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1979 trojan express 30'

Posted: Thu May 26, 2011 2:03 pm
by antlr-king
i have just bought this vessel. it has twin chrysler 318's. when i was moving to the marina i could only get about 2600 rpm's at full throttle. where can i find info on this boat about the engines, transmission, props ect....? any help would be great. thanks, andy

Posted: Thu May 26, 2011 4:17 pm
by k9th
Andy

First of all welcome to the forum. You will find the discussions here both friendly and beneficial - no matter what boat you have or your level of boating expertise.

There are several members here who have the same boat and I am sure they will be along shortly to answer your questions.

Posted: Thu May 26, 2011 4:33 pm
by antlr-king
thanks

Posted: Thu May 26, 2011 6:11 pm
by koviak
Welcome to the forum. First is the bottom clean along with the running gear? If so I would replace the fuel filters as they could be restricting the flow of gas to the carbs. 318's should spin up to about 4100 rpm max throttle. If the boat has sat for awhile it may be time for carb rebuild/cleaning.

Posted: Thu May 26, 2011 8:10 pm
by prowlersfish
Welcome ! as was just post Clean running gear and bottom is where to start , then check the tachs what speed did you get

Posted: Thu May 26, 2011 9:54 pm
by antlr-king
i have the dive survey from last feb. the previous owner pulled the boat and had the bottom done. all new zincs. and had the running gear cleaned. he then moved it from daytona beach to merrit island. and told me it was running at 4000 rpm at around 24 knts. but when i test drove it we couldnt get it over 2800 rpm. the boat is in very good condition for its age and the price was very reasonable. i figured these engines just need a little tweeking. we plan on doing a full tune up on both as well as changing all filters and fluids. and possibly a carb kit on both. where can i find info on what type of tranny fluid i need to get to change it with. thanks for the help.

Posted: Thu May 26, 2011 10:02 pm
by wowzer52
Bob at Beacon Marine, our host, can get you your manuals. BTW welcome aboard.

Posted: Thu May 26, 2011 10:05 pm
by prowlersfish
Well , it sounds like a dirty bottom is the problem for sure , Unless the haul out was done in the last 30 days or so thats the place to start . sounds like its been awhile .

The dexron is the most common fld use in the transmissions

Posted: Fri May 27, 2011 7:50 am
by antlr-king
i have the old receipt for the haul out. it was on 2/17/2011. how often do you have to have the bottom cleaned? i was told every 2 years. anyway i am going to throw on a mask and fins and go down and take a look.
the dive guys charged 3 hours for hull clean. the marina did a pressure wash, removed props and cutlass bearings, replace w/new cutlass bearings reinstall existing props,sand ,acetone,interlux ultra blue bottom paint. all done on 2/17/11

Posted: Fri May 27, 2011 1:17 pm
by prowlersfish
Your in FLA won't take long for growth on the props and shafts to slow you down . even in Va cleaning the running gear 1 or 2 times a year is common unless you have Propspeed or Zinckoat on the props . you may get 2 years out of the bottom paint Muti coats of muti season paint , But you will never get that out of the running gear .

Posted: Fri May 27, 2011 5:06 pm
by antlr-king
ok, well im going to check it out. if it is that, would that also cause me to burn alot more fuel than usuall? i moved the boat about 40 miles and burned around 85 gallons running mostly around 2400 rpms.

Posted: Fri May 27, 2011 5:22 pm
by plansea
What Paul said.. I get my bottom painted about every 2 years, but have a diver clean the props ,shafts and any grass etc about once a month from April to Sept. Its a boat ! Larry

Posted: Fri May 27, 2011 5:38 pm
by prowlersfish
Burn more fuel ? You better believe it will , its like driving your car with flat tires.


I seen more money spent "fixing" and tuning engines , when all the boat needed was some scraping

Posted: Fri May 27, 2011 6:15 pm
by antlr-king
well i hope that is all it is then. now i cant wait to dive in and check it out.

Posted: Fri May 27, 2011 6:21 pm
by prowlersfish
I won't take much on the wheels and shafts to slow a planing hull down.