26 Scarab CC I/O restoration

[DrunkenSailor]

@DrunkenSailor I dare you lol. He'll take 15 without the trailer.

https://houston.craigslist.org/boa/d/dickinson-scarab-sport/7053308495.html

I am really tempted to go look at this one. I want to line up a few to look at if I'm gonna drive out.

 

[StevieHops]

dude that thing would be sick. And that’s a killer price for the work it has already had done.

I have a buddy in Houston that knows center consoles, I can see if he will take a look at it for some beer money.

 

[DrunkenSailor]

dude that thing would be sick. And that’s a killer price for the work it has already had done.

I have a buddy in Houston that knows center consoles, I can see if he will take a look at it for some beer money.

I'm still a couple of months away from pulling the trigger but this one is tempting. Thanks for the offer if it's still for sale in a couple months I might take you up on that.

 

[StevieHops]

Lower and props made it in.

 

[HAP]

I had a '84 Scarab Sport 30 with a closed transom and B bracket w225's sold in '95. 2003 bought the'89 Scarab Sprint, B bracket and 2.5 Off Shores. I find the Sprint to be much more fun to own. More nimble and better to trailer and store. Runs 72 with minimal gas and load; 65 with full fuel and water. It does get a little squirrely once it starts to ride the pad...
Definitely a worth while project for either hull.

R,
HAP

That's exactly what I have been looking at. Want to redo the front to match that midnight express interior I posted earlier and put some tall back seats in the back to keep the kids in it. I would run it with the power as is for a season or two until I can find a pair of 300s to repower with.

The 302 is the perfect boat for me for a few reasons. Price being the big one they are reasonable. They run mid 70s with 300's and they have the room to turn them into a pretty cool party barge without too much work. It's not too big to trailer to the river and it's big enough to drop it in Newport harbor and run it to Catalina. It's got the front cabin to get the kids out of the sun.

Hard to find on the west coast. Lots in Texas and fl...

 

[DrunkenSailor]

I had a '84 Scarab Sport 30 with a closed transom and B bracket w225's sold in '95. 2003 bought the'89 Scarab Sprint, B bracket and 2.5 Off Shores. I find the Sprint to be much more fun to own. More nimble and better to trailer and store. Runs 72 with minimal gas and load; 65 with full fuel and water. It does get a little squirrely once it starts to ride the pad...
Definitely a worth while project for either hull.

R,
HAP

Most of our running is Catalina, Long Beach and San Diego runs outta Newport and mission Bay. I need something that will get me home in the afternoon. I'm not above cruising in the flyer wake but I would like a towable wave crusher that can get me home on top.

Easy maintenance. Easy decision for outboards here. Hook the hose up to it, rinse them down, repeat.

The late 80's, 90's to early 2000s had bitchen center consoles from scarab, fountain, intrepid, concept, action, and a host of other east coast builders.

With the new outboard power, a rebuilt transom and a swim step with built in flotation and tabs there are a ton of older boats that you could throw an interior in add horsepower and have a bitchen multi purpose boat.

The scarab 302s are intriguing they run mid 70s with 300's and they are selling for 15-40k with 250s (mfg Max hp) running mid to high 60s.

There was a bitchen concept on CL with 250s new interior and a cuddy that was an az boat for a really reasonable price.

 

[HAP]

I just looked at that add and that is a REALLY nice deal! If it were me, I would show up with my own trailer and drive away with that great looking boat offereing $14,999 . The only turn-off for me personally is the engines. But I would still buy it for sure.
R,
HAP

I am really tempted to go look at this one. I want to line up a few to look at if I'm gonna drive out.

 

[HAP]

My '89 Scarab Sprint rig...

R,
HAP

 

[StevieHops]

HAP,

Thats a good looking sprint. What HP are those 2.5’s pushing? Hoping to finally lake test mine at the end of the month and see what this forward drive does.

 

[HAP]

Those are 200HP carbureted.

R,
HAP

 

[HAP]

On the water.

 

[StevieHops]

The drive is coming together

 

[StevieHops]

Also picked up the helm seat.

 

[02HoWaRd26]

I gotta ask, why the forward drive vs the more common Bravo 1 on this boat? Just to do something different or does this boat/hull like the forward drive? I can honestly say this is the first one I’ve ever seen/noticed. Keep up the work and keep the updates rolling here.

