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Outdrive or repower

bobjim

New member
"I have a 1972 Gibson 36'

"I have a 1972 Gibson 36' houseboat, engines are mercruisers Ford V-8's 215 horsepower each, trans are borgwarner velvet drive AS20-71C, outdrives are mercruiser 215H. I have a outdrive that is seiezed (port)and is junk. These 215H are hard to near impossible to come by. I was told by a mercruiser marine friend of mine that the 2tr out drive is virtually the same with the exception for the input shaft. mine 215H uses a male splined shaft whereas the 2tr uses a female spline shaft, but by changing the shafts it will work. Which is going to be the least exspensive route to go, but on the other hand i was told a repower may be in order..the mercruiser tr drive from the 90's may work but they dont use a trans therefore I would need practcally everything with the eception of the two engines, mine have been recently rebuilt....I don't know which way to go with this as my funds are limited..any ideas, robert"
 
"I realize that the 215H has b

"I realize that the 215H has been out of production for a good many years,.....

The TRII, has also been out of production for Many years,.. Although it's seen a come back with some of the Go Fast boaters.....

I'd think that a move to the BravoII would be a Better Up-date,....
It's still being produced,+ should be available for Many years to come.......
And,...
The BravoII is build Just For big boats such as Your Application......."
 
"There's on another altern

"There's on another alternative to consider: Installing outboards. I've seen a bunch of houseboaters go this way when the repair bills began to pile up.

Look at it this way: you ain't goin' watersking behind that thing, right! All most houseboats need is enough power to make them run along at 6 to 8 knots, well off plane (the most efficient speed). Sure, lots of houseboats will plane off and do twice that speed, but with horrendous fuel mileage!

A pair of 50 to 75 hp. outboards hung on back there would move it along just fine and, if you shop aroud, you might find some good used ones for a total of 2 to 3 grand. The outdrive alone will cost that or more.

See; I ain't totally nuts after all!

Jeff"
 
"i would like to keep using th

"i would like to keep using the outdrives, i have one side that works just fine, its the port side that is seized. I have a buddy that has two used 2tr's from a 74 gibson houseboat, except his uses that old 2tr trans as well, a mercury trans, mine uses the borgwarner velvet drive, just trying to find out for sure whether or not i can use it by changing the input shaft from the female version to the male version that mine uses...robert"
 
"talked to the fella at the m&

"talked to the fella at the m&m he's got one but he wants like $2000 bucks, talked with mercury marine in fon du lac tech dept. the old boy there tells me that a tr outdrive will work as well as the 2tr. will be a bolt in replacement for the 215H. SOooooo.........here we go."
 
"looks as if the old tech guy

"looks as if the old tech guy in fon du lac was correct. the 215H, 2tr, and the tr outdrives are all interchangable, the big old heavy drive. the shafts being male or female with the spring on the end are determined by which trans you have. the old mercon or sometimes called a 2tr uses the female spline and the borg warner velvet drive uses the male shaft. guess you can't beat them old factory boys in fon du lac."
 
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