38 Scarab Raider Project

Afternoon, I’ll be picking up what appears to be a fairly decent 38 Raider later this month. I’ve know about this boat for 10 + years since it was last for sale in NY; been looking for a good 34 or 38 for years and this one kinda fell in my lap after wasting 20hrs going to look at a soggy wet noodle Scarab Sport. It looks mostly unmolested besides the rear bench being moved fwd and