Separator in my area...

link for craig

Craig,
That Separator has been for sale for some time. The 4K for a separator seems low too. I wonder if there's something wrong with the boat. Go check it out! The bubble style Batmobile windshields were only available a couple years. I think because of the radical design it didn't go over too big. Also, we had a Separator and a 16' Donzie on our lakes up north - they would run "head to head" WOT.

Edit: The seller does state it needs heads and exhaust manifolds.

Yeah, that was my question too Pete; I remember you telling me about a Separator that was at your lake years ago, but I was sort of thinking it was an inboard?

Was it a stern drive too?

Hey, speaking of I/O's that are normally inboards and vice versa, check out this link I posted at the Donzi page for a guy I know.

It's a little Cobalt XV-200 (Donzi 16 copy), like mine, that had a V-drive instead of the usual Volvo stern drive.

http://www.donzi.net/forums/showthread.php?t=54958

The separator was a V drive 351 and the Donzi was a Volvo outdrive with the 351. Craig, the Donzi was the one I told you about the owner blowing the engine. Watercraft put a short block in it and somehow got the wrong rotation engine. The mechanic dropped it in the lake and of course found out when he shifted the helm into reverse. I don't remember how they fixed it but do remember you told me one of the nice things about the Volvo outdrives is they are reversable!

Pete - Yes with the older Volvo (AQ drives) you can just remove a pin from a rod attached to a pivoting arm under the shift cover (which is that piece of the Volvo housing that usually had a silver and blue number plate that said 250, 270, 280, etc. identifying the drive model), and switched it to the other side of the arm (there's a hole in each side), reinsert the pin and your forward and reverse prop direction is switched that easily! Pretty neat.

75 Tique - I've also seen a number of the little 18 Donzi's with V-drives. I think they're cool too, and probably less maintenance than an outdrive, but I "think" with any extreme (24 degree) deep V hull like the Donzi, while the V is cool, the stern drive might be better for both speed and handling because you can trim the prop up and lift the bow. The little Cobalt (and the Donzi that it copied) is a blast to run fast with the drive trimmed up a bit because it just flies over top of the waves and lands with the bow up so that it enters the water without pounding. I wonder how the V-drives with that little 16 ride in comparison. Still, very cool looking and a real clean look at the stern. I'm sure it's pretty quick too, but I wonder if it would be as fast as the same boat with a stern drive that can be trimmed up. My guess is that, since as Pete mentioned, the Separator with a V and the Donzi 16 with an outdrive were real even at top end, is that the Separator had a lower degree of deadrise (I'll guess 19 to 21 degrees - and that is a TOTAL guess!). I think this Separator looks pretty neat with flat glass and it's cool that, from what was said above, it's not an alteration, but a later CC option.   Hmmm? Might be worth a look and a brief day trip, if nothing else just to get some more pics!

Oh, and with regard to the number of Cobalt Donzi clones that had a V-drive, this is the only one I've seen and I've located about 12 or 13 of these XV-200's. He thinks it's original though because there aren't any indications that a hole was filled in at the stern where a drive would have been (unless they just did a real careful job).