[bdbyrnes]

Hi- first what a wonderful website!!!

We have a Navy blue 1995 Mariah Talari z240 that we bought in 2002. A friend of mine was down on his luck and told me he was selling his boat. We went to his storage unit and I fell in love and wrote him a check. With what I paid it was really more like highway robbery, he has been trying to buy the boat back for the past three years!

We love our boat and usually waterski and innertube once per weekend on Pueblo Reservoir in Southern Colorado. Next year we plan on a few road trips to Wyoming and also Lake Powell Arizona.

I am a Sales Manager for a large Telecom manufacturer and travel worldwide. We have four kids that love the water.

I have made a few investments in the boat. It of course has all the amenities that make the Mariah one of a kind such as the electric engine cover, gauges, lights, storage galore, built-in cooler etc. I added two amplifiers and a subwoofer in the rear seat and eight speakers. Pioneer deck with an iPOD interface and an XM Roady so we can listen to music, baseball or Washington State football in season.

Am planning a few enhancements and am interested in suggestions:

* Captains call exhaust - looking at Corsa Performance parts and tips
* Mulling over repainting above the bumper line - anyone done this and any tips?
* Due to altitude am considering adding EFI... have 7.4L Merc with the Bravo 3 outdrive.

I look forward to getting to know all on this board.

Brent

[ShabahZ280]

Welcome to the board Brent!

I looked into the Corsa Captain's Call Exhaust when i first got my boat, since all my friends were running Bajas. Kind of thought it might be a cool addition until I really looked into it more. I really dig the look of the factory equipped Captain's Call exhaust system Mariah offered, with the custom molded spots on the transom and the the large rounded rectangular tips, but when I did some more research, I found out the tips were custom made at the Mariah plant, and nothing like them could be found today. I've attached a picture of a factory CC exhaust system, and then a pic of someone who added CC. Notice the difference? It just doesn't look anywhere as good to me.

The other limiting factor of course was price. It was around $900 in parts, and around another $900 for installation, as priced from the local Marine service shop. Performance-wise, I've heard all kinds of stories, but the general consensus is that you'll only gain 1mph max if you're lucky. I had thought about trying the install myself, but there's something intimidating about cutting two 4 inch holes in the rear of my boat. Especially around the waterline.

So I decided against the whole thing, after realizing that $1800 buys a lot of gas, or if I was going to go for performance gains, $1800 would make a great down payment for a new Procharger Supercharger Setup, and offers much more significant power gains. I decided to save the $1800 for gas.

[indykoch]

Brent,

Welcome to the club!!! I also looked into the Captain's Call for my Z212 Shabah. I'm not sure how true it is, but a guy at Corsa told me they provided the original Mariah's, as well as the new ones. He "said" they were the rectangular tips Chris referred to. And yes, the parts alone were about $1100. I don't know if I believe they are exactly the same as original Mariahs. As Chris mentioned, Mariah made a LOT of parts in-house. I made the same decision, $2000 is a lot of gas!

Doug (Moondance on this board) has repainted above the bumper line just as you're considering. His boat is beautiful - look at it in the gallery. I'm sure he'll chime in with his experience... where are you, Doug???

As for adding EFI... I don't have any experience with that, but I couldn't imagine how difficult it would be. That's a lot of computer, wiring, equipment that's definitely not cheap. And I don't know how much performance you'd gain. Keep us posted if you do it though! I'd be interested to know what's involved/how difficult/cost.

Welcome to the board!

[180diablo]

Originally Posted by ShabahZ250

So I decided against the whole thing, after realizing that $1800 buys a lot of gas, or if I was going to go for performance gains, $1800 would make a great down payment for a new Procharger Supercharger Setup, and offers much more significant power gains. I decided to save the $1800 for gas.

Maybe once you win the lottery...hehe.

Agreed tho, $1800 buys a wack of gas and at the rate that im using it.... it would probably last me around.. hmmm 7-8 seasons? I'm figuring I have spent around $150 - $200 on fuel this season, probably pushing $250 by the end of season. Yeah I know it doesnt seem like much, but when you put 25L in and it lasts about a weekend or two, then it kind of makes sense. I have done one 4 hour trip and sunday was a 6 hour. Most times we only go out for about 2hours approx. Next season i'm keeping a better log.

[boatman]

Hi and Welcome. I have the factory installed captains call exhaust on my 200 Shabah ltd w/5.7 merc. Based on what I have read in this forum, I don't think it adds much in performance. I top out around 4900 rpm and approx 57 mph with just me on board and running with a three blade SS prop. The rumble does sound awesome, but I agree, not worth the money.

[moondance100]

Hey Brent, glad to have another boat like mind one the board! Wow, you've done some stuff similar to mine! Lets see....

First the paint. I had mine painted from the rub strip up not ling after I got it. The gelcoat there was faded and checked beyond polishing. I went to a guy that had a bodyshop AND a boat! He told me that I need not waste money gelcoating in that area. The rubstrip up typically doens't get the dock dings and abuse that the area below it does. He suggested a product called imron2000. The finish was wonderful (check my pics in the gallery). Between me and my bodyshop guy we took off all the cleats, lights, interior trim, and the windshield. He painted from the rubstrip up and then back down over the gunwhales. I let it sit and cure for a month (I was waiting on the new 502 to be delivered but thats another story!) After that, I buffed it with Meguiars polish and then Meguiars Flagship, then reassembled all of it. The results were great!!

OK...thru hull exhaust....I have all the parts I need to add side exhaust to this thing. Including some really sharp stainless steel outlets. I'm on the fence about this one. I can imagine the sound of that 415 horse 502 rumbling, but then I look at where I have to route the pipes and I change my mind! As far as performance gains, I have read and read on this and I think it would be negligible. Maybe a bit, not what it would cost. If I do this, I"m doing it solely to hear the rumble of that big block!

Changing to EFI? You're over my head on this one dude! If you've got altitude issues, I'd look at carb rejetting. They managed that way for years and years before the advent of EFI. Let me know how that goes!

I have a stereo similar to yours...and ipod ready Pioneer...just 4 6.5" polk momo speakers, 2 10" polk momo subs, a 1000w amp driving the front speakers and a 2000w amp for the subs. It sounds incredible!

Post some pics!! I'm looking forward to seeing your boat!

[dudders]

Welcome aboard this great forum Brent. If you are ever in Australia, give me a call.
Tony
Western Australia.