Re: 1978 23ft SeaCraft Seavette
 

Gorgeous Boat!!!!!!!!!

Re: 1978 23ft SeaCraft Seavette
 

Thanks guys, the boat has a little faster top speed with the three blade prop. I have seen 65 MPH (GPS) in cool weather, and with the four blade it will do 63-64. The four blade is the best all around prop. It will cruise at 42 MPH at 3500 RPM and will get 2.8-2.9 MPG. :cool:

Re: 1978 23ft SeaCraft Seavette
 

When this sucker came blasting into Long Point just around sunset, all the guys stopped talking. We could hear it screaming in from a loooonnnng way. That was with the old LS 454. I can only imagine how sweet that 502 sounds. The stereo is almost as loud.
Wildfire does beautiful work, and some lucky person will get a really pretty, fully sorted piece of history.

I only hope the next owner loves and enjoys her as you have.
GFS

Re: 1978 23ft SeaCraft Seavette
 

a hell of a sound coming in, that sweet sound of HP, can't imagine how far out we could here it seemed like he never got there LOL. DAMN I wish Susan was a gearhead sometimes, this may actually be the fastest SeaCraft on the planet

Re: 1978 23ft SeaCraft Seavette
 

Ditto on that Brian.

GFS-

Steve's Seavette sounded increadible at Long Point! Great memory. Sorry to see it go!

Re: 1978 23ft SeaCraft Seavette
 

Damm,
What a beautiful looking boat.absolutely gorgeous.that picture of it in the driveway shows the beautiful look,and lines that make it the special boat it is.
Oh,if only I had the extra money.If there was one more boat I'd like to have,it would be a Seavette.
I never play the lottery,but I think I'll get a ticket today,and I know where the money will go if I win.

I'm sure it will be a sad day for you when you see it go.Good luck with the sale.

Re: 1978 23ft SeaCraft Seavette
 

BEAUTIFUL BOAT!
That's got to be one hell of a ride. What a sweet motor too.
What do you think you saved in weight with the aluminum heads, intake and exhausts? I've got a 454 crusader in my Whitewater and have toyed with the idea of putting it on a diet. How are you getting close to 3 mpg at 45 mph? My rig burns 15 gph at 3000 rpm. How does your setup do idling around for hours? I know it's apples to oranges (inboard fishing / to i/o cruiser) but it looks like you really have it sorted out.

Re: 1978 23ft SeaCraft Seavette
 

Needs to be a CSC member that buys it - or whoever buys it needs to become a CSC member so we can all see it again! Hate to see that one leave...

Re: 1978 23ft SeaCraft Seavette
 

Steve, a true classic that brings pride to the SeaCraft name and hats off to you for keeping her such a beauty.
Yes, she did make a grand entrance at Long Point where all heads turned, eyes wide open and mouth's drooling.
May the next owner, whoever he/she be, take as much pride & joy and create as many wonderful memories as you have....
Carla

Re: 1978 23ft SeaCraft Seavette
 

Thanks guys/gals for all of the kind words.
The Aluminum heads saved around 50 lbs, however the 502 weighs about 50 lbs more than the 454. When I converted it to fresh water cooling, that added about 45 lbs. The mini starter will save a few lbs over the old bulky style. I don't know the weight difference on the exhaust manifolds as they were on the boat when I got it, I would guess another 50 lbs. The engine will idle all day long with out fouling any plugs but I would not recommend it due to the possibility of water reversion from the valve overlap. One could have a custom cam made to prevent the water reversion but it wouldn't have the lope to it and might not make as much HP. As a result I try not to let it idle very long and if I do, I'll rev it to 1400 RPM's for a couple of minutes before I shut it down. I wouldn't recommend this exact set up for a straight inboard fishing boat.

The fuel economy is due to the engine having almost a 10:1 compression ratio, conservative head ports, conservative camshaft, and a perfect air/fuel ratio (tuned by a FAST wide band O2 meter). I don't remember the exact numbers without going to the GM Performance Parts web site, but if I recall it makes 567 ft lbs of torque at 34-3500 RPM's and 502 HP at 5250 RPM's. If you have to run the boat less than 3,000 RPM's it will start to burn more gas. The engine seems to be most efficient around 3,500 RPM. Also by going to the four blade Bravo 1 prop gave me about 3/10ths better MPG.