Volvo Penta Out Drives

[largecar91]

I ran a 280 Volvo with a stock lower and with a Volvo speedmaster on a 24' Excalibur for quite a few years behind a 450 hp big block chevy. Very dependable drive with power in this area. Bad thing is the stock lower has the hydrodynamics of a brick . Hydromotive used to make a nose cone which worked pretty well. Hill made pretty nice props for the stock lowers. There also was an aftermarket trim made for them. The 290 drive came out with power trim. Neat thing about the older drives that I am referring to is you can run them left or right by making a very simple linkage change. The Volvo speedie lowers were not known for handling big power. I sold one to a guy once that had a 23' Eliminator with a blown big block and volvo 280 with a speedie. If he romped on it, it would blow the gears out the side! he got on plane easy and kept spare lowers! I finally put a 482" motor in my Excalibur and went to a #3 Merc speedmaster but the Volvo was a very good drive.

 

[Enginesetter]

Does anyone out there have any experience with Volvo Penta out drives? Are they good units? Are some models better than others? How hard is it to get parts and service for them? Are they hard to work on? And has Checkmate ever used them on their boats?

Just wondering. Been tossing around the idea of either a newer boat or maybe an older 1968 to 72 Corvette. Probably won't be 'till next next year though!

Jet'
Planning ahead

I don't know what the max HP rating is, but I regularly hang them behind Volvo 8.1 Gi motors rated at 400 h.p.

I don't recall ever seeing any warrantee claims on Volvo outdrives. I usually hear about the engin/outdrive related stuff.

Harold