Chris O

Awesome upgrades. Great job on all the work.

I agree with Troy. You will probably want a C4. Better seating and more room for ballast. I would take a really hard look at a boat that has that much stuff replaced. Test drive if at all possible. Chris

I've been wondering about posts from several new members over the last few weeks. They just seem off. It appears we've been chat gped

I agree with Troy. I've ran 500 pounds of lead the last couple years and its a pain. I have upgraded to a larger bag for the starboard side and the infinity wave system to reduce the amount of weight I've gotta pack and move around. Chris

I got a couple pictures from the engine compartment of the conversion from sideswipe to FAE over the weekend. But my attachment limit is maxed out on here and I cant figure out how to delete old attachments. Theres plenty of room in there with proper planning. Chris

Yes, all the things that the other guys said. Plus make sure its actually a C4. I have see non C4's advertised as C4's. If there is a need to do ballast upgrades, prop upgrade, convert sideswipe to fresh air exhaust, etc. These costs can start to add up quickly so make sure they are in your budget. Plus add in boards, life jackets and other accessories. Good luck, and if its not the one be patient, dont force it, the right boat will come along. Chris

Josh, I've got a black scorpion manual, but pretty sure youve got a different engine. There is some stuff in there about the vdrive as well. If you have something specific I could look and see if its relevant. Chris

I'll take some pictures this weekend. Yeah, tons of rain here in western Oregon, snowed on me yesterday. Lake time is definitely delayed from previous years.

Donnie, Obviously different boat, but I did the through hull on my 2006 Avalanche when eliminating the sideswipe, and theres plenty of room back there. I did use bolts instead of the machine screws that they supplied. And due to my poor planning I have to remove a section of the new exhaust in order to change my impeller. I've got a thread on here that has some pictures of it, but only from the outside. I can maybe get engine compartment pictures this weekend. Chris

Troy, Glad you were able to get this figured out. Chris

I did the fake a lake for awhile and got tired of it. Sometimes if enough water drains out of the system the impeller isnt primed and the fake a lake struggles. Heres what I did. You can see the valve to connect the garden hose on between the intake and the vdrive. Ive got a thread on here that has the link to buy the valve. When using the fake a lake I have had to disconnect the water hose from the vdrive, fill with water, reconnect, then hook up fake a lake, this primes the impeller. You might try that. Chris

Not sure the best place to put this, but I will use this as a place to show projects, upgrades, learning about the boat, ask questions, maint., have conversation, etc. And possibly help others in a similar situation as I try and figure everything out. Introduced the boat up in the show us your boat thread. Got a 12 x 30 metal carport installed last week for storage, so thats a win. Ordered a Acme 1619 from wakemakers and they had it to me in literally a day. Also got a prop knocker to remove old prop. Was struggling with the prop knocker, zero movement. Sucked it up and ordered a c clamp puller from Bakes (wakemakers was out). Ended up having to beat on the back of the puller a fair amount, but eventually prop came loose. Prop mustve been on there for quite awhile. Kinda surprising old prop was Acme 817 that I will use as a spare. Surprising because boat came equipped with bags to get boat pretty heavily weighted, I assumed they wouldve been running little more surf friendly prop. Anyway got new prop installed super easy, torqued to 40lbs, and now just gotta wait for another nice lake day to test it out. Paper test fit pieces and mylar from gator step showed up in the mail, so will be tackling that very soon.

Hope its cause your upgrading!!!

Seattle996, The flushing and strainer setup has been great. Although any lake I've been in has been pretty clean. No leaks, no change in water flow to impeller that I can tell. I wouldve liked to get the strainer before the vdrive but there just wasnt enough room. Makes winterizing and dewinterizing way easier. Chris

Avy06, Yeah, no other support, its got machine bolts and 3M 5200, its super solid. When your putting everything together on the inside make sure youve got enough room to get to your impeller. I didnt give myself enough and to change my impeller I've got to remove a portion of the exhaust. Ive been real happy with it. Chris

Hudzon, Great looking boat. Chris

I dont see why you would have to remove the engine. I think Skidim has a you tube on the OJ props shaft seal if you go that route. Let me know if you need help removing the shaft and realigning everything. Chris

Avy06, I'm at 10.7mph rpm is 3200, so would be a little more at 11.2. This is with 500lbs of lead, center tank full 250lbs, under seat bag 400lbs?, port bag 1000lbs? We spend most of our time at about 1000 feet, but its done just fine up to around 3500 Chris

Congratulations on the new boat!!!!

Not sure how close yours actually is, but mine has got a few inches. Sorry no suggestions except looking if you could adjust the bunks up, or replace the bunks with thicker material. Chris

Replace your serpentine belt.

Troy, Same exact thing happened to me last week. After checking everything over realized that I didnt get all the battery cables hooked up. I had forgot one of the negative cables on one of the batteries. Ive got 2 positives and 2 negatives on both batteries. I am assuming that you probably have a battery on/off switch though. Chris

Yes, eliminate the muffler.

I'm glad I put it on mine to replace the sideswipe. There is a small amount of spray, but not enough that I care about it. Pretty straight forward install. Just gotta get over the nerves of putting huge holes in your boat. There was definitely a part of me that put the project off out of fear of screwing up.

Shane, Its holding up fine, although we try and keep everything pretty clean, no shoes, etc. Yes happy with it. Way better than carpet.