Help, need advice !!

[Stan24]

I have recently purchased a 24 Spitfire from Registry member Ryan23 and have only run the boat twice under lake conditions. The boat has 270 Volvo outdrives with no trim or tilt. All works well. I have just been presented with the opportunity to buy two complete 280s with trim and tilt, bell housing to propeller. Includes all pumps, hoses, wiring, everything except the dash switch. Elephant ears and all. Price is $1700. I was ready to jump on the deal, but I started to think, do I really want to do this. I know I could get a few more MPH, but thats not my goal. I am concerned about trimming for changing water conditions. Ryan did not have experience in rough water to advise. My obvious question is do I have to change the gimble housings or will the 280s just bolt up. If I have to change the existing gimbles and all that it includes, will it be worth the effort? Any comments or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. I am a new member, but I love the old boats and have restored a few and am excited to have the Spitfire. My dilemna is do I finish restoring it to "original" type condition or do I upgrade with more modern equipment. These 280's looks like a massive amount of hardware to replace what I have and is in good condition.

[vonkamp]

I believe you will have to change the gimbles as the trim units have to be mounted to them. That is a great deal on them, I would do it. You can easily sell the 270s too and probably recoup your cost or get close anyway. :lookaroun:

[DonziFreak]

the 270's are great drives, but the lack of trim can suck at times....our 67 barrel-back rode rough until we threw some k-planes on her....but i would like to upgrade to bravos one day....but that sounds like a BA deal for the 280's, might be worth it! :yes:

[Sweet little 16]

well let me throw this wrench into the works yes the 280 are a good deal and yes they have trim but to go thru all of that work and then be right back in the same ball park looking for the right props??? unless solas makes a rh offering i would use the boat for now and then go to a newer volvo drive sx were you can get both LH and RH props and trim might be more money but if you are in this boat for the long haul i think that would be the way to go

[Conquistador_del_mar]

For what my opinion is worth, I would have done it yesterday - lol. I can't believe the great price! I did that transfer on one boat (from a 23' Eliminator to a Donzi 18). The Volvo outdrive on the Eliminator would not take the 600HP engine so I changed the entire drive setup to a Bravo drive. It had the trim/tilt 280 drive so I installed it in the 18' Donzi which had a 270 Volvo tilt drive. If memory serves me, it was a relatively easy transfer involving changing the entire transom assembly, but I believe all the transom holes were the same. Since I had lunched the 280 outdrive while in the Eliminator, I simply installed the working 270 drive in the changed assembly and now had trim and tilt. I am also almost sure that I was able to use the existing dash mounted tilt control on the new trim/tilt drive. I never really cared for the looks of the relatively massive motor drives on the trimable 280 transom assembly, but it worked great and made driving the boat much more flexible in terms of drive adjustment - something Volvo drives had needed for years. If you don't have a tie bar for your drives, you can probably get some brackets made and use a suitable SS tie bar to help keep them from moving around. It might be a little tricky getting your drives to trim the same, but you can figure that out with use or possibly some trim indicators. You can always sell your old transom assemblies and drives for at least what you would be buying these for. My two cents, Bill

I have recently purchased a 24 Spitfire from Registry member Ryan23 and have only run the boat twice under lake conditions. The boat has 270 Volvo outdrives with no trim or tilt. All works well. I have just been presented with the opportunity to buy two complete 280s with trim and tilt, bell housing to propeller. Includes all pumps, hoses, wiring, everything except the dash switch. Elephant ears and all. Price is $1700. I was ready to jump on the deal, but I started to think, do I really want to do this. I know I could get a few more MPH, but thats not my goal. I am concerned about trimming for changing water conditions. Ryan did not have experience in rough water to advise. My obvious question is do I have to change the gimble housings or will the 280s just bolt up. If I have to change the existing gimbles and all that it includes, will it be worth the effort? Any comments or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. I am a new member, but I love the old boats and have restored a few and am excited to have the Spitfire. My dilemna is do I finish restoring it to "original" type condition or do I upgrade with more modern equipment. These 280's looks like a massive amount of hardware to replace what I have and is in good condition.

[BigGrizzly]

Ryan23 still owes me my solas props back. I really need them back. I hope he didn't sell them with the boat. He never returned my phone calls on the subject. I have changed the housings and its not a problem,

[Pismo]

If the gimbals bolt to the same or bigger transom holes then do it. If you have to add fill/glass work on top of this already substantial project then pass.

