An LS7 Corvette engine for Marine Use

[Dave S]

In cooperation with GM, Malibu Boats has introduced a boat styled after the Corvette and it comes complete with the Corvette's LS7 block. I wonder if Mercruiser was involved in developing that engine for marine use?

http://malibuboats.blogspot.com/2007/11/malibu-corvette-boat-unveiled.html

 

[sbw1]

That is one ughly boat. My neighbor once had a similar boat built in the 1950's that had fins that looked like a Plymouth Fury. All you would need to do to this hull would be to sculpt the rear sides up and out a bit and you would be pretty close to how that that boat looked. His had Plymouth tail lights instead of the 'vette knock offs.

 

[wish2fish]

I thought I remembered a boat I saw at the boat show maybe ten years ago. They called it a "wet vette" and supposedly it had a corvette engine in it. Does anyone else remember a "wet vette" from their boat shows in the past?

 

[RollerCoastr]

Yup... I'd say more than 10 years ago, but I remember an article in a car magazine featuring a vette-based ski boat.

It struck me as a gimmick ending up as a strange boat, but they had a shot of it on the trailer, which of course had corvette wheels . A nice touch, I guess.

 

[sbw1]

Yup... I'd say more than 10 years ago, but I remember an article in a car magazine featuring a vette-based ski boat. It struck me as a gimmick ending up as a strange boat,

Sort of like that car you could use as a boat. Popular Mechainics said at the time..."It's not a very good boat, but then again, it's not a very good car either.

 

[Dave S]

Maybe you guys are thinking about the boat that Malibu did in 97.

Malibu's Limited Edition has an Echelon hull fitted with a foredeck styled like a Corvette hood, an instrument panel styled like a Corvette dash and a bucket-seat interior trimmed in the Corvette pattern. Actual Corvette emblems are strategically placed inside and out, while openings for the bilge vents have been integrated into the transom and styled like Corvette taillights. Even the dual exhausts carry Corvette-style extended chrome tips, while the matching trailer flashes four frenched taillights and genuine Corvette alloy wheels with Z-rated Goodyear tires. The Malibu Corvette zips to 65 mph, thanks to a 400-hp 383-cu.-in. small-block V8 prepared by Corvette tuner Reeves Callaway and marinized by Indmar. Virtually every component that comes in contact with the water is stainless steel, including the V-drive, tracking fins, rudder and Malibu's unique trim plate. This hydraulically adjustable plate is recessed into the hull near the stern and adjusts down to flatten the wake for smoother skiing. What about the future? Malibu is already planning another Limited Edition, this one styled like the all-new 1997 Corvette C5 you see on the cover of this issue.

 

[Dave S]

And then I ran across this too from 1997...............something called the Black Trac 2 speed torque converter which hooked up to Bravo 3 drives.:wow:


The $3000 BlackTrac is an 11 3/4-in., 70-pound 2-speed torque converter that bolts up to existing EFI Magnum big-block or small-block V8s on the input side and to the twin counterrotating-prop MerCruiser Bravo III sterndrive on the output side. In effect, this means that boat builders must move the engine forward by a foot to leave room for the transmission between the block and transom. That's a pretty minimal demand for something this revolutionary.
The heart of the unit is a planetary gearset taken from a GM 4-speed automotive transmission. This provides the BlackTrac with a choice of either a 1.33:1 "first gear" or direct 1:1 drive. Flipping the gearset allows MerCruiser engineers to produce a transmission for high-torque diesel engines with a 1:1 first gear and a 0.75:1 overdrive. Like an automotive transmission, the BlackTrac automatically shifts to high gear at the appropriate rpm--the shift point is higher under hard acceleration than under soft acceleration-and drops down to "passing gear" if you slam the throttle home at less than 2400 rpm in high.

The BlackTrac is like adding another 100 hp to your engine. On every boat we've tested, it reduced 0-30-mph acceleration by 2 to 3 seconds compared to the same boat running a conventional 1:1 direct drive. This may not sound like much, but 2 seconds makes all the difference when you're trying to get up on plane or pop a skier out of the water. Surprisingly, the BlackTrac has no effect on top speed or fuel economy. But the acceleration gain is prodigious.
Another interesting inboard trend is high-performance small-block V8s built for pleasure-boat use by auto racers. The 400-hp Callaway Supernatural 383 in the Malibu Corvette and twin 425-hp 350s in the Hendrick Scarab 29 are the most visible signs of this trend. Racing-engine builders can extract as much reliable horsepower from a small-block as production builders get from a big block, but with a substantial savings in weight and fuel consumption. Add in the advantages of the BlackTrac transmission, and we predict that you'll see more high-performance small-blocks around the waterfront.

 

[First Born]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oUr9sFD0uS4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kdXD3BlbrYI

 

[kyle f]

Well, I love that boat and I want one... but not for the price.

 

[kev88]

I wonder if Mercruiser was involved in developing that engine for marine use?

If I had to guess I would say it was Indmar since they supply most of Malibu's (GM) engines.