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View Full Version : 18' 2+3 V-Drive Owners: Prop & Gear Survey



FlatRacer, aka BarrelBack
07-25-2006, 11:50 AM
A few of us own, or have owned 18' 2+3 Classics with V-Drives. I was wondering if I could get some feedback as to what props you guys are running, have run in the past, and what kind of performance you've gotten from them.

My boat (just bought it last fall) came with an O.J. 12x16 cupped Nibral 3 blade (not the original prop). It seems to run nicely, although I haven't got top speed or RPM numbers to illustrate how well. I forgot to take my GPS with me and my tach is out of whack, but I'll post those numbers as soon as I get them.

In addition, I was wondering if all the 18' V-Drive Donzis came with the same gears in the box. Mine has a Crusader V-Drive which has a 1 : 1.1 ratio stamped on the tag (or 10% gears as the racers commonly refer to it) which I'm assuming is overdrive.

Eric

J&K SHAHBAS
07-25-2006, 01:08 PM
Most Donzi V-Drives Ive seen have had 1.15 gears overdrive.
with 427 ford you will see about 60-65 mph top end.

My hornet has 1.29 overdrive with Menkins 12x18" SS prop with 565 CID
Ford power with 800hp = 80mph on gps really not an impressive number.
But with the deep V hull you cant expect much more out of a V-Drive.

FlatRacer, aka BarrelBack
07-25-2006, 02:18 PM
Most Donzi V-Drives Ive seen have had 1.15 gears overdrive.
with 427 ford you will see about 60-65 mph top end.
My hornet has 1.29 overdrive with Menkins 12x18" SS prop with 565 CID
Ford power with 800hp.

My '67 18' was originally equipped with a 289 Ford (later repowered with a 5.0 Ford). Maybe that's why it only has 10% OD gears.
As I understand it, most of the V-Drive hulls were big block powered, and conversely, most (if not all) of the big block boats were V-Drives because the Sterndrives of the day couldn't handle the HP of the Ford 427s.

Eric

fastcat
07-25-2006, 10:42 PM
I think mine is a '68- with a hull number of maybe 18-181 from what I can make out of what's left of the numbers behind the dash.
The V-Drive is a Casale; I don't see a name on the prop but it is marked with 13LH 15 Cupped. The current engine is a SBC 350 put in by previous owner but he said the original was a HM big block.

If you have a database of hull numbers I'd be interested to see if my presumed number is legit.

FlatRacer, aka BarrelBack
07-26-2006, 12:58 PM
Tom:

Your presumed hull number of 18-181 is likely correct. Single hatch barrelbacks in my database run from #92 to #235. The highest hull number I've seen on a triple hatch is #83. The lowest hull number I've seen on a non-barrelback, or "bevelback" is #238.

I'll e-mail you a copy of the database. Thanks for the prop numbers. Do you have any performance figures?

Eric

fastcat
07-26-2006, 01:44 PM
Performance has been hit and miss which we just sorted out to be a bad carburetor and sediment in the gas tank.
A new BG Speed Demon is on it's way and we hope to get it installed next week. We will be flushing out the tank and installing an additional Racor fuel filter as well. I'll report back after we get her back on the water.

I look forward to getting the database.
Thanks,
Gaye

FlatRacer, aka BarrelBack
08-07-2006, 11:24 AM
Went to the lake house this weekend.
I still don't know what the top RPM was. The dash still has what looks to be the original guages, but the tach reads WAY off.
Top speed on the GPS was 52.1 MPH with the 12x16 cupped O.J. and 10% gears. The engine is a PCM 5.0 Ford with 200 HP (at least that's what the label on the valve cover says).
Fast enough for a pleasure boat.

Eric

Mr. V-Driver
01-10-2007, 07:38 PM
I think mine is a '68- with a hull number of maybe 18-181 from what I can make out of what's left of the numbers behind the dash.
The V-Drive is a Casale; I don't see a name on the prop but it is marked with 13LH 15 Cupped. The current engine is a SBC 350 put in by previous owner but he said the original was a HM big block.
If you have a database of hull numbers I'd be interested to see if my presumed number is legit.


Which model Casale, is that the boat in your pic/avitar that it's in???