[Stan24]

Wow, no way to start off on a new sight. I bought the boat with the Solas props and was advised from Ryan23 that they came from a guy in Connecticut, or somewhere up north, who was a big help in deciding which props to use. He never indicated that these props belonged to someone else. I don't know what to say except that I paid cash and if he needs to pay someone for them, I would be willing to assist in any way I can. He told me that he was being transferred to Germany and couldn't take the boat and that was why he was selling. I have had no contact with him since the purchase in September. On hopefully a better note, I have decided to pass on the 280 drives for the time being. The fellow lives near me and if he does not sell them, I may be able to work the deal in the future if I change my mind. I really appreciate all of the advice on making my decision, but my apprehension stems from my original concern of what to do with this boat. I bought the boat on impulse because of its rarity, condtion and what I thought was a good price. I have several other boats that currently occupy my time and have not decided whether to keep this one or not. I have since given up trying to run with the Chesapeake Power Boat Assoc guys, this woud be a respectable ride, but is quite low tech compared to what is out there today.(Personal note), my sister just bought a 35 Fountain from Art Lilly, and wants to sell her 29 Scarab, so as you can see my 23 Mako, 23 Eliminator Daytona, and 27 Nova III are not in the same class. Without giving my life history, should I consider keeping this 24 Spitfire low tech and basically as original or look forward to upgrading to Bravo's, different interior, fuel injection, etc. My real problem is I have not had enough seat time to decide how much I like this boat. I have read every thread online about the 24 Spitfire and have a reprinted test on the boat when it became a Sonic, with big blocks.(Hope that reprint does not belong to someone else) and do sincerely value the advice from folks, such as yourselves, as to which way to go with these things. I really like the old boats, the Mako is a 1975 inboard, and is called "Keeper" and I have restored a 67 18 Donzi V drive, 75 Cigarette 20 and a 24 Nova Marine twin engine V drive, but that was years ago and now have less energy and enthusiasm for projects. The Spitfire is turn key and runs very well. Maybe I should stop whinning and enjoy what I have got, but the older boats have shortcomings such as this trim and tilt situation and one cannot help to envision making that elusive "perfect ride", I know, I know! Thanks again for all of your advice and look forward to continue spilling my guts about this weird passion for old high performance boats.

[f_inscreenname]

Stan you have done a Nova24 and have not been to my site SuperNova19.com? Wow!
If you had you would have seen that I have changed my 270 to a 280 transom shield. That is the only part that is needed. Everything else just bolts back in place. It was one of the best things I have ever done. I then used a Mercruiser trim pump and a couple hydraulic lines I had made up. None of that expensive Volvo stuff. It's been in since last spring and today I wouldn't even drive the boat without it.
http://www.supernova19.com/3ad06440.jpg

http://www.supernova19.com/3af08860.jpg

My boat originaly came with a Chrysler 318 and a Volvo 270. I then went to a Chrysler 360. And today it has a Mercruiser 454, a Volvo 270, 280T transom shield, Mercruiser trim system. It's what I like to call my "VolCruiser".

I then found this on eBay to make it complete.
http://www.supernova19.com/4ec92310.jpg

[BigGrizzly]

You can help, Pm me his address and phone number. No the money isn't your problem, but help would be nice. When I sent him the props to try he was using the boat on the Potomc river out side od DC. then moved and gave me another number, I tried to contact him several times. He bough the boat here in Georgia. Btw the props were stamped 15 1/2 23 size on the side. they were test props and I am the only guy that had those props. The boat will pull 4,000 Rpms with the hopped up small blocks in it at 50 MPH. They are still To Large for the boat, but the best he got. Good thing I didn't send the correct props or I would have been out twice as much.
The 280 are a bolt in the 290sw are just a little cut and re-drill. I have the tools and ability so the 290 took me about a Day from start to finish. I did not even touch or move the engine. It was almost too easy.
Ryan's first address was Ryan Cumston ,9109 Whitehall Rd Ellicott City MD. Then it was 18620 Ridge Road, Colonial Beach VA.

[Stan24]

Hey, tried to PM Big Grizzly but it didn't work. I never did that before. Any advice??