I just bought a '67 Howard with a 427 low riser. This is my first v-drive, and I will need the collective help of everyone in the forum to answer all of my dumb questions.
The boat is in fantastic condition, and the engine is still standard bore.
First question: The v-drive is a Throughbred BD. I have not seen any mention of this drive anywhere. Does anyone have some experience with this drive, and can I get parts for it?
Thanks guys!
http://wsphotofews.excite.com/025/w4/vy/Yp/LN45466.jpg
Welcome to the world of v-drives. This is the right place to come with your questions. That old Howard is a great boat. My dad has a 64 Howard Center Deck,427 Side Oiler, 3 dueces, and a Casale Top Loader. Its a tank compared to my Sanger, but boy does it drive nice.
Howard a TANK?????? The only boats that will be refered to tanks are jetboats around here. You may call them "portly" or "well built" but NEVER tanks!
Sorry 058, I meant solid, well built. Where have you been?
OK you guys, I know there is nothing to do since it's winter. How about stirring some old brain cells and trying to remember something about Thoroughbred Marine?
I got a box of junk, er, parts with the boat. There is an extra set of gears and a well worn in/out dog set. Is it possible to weld new material on the dogs and remachine them? I am assuming that this is not a part I can buy anywhere.
Am I making any sense at all?
Hey rrrr,
Contact Bergeron Engineering in Mesa, AZ.
Phone-(480)834-1531. If anyone can tell you about that V-drive or have parts it would be them. I will check a few sources and see what I can find. Good luck.
Thanks for the help. Last week I disassembled the engine and got it down to the machine shop for a checkout. The last couple of days I have been taking out all of the rigging and the v-drive. I want everything to be clean and shiny before it is reinstalled. Tried out a little 600 grit, polishing compound, and some grunt work yesterday. The hull is going to look great when I'm done.
So far I haven't found anything unexpected. The shaft is worn and will have to be replaced, but everything is in pretty good shape for a 34 year old boat.
I'm having a great time with this.
rrrr, Be sure your machine shop knows FE Fords, these engines have a few quirks that anyone that doesn't know the FE will overlook and can present some problems. Some of these include rockershaft oiling, cam bearing installation and if you have the capscrew rods he knows about the bolts. Also some 427 Fords [mostly Hirisers] have sodium cooled exhaust valves and should NOT be run. The 3 piece hollow stem intake valve should be tossed too. There are some oiling modifications that should be done to the block if they are not already done.
I found a good competition type shop. The manager is knowledgeable about FEs, and we have discussed all of the things you mentioned. When we talked about the work he just went down the list, "we need to do this, this, and this." Bang! I also collected some info and read up on the engine before I tore it down for those reasons. Most of my toys up to this point have been BBCs.
I stopped by this afternoon and they had thrown the block back in the tank because the upper oil passages weren't cleaned to his liking.
There was still a little bit of Colorado River left in the block too. I bought the boat in Havasu and pulled it back to Dallas. I will post a photo soon to see if any of you guys recognize the boat.
BTW superlite, I meant to tell you that is a beautiful old boat your dad has. Too bad we haven't all aged that well.
Thanks for the advice.
[This message has been edited by rrrr (edited December 31, 2001).]
rrr, we are almost neighbors, I live on Lake Granbury, about 70 miles douth of Dallas, if I can help you on your project give me a call my cell phone is 817-688-2546, we also do a boat deal at Lake Whitney in October, lots of v-drives and all the other boats, last year we had over 125 boats and about 350 or more people showup.
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