Wakeboard boat on a budget

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Dom08

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Hey guys, i’m looking at buying a 1994 centurion 22’ v-drive boat. We just purchased a water front place on a lake. We will be Wakesurfing/boarding. Tubing. My concern is this unit has a 351 ford motor in it. Shows 386hrs total. Are these units problematic? Carburetor problems? Can we change this to EFI with those kits?? Any information helps.

From what I see v drives have a whine noise from the trans can this be stopped? V drive is for wakeboarding?
I’m new to this. Coming from a 16ft aluminum outboard boat
 
Think the Ford 351 base is used in many ski-boats ... amongst them Centurion and Mastercraft ... and came in several guises (pending on the state of tune/size of Carbs...

With the Injection models, I think you may (but don't take my word for it) have a different timing and also different camshaft etc.... not sure what other components that need beefing up, but suspect cooling water pump may also have to be upgraded if you do something like that..

V drive give more weight in stern, with same benefits as normal shaft in respect to pulling skiers fast out of the water (bigger prop blades). With aft mounted engine, you should get "better" wake when in wakeboarding speeds... and suspect ski pull eye/pole is in front of engine, so will be pretty directionally stable even with a good skier running hard behind you .... the whine from V-drive, I cannot comment on as that is a gearbox issue ... and if that is a usual thing, I suspect it cannot be stopped / prevented, unless you swap to a unit that is known not to whine... The whine is not a V-drive general issue, but obvioulsy the make/model installed in the Centurion ..
 
Thanks for the info!


Also. This seller for the 94 centurion has a 90 Malibu 215 with a 350 Chevy. Unknown hours on it. It’s half the price of the centurion. And direct drive. What would be a better choice for wake boarding?
 
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Hi, I’ve no direct knowledge about the two boats you mention but I am familiar with more modern models from both brands. They are getting on a bit in age but generally American ski type boats are pretty well made. For wake boarding/surfing a v drive will be better. Having said that though I suspect a weighted down direct drive will be more than adequate for beginner/intermediate wakeboarding - it won’t be great for surfing.

Another thing to consider is where you plan on using the boat. Older ski boats have very low freeboard and would not be recommended in choppy water. This is especially the case if you are wakesurfing as you need a lot of added weight for surfing.

I have a Mastercraft X-1 which is based off their old 205 ski hull. If you could get your hands on a 205 v-drive (or even a direct drive version) you would have a very well regarded wakeboard boat that is more than adequate for beginner/intermediate surfing too.
 
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