 

[StevieHops]

I gotta ask, why the forward drive vs the more common Bravo 1 on this boat? Just to do something different or does this boat/hull like the forward drive? I can honestly say this is the first one I’ve ever seen/noticed. Keep up the work and keep the updates rolling here.

I wanted to build a cross btween a watersports boat (my family likes to surf) and a nice cruiser for powell. The forward drive I hope will be able to accommodate both.

 

[StevieHops]

Got the boat back on the trailer today and the drive mounted on.

 

[DrunkenSailor]

Got the boat back on the trailer today and the drive mounted on.

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Hell yeah man nice job. Looks good. I think somebody put the lower on backwards...

Somebody could make some cash with a drive that you could spin 360 degrees like a pod on a ship. But also have the ability to raise the entire drive Jack plate style. You could have it under the boat while towing and swimming. Then when it was time to head up river you could flip it around and bring the prop up closer to the bottom of the boat to get some speed.

Wasn't someone working on an adaptive prop that could adjust pitch?

Boat came out really nice. I'm stoked for when it sees water.

 

[StevieHops]

got some work done on the dash panel today.

 

[StevieHops]

Got the prop cage cut out, new straight axels and the new bunk supports welded up.

here are some before and afters.

 

[HydroSkreamin]

Looking good! Are those Jeep wheels? Look better than stock trailer wheels.

 

[StevieHops]

Looking good! Are those Jeep wheels? Look better than stock trailer wheels.

Thanks! I think they are off an 08 charger. They were on the trailer when I bought it. Trying to fin another one for the spare.

 

[doc_texoma]

would love to find a smaller, sporty center console - and would love to find one in this kind of shape so i could afford it lol... and finally, find something like that in TEXAS...

 

[StevieHops]

She lives!!

 

[StevieHops]

With summer around the corner my goal this season is to have it running and usable. I will do the full interior, fiberglass work and gel/paint next off season. I want to be able to use it and work all the bugs out since this is an experiment before I get too deep into the cosmetics.

here’s an update of the dash, just waiting on the depth gauge.

 

[StevieHops]

Got the tower on today.

 

[StevieHops]

 

[StevieHops]

Finally got her wet. Did everything I wanted it to and more. Hands down the funnest boat I have ever driven. It tracks so well, turns on a dime and planes like a 19’ direct drive. Almost no bow rise on take off. I never dreamed it would handle like this. Now that I know it runs how I want it’s time to build the 383. It topped out at 40mph with a 265hp 305. Hoping to his 65 with a 400hp 383.

 

[DrunkenSailor]

Congrats man. Stoked you got her wet! Are you going to add ballast and or wake shaper to surf? Does the prop come out of the water when you raise the drive?

 

[Dylan]

I’ve been tracking your project from the start, well done! I am curious about the “surf” wave aspect on that boat. I looked at several of the new forward drive Volvo boats, and almost bought a cobalt R3 Wss. For the price of that cobalt, I could have bought a new Axis and smaller cruise boat (which I did). I love the dual purpose aspect. So cool!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[StevieHops]

Congrats man. Stoked you got her wet! Are you going to add ballast and or wake shaper to surf? Does the prop come out of the water when you raise the drive?

Thanks bro, definitely along time coming. It has pretty big tabs on it that I thinks can double as surf tabs. Unfortunately the tabs were not hooked for the test ride. Trimming the drive up definitely helped but I still need to play with it. Hoping to get a descent surf wave without any ballast but we will see. I have a powell trip scheduled for the first week of June so I will have ample time then to test some different set ups and dial it in.

 

[StevieHops]

Congrats man. Stoked you got her wet! Are you going to add ballast and or wake shaper to surf? Does the prop come out of the water when you raise the drive?

Props don’t even come close to coming out of the water. I’ll get a video of the trim going up and down. Props maybe move a total of 12”

 

[bagged97taco]

Good to see you on sat. Thing looks bitchen going down the lake.

 

[RiverDave]

That is great that it ran so well!!

I'm curious about adding more HP. The boat looks like it comes out of the hole strong.. You could probably go up a pitch or so and gain more top speed and still have slow speed ability for wake surfing etc. Is the motor running out of guts on the top end and not pulling the RPM?

RD

 

[StevieHops]

Good to see you on sat. Thing looks bitchen going down the lake.

Good to see you too bud. Let me know the next time you guys are going up. Thanks man!

 

[StevieHops]

That is great that it ran so well!!

