a never before asked question on these forums

[infantrybu]

well this is prolly the first time this has ever been asked and probably could never happen and some probably would wonder why i would even wanna do it....I have my 89 malibu sunsetter completely tore down to the hull because im replacing the stringers and floor and the crazziest thing popped in my head...IF i could somehow find a shorter shaft then drill new holes to mount the engine towards the rear to meet the shorter shaft i wonder if its even possible because if it is i think i would go about doing it here is the pros and cons that i have came up with..

Pros.....Wrap around seating, you dont have to walk around the direct drive engine and have more room, you cant get any more custom than doing something like that plus i could probably come up with a couple more reasons why i like it

Cons....i cant think of any so if you could tell me why i shouldnt do it then let me know

P.S....some people are probably going to say why dont you just sell it and upgrade to a vlx or something but i kinda like my old malibu and cant afford a new one right now....plus i like the CUSTOM idea here if it could be done......also i know that my boat is set up for skiing but i dont even know how to ski and dont see myself getting into it...i wakeboard and wakeskate and not really that good at it so i dont care really to spend all that money on a new one right now untill maybe when my son gets older.

[scott_fx]

well this is prolly the first time this has ever been asked and probably could never happen and some probably would wonder why i would even wanna do it....I have my 89 malibu sunsetter completely tore down to the hull because im replacing the stringers and floor and the crazziest thing popped in my head...IF i could somehow find a shorter shaft then drill new holes to mount the engine towards the rear to meet the shorter shaft i wonder if its even possible because if it is i think i would go about doing it here is the pros and cons that i have came up with..

Pros.....Wrap around seating, you dont have to walk around the direct drive engine and have more room, you cant get any more custom than doing something like that plus i could probably come up with a couple more reasons why i like it

Cons....i cant think of any so if you could tell me why i shouldnt do it then let me know

P.S....some people are probably going to say why dont you just sell it and upgrade to a vlx or something but i kinda like my old malibu and cant afford a new one right now....plus i like the CUSTOM idea here if it could be done......also i know that my boat is set up for skiing but i dont even know how to ski and dont see myself getting into it...i wakeboard and wakeskate and not really that good at it so i dont care really to spend all that money on a new one right now untill maybe when my son gets older.

what if you just kept the motor where it was and build wrap around seating to cover the engine like the new direct drives? seems like it'd be the easier way to go, you dont have to worry about reinforcements or screwing up the geometry of the drive system.

[Bill_AirJunky]

Sure, anything can be done. A couple of issues I thought of:

- Wouldn't the relatively low freeboard pose a problem, especially slowing down quickly? The engine being in back will make the back of the boat sit lower in the water.

- You'll need a new trans & v-drive.

I think I'd be more inclined to dream up an XTI-like interior for the boat as a DD.

[Ndawg12]

maybe you could pull this off, but hopefully you would be doing it for just your benefit. I doubt it will add much resale value to the average consumer. Jm2c

[MalibuNation]

well this is prolly the first time this has ever been asked and probably could never happen and some probably would wonder why i would even wanna do it....I have my 89 malibu sunsetter completely tore down to the hull because im replacing the stringers and floor and the crazziest thing popped in my head...IF i could somehow find a shorter shaft then drill new holes to mount the engine towards the rear to meet the shorter shaft i wonder if its even possible because if it is i think i would go about doing it here is the pros and cons that i have came up with..

Pros.....Wrap around seating, you dont have to walk around the direct drive engine and have more room, you cant get any more custom than doing something like that plus i could probably come up with a couple more reasons why i like it

Cons....i cant think of any so if you could tell me why i shouldnt do it then let me know

P.S....some people are probably going to say why dont you just sell it and upgrade to a vlx or something but i kinda like my old malibu and cant afford a new one right now....plus i like the CUSTOM idea here if it could be done......also i know that my boat is set up for skiing but i dont even know how to ski and dont see myself getting into it...i wakeboard and wakeskate and not really that good at it so i dont care really to spend all that money on a new one right now untill maybe when my son gets older.

Save save save and try to get a V Drive ... maybe trade? Yes, I read your last paragraph.

Good luck - Jim

Edited February 25, 2009 by MalibuNation

[edgeski1]

When the '89 Sunsetter came out. Malibu hadn't ever thought of a V-Drive. I'm sure plain and simple, the hull isn't designed fo the weight distrubuted into the back like that.

[68Slalom]

My only comment "Why"

[Mike00LXI]

It would be a shame to invest all of that time and money to then watch it sink because the hull and freeboard weren't designed for that purpose.

[WakeGirl]

I think that it would be a really cool, interesting project, particularly since you're at a point where the boat is already torn apart. But one of the problems that I see is that since the boat was never designed as a vdrive, getting the engine placement & shaft angle right would be tricky at best. It would be hard to know how the hull would react to it. I would think that your best chance for success would be to use the stock shaft/prop placement as a starting point & work backward from there, trying to emulate that as closely as possible until you get to the tranny/vdrive unit.

I have to go along with those that say save up to buy a vdrive. One of the things about a project like this is that you could (probably will) always have reliability issues & gremlins that you'd be chasing, & that seriously screws with your fun time on the water. One thing that I've learned over the years is that you don't want something that screws with that. Used vdrives (like an early VLX, '96-97) are well down into the teens in value now, so with the equity in your boat you wouldn't be too far off. Just a thought.

[Chia]

save up, the low freeboard will be a problem. it was a problem on my '01 sunsetter vlx at times, with water coming in the engine vent holes when you slow down quickly.

if you go ahead with it put in several bilge pumps.

[CRMNGRN]

One of the first boats I built was designed as a V drive run about, I converted it to a DD after a couple of years when water skiing became the only use for the boat, It worked a lot better all around after the convertion so, you could prolly find the needed stuff on the cheap and try, but be advised, If going back to the original configuration would be an issue after you decide you can't live with the handling or performance of a Frankenboat, I wouldn't waste the time.

[infantrybu]

thanks for all the input and my decision is to keep it a dd i jus thought it would be one of a kind and be different didnt realize how many problems could lay ahead