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boldts
10-12-2000, 09:48 PM
Hello. I own a 69 18' 2+3. It is a Holman Moody boat, but does not have the HM motor. The engine was gone when I bought the boat. It still has most of the HM parts including the HM name plate on the 250 Volvo Drive. I want to keep things as close to original as possible. Has anyone ever tried to install a power drive trim to this drive? I recently changed the left rotating bronze prop for a right handed stainless model. Now I just need to find a way to get some more bow lift.
Any ideas will be much appreciated.

Scott Boldt

boldts
10-13-2000, 01:42 PM
madpoddle,
Thanks for the info. The reason for changing the prop rotation was that that was the only way I could get a stainless that would fit the 250 drive. I had to drill out the shaft and tap it for a locking bolt that was standard on later models of the Volvo drive. My steering is on the left as you have said and thus since the boat has no trim tabs either, running this prop causes the boat to list to the left because there is no weight to counter the torque of the right handed prop. If I wasn't experiencing a tremendus improvement in speed and handling, I would put the bronze prop that is left handed back on the boat. I'm not sure what drive was on the boat, but I did see a offshore race boat that had done welding work to attach power trim to the older Volvo drives that were being used on a older Magnum boat. I wish I had taken the time to talk to it's owner about the power trim he had installed.

Forrest
10-13-2000, 03:28 PM
Here is a picture that GeneS posted on a thread some time back . . . not pretty, but I guess it must work . . . check it out!

http://www.donzi.net/Dcp_0536.jpg

http://www.donzi.net/Dcp_0538.jpg


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Forrest

[This message has been edited by Forrest (edited 10-13-2000).]

boldts
10-13-2000, 04:29 PM
Thanks Forrest. Its looks like a great winter project for myself and a metal shop. The Mercruiser pistons and pump shouldn't be to difficult to find at a bargain price. I like the hydraulic steering set-up also. What a torpedo on that lower unit. Gene sure must be a inivater with a great mechanical mind. I don't even want to ask what's in front of that drive. Wow!!!

Scott Boldt

GEOO
10-13-2000, 04:45 PM
GeneS, I forgot you have an E http://www.donzi.net/ubb/biggrin.gifrive. Did the boat come with it ? GEOO

Jamesbon
10-13-2000, 05:03 PM
WOW! I like that! Just goes to show, the possibilities are endless.

I know the E drives are rare, but how rare? What do they usually run $$ wise? (I'll scour the internet real quick and see if I come up w/anything)

Thanks for posting that Forrest!!

BigGrizzly
10-13-2000, 06:47 PM
Late model 280 had a set up for power trim a litle large but works well. the y look like large boxes at the bottom of the teansom plate. I converted to a 290, verv little work but is a clean set up. You don't need the whole 290 drive , just the mid section. Its worls great, and looks stock.

[This message has been edited by BigGrizzly (edited 10-13-2000).]

boldts
10-13-2000, 07:02 PM
Grizzly,
I lost you here. Are you substituding the 250 mid-section for the 290 mid-section to get the power trim? Sorry, I'm mechanicically knowledgable, but not in parts and what can be combined with what.

Forrest
10-14-2000, 09:35 AM
No, that's not GeneS's Donzi with the E-drive and Merc trim. I think belongs to someone he knows in Pensacola.

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Forrest

BigGrizzly
10-14-2000, 06:22 PM
Boldts, I origonally used my upper gear set from my old 270 and the foot. The 290 I got had 4 cylinder gearing, than later i put my gears in the 290 foot, it has a longer aspect ratio.

[This message has been edited by BigGrizzly (edited 10-14-2000).]

klink
10-17-2000, 12:00 AM
I've found the holy grail! Picked up a transum plate with the trim unit and upper half of the drive with a v6 chev in a searay srv18 for $400 bucks canadian, thats like 25c to you guys. The motors junk but the hardware is good. This fall the power trim goes on my boat with a 280 drive from another parts boat, but my faith still lies with my old 250 and someday I'll get a v6 for the searay.
Somewhere in my shop is a 250 drive that a fella put merc trim rams on. He anchored the rams to the transom and fastend the rams to the outdrive by a bolt u-bolted to the cavitation plate after removing all the hold down linkcage. I'm told this worked good but I don't know what kind of hp he put through it. This same guy had a boat with a centre mounted engine turning a volvo outdrive with a driveshaft, anythings possible when you have your own machine shop.

boldts
10-17-2000, 05:06 PM
Klink,
Any chance you might have a picture of that Volvo 250 that is somewhere in your garage? I'm interested in any ways to add power trim to my 250 drive with-out changing the drive itself. I'm running a 302 Ford in front of mine and I've been told you can turn as many RPM's through this drive, just don't put a lot of torque on it.

CDMA
10-17-2000, 05:54 PM
I have spent more time looking at these pictures than I would like to admit. Not so much for the trim but the steering. This guy did a lot of work and some of it was very nice. Some of the finishing could be better but I think he has a fundamentally good set up. It is the only pistures I have found of an external steering set up on a Donzi. I know Gene S has a similar set up but I have not been able to get any pitures.
One thing I thought of interest in this steering was the threaded tie rods that are on each side of the cylinder to stenghen it. Really a good idea. The actual strenth of the Teleflex or hynautic rams always bothered me when used externally.

Chris

klink
10-24-2000, 12:25 AM
boldts
I haven't got back to you because I thought I would see the guy that made this but I had him mixed up with someone else. But I did talk to a guy that knew him and he said it worked well.
You can't tell much from the outdrive, all you can see are two holes in the cavitation plate on bothe sides of the xhst passage just ahead of the xhst outlet.
If I were to attempt this I would mount the rams to the transom like they have here as streight to the cavitation plate as possible and make a U shaped bracket to bolt onto the top of the cavitation plate to receive the ram. He might have done this on the drive pictured here but thats an expensive drive to be drilling holes in.
Good luck
klink

boldts
10-24-2000, 07:45 AM
Thanks, Madpoddle. I was wondering the same thing. The trim pistons need to be seperate from the actual drive member itself if one end of the piston is mounted to the transom don't they?

klink
10-25-2000, 10:11 PM
Boy do I feel stupid! I got to find this guy and find out how he did this.