I'm curious about adding more HP. The boat looks like it comes out of the hole strong.. You could probably go up a pitch or so and gain more top speed and still have slow speed ability for wake surfing etc. Is the motor running out of guts on the top end and not pulling the RPM?

RD

It’s hitting max rpms supper quick, boat just feels like it needs a little more hp.

 

[Warlock1]

I love people trying new things and I applaud your efforts. It sounds like it is coming around nicely. You showed a picture of a top with a sunshade on it and expressed you wanted one. Allow me to give you a few pointers. A hardtop will effect the handling of the boat. Not only does it add weight at the upper most point, it also acts as a wing. Depending on the attitude of the moving boat and the mounting position (tilt) of the top can slow the boat dramatically. Please keep this in mind when engineering and installing one. Also the sunshade is a very expensive and heavy piece. The side rams are separate and are attached together with a spreader bar in the back. All measurements must be super accurate when you design the mounts for this as there is little to know play in the mounting of this system.
I have grown to love CC and their versatility. I would love to do this to a cat with a couple of outboards on the back...

 

[RustyShackleford]

Awesome project, keep us updated. I want one of these now. I'd make it a baywatch clone

 

[StevieHops]

Awesome project, keep us updated. I want one of these now. I'd make it a baywatch clone

Some pics from powell last week.

There was a a bay watch clone for sale in Tennessee earlier this year.

 

[RustyShackleford]

How did the wake surfing work out? The swim platform looks great.

 

[Brokeboatin221]

Nice work! Even better to see the family enjoying it.

 

[StevieHops]

How did the wake surfing work out? The swim platform looks great.

Still dialing it in. I had to order anew trim sender so I cant tell how much I am trimmed up. So far its about as good as my old 06 calabria with the factory ballast. It will never be as big as the newer wake boats and I do not want it to be. I'm a bigger guy and ride a bigger board so it works fine for me.

I'm super happy how the swim step came out, it exceeded my expectations.

 

[StevieHops]

Nice work! Even better to see the family enjoying it.

Thanks man! That is all I've wanted to do was just get out on the water with my kids and enjoy it with them, they'll be gone before I know it.

 

[RustyShackleford]

That sounds excellent, this is a cool boat. Thanks for sharing.

 

[StevieHops]

Long time no post. Been a crazy winter / spring. My 5yo started racing RZR 170’s and my sister got married at my house a couple of weeks ago so the boat has been on the back burner.

started building a new bimini. I was originally going to to do a hard top but after spending a week on Powell in October I have decided I did not want permanent shade. I started building a colopasable l Bimini that will hopefully support it self so I do not have to have support bars or straps.

 

[StevieHops]

Also finally got the 383 built just waiting to finish a trip next week and will be pulling the old motor and dressing the 383. Dyno came back at 420hp, should be a huge difference compared to the 265hp 5.0 that’s in it now.

 

[StevieHops]

Got the bottom re gelled this week and finishing up the new side interior panels that replaced the old rod holders.
She gets the new motor installed in a couple weeks.

 

[HAP]

Bottom looks great!!
Had our out last weekend for the first time this year.
R,
HAP

 

[Estes84]

Got the bottom re gelled this week and finishing up the new side interior panels that replaced the old rod holders.
She gets the new motor installed in a couple weeks.
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Awesome project! Been following your build for the last year or so. Doing a very similar build myself, not many of the Sprint I/O's out there.

Got the bottom re gelled this week and finishing up the new side interior panels that replaced the old rod holders.
She gets the new motor installed in a couple weeks.
View attachment 1008813 View attachment 1008811

Awesome project!! Been following your build for a while, I'm working on a similar one myself. Not many of the Sprint I/O's out there

 

[StevieHops]

Awesome project! Been following your build for the last year or so. Doing a very similar build myself, not many of the Sprint I/O's out there.

Awesome project!! Been following your build for a while, I'm working on a similar one myself. Not many of the Sprint I/O's out there View attachment 1016074 View attachment 1016075 View attachment 1016076 View attachment 1016077

Thanks man.

Yours is the 4th I/O that I know of. What motor is in it? What does she run?
The t-top came out awesome, keep up the good work.

 

[Estes84]

Thanks man.

Yours is the 4th I/O that I know of. What motor is in it? What does she run?
The t-top came out awesome, keep up the good work.

When I got it last year it had the original 454 bravo thunderbolt motor and was running just under 50. Just dropped a 454 mag in it, haven't had it in the water yet this year, hopefully this week