[stereoman405]

Got to talking with my marine mechanic and I was lamenting the fact that I'm giving up my torquey big blocked Chaparral to keep the Talari I picked up last fall. He said that as long as the Mariah had a GenII Alpha, I should be able to "easily" swap the entire 7.4/bravo1 package between the boats. Here's the thread I started over at Speedwake.com. The other item I though of after writing it was, did my boat ever had a big block option? I just want to make sure I'm not exceeding the physical limits my boat was desigend for.


"Hi guys,

The short of it, I have a '95 Chaparral 2130SS with a carb'd 7.4 with a bravo1 that I'm selling this spring.

I also have a '98 Mariah Talari Z211 cuddy with a brand new carb'd vortec 5.7 and captains call exhaust with a gen2 alpha that I'm keeping.

Can I swap the entire package between the two boats with minumum fiberglass reworking? I keep finding different references saying that I can and can't for various reasons.

I figure the biggest issues:

- Transition through transom.
- Can I mate the cpt call to the 7.4 manifolds?
- How will this affect geometry of the boat? (Relative prop depth. 'x measurement')
- Will the throttle linkage work?
- Will there be 'holes' in the Chaparral from the bravo transition that will need to be filled?

Any other pitfalls? I just really like the torque of the big block, but need the function of the cuddy. I know its unusual to have two rigs side by side to do the swap, so I'm hoping it won't be too complicated."

Any thoughts from the Mariah crowd??

[WetWilly]

Hi stereoman405,

We had a similar thread earlier, click here, and as I said in that thread, I was informed that it was not a straight swap. In addition to the items discussed in the thread, another would be weight, the 7.4L/Bravo is a bit heavier than the 5.7L/Alpha setup.

You will need to measure from the mounting hole locations and the gimble piviots to the cavitation plate on the Bravo to determine whether the Bravo's cavitation plate rest in the proper location relative to the keel or where the Alpha's sits now..

Per the brochure, the 98 Z211 was only offered with two 5.7 packages, no big block option.

Well good luck,
WetWilly

BTW - if anyone finds that any of my information is incorrect, please let me know so I can insure the knowledge I pass on is correct and up to date! Thanks again... WW

[stereoman405]

Thanks WetWilly. After some careful deliberation and measuring, I decided to scrap it. This will be our first season with the boat and if I fall in love with it I could almost have a 383, or 400 for the same money and no fiberglass cutting.