy to find as a mer mirage.

I will post more later but I am short on time now.

Chris
Chris

[GEOO]

Blewbyu,

My 18 ran 64-68 mph with a Volvo 290,and a 383ci approx. 385-400hp. I switched to the Arneson the boat would run 73-77mph. With the proper CG the boat should gain 8-10 mph over the Volvo.
A transmission would slow the boat less then 1 mph.
At the last Poker Run with Chris we were running in the 80's on 7 cylinders!!! That's short a good 70 hp.

But remember, no more water skiing. It's a cruising boat not a good family boat. GEOO

[Forrest]

OK. Let's see if I have this right. X-18 Donzi, 500+ HP small block, almost dry exhaust, no neutral or reverse . . . Yea, I guess that one could say that it's not really a family runabout!

------------------
Forrest

[PaulO]

Supposedly, a prop cannot supply bow lift. You need a hull that has the lift built in (or arneson rocker plates). The most the prop will do for you is fail to deliver stern lift. Basically the boat rocks backward on the center of gravity aided by any rocker in the hull. If a prop supplies stern lift, it counteracts that. This is what I am told anyway.
PaulO

[CDMA]

Paul,

Interesting. Never heard of that. I will be sure to ask back at school.

Chris

[GEOO]

Scott,

Hell no it's Not for sale!!
No minivan!!
The Stork is coming Feb 18th.
Boat should be ready to run March 1st.

GEOO

[boldts]

Geoo,
U'd be real surprised how easily that car seat fits in the ski space up front. Beth and I would take our daughter to the lake with us all the time. (Of course, My Donzi doesn't do anywhere close to what yours does speed wise. lol) We have a little lake with restaurants on it and it was a nice evening out for us. Good Luck to you and your wife. Prayers are with you.

Scott Boldt

[Blewbyu]

GEOOOOOO!!!!Mannn,I didn't KNOW you were pregnant!
Congratulationsss!!!Do you know if you are having a girl or a boy?
My daughter is a girl.
She drives the Donzi like the wind!
She whips boys (with lesser boats) butts!
My son is a boy,but he likes rough water AND going fast(but so does my daughter).
My son's boat is a Wellcraft.
My daughter whips my sons butt in all water.
It all works out-whatever you have.
Bless you all.
Best Wishes-Jeff

[Voodoocanoe]

Last week I was out in the barn,my wife and 20mos old daughter came out to see what I was up to,I was just messing around with the 16',so i picked up my daughter(she has never been in a boat before)and set her in the boat then to my amazement she went right for the steering wheel turning it back and forth and ocasionally adjusting the throttle.I was PROUD,and it really made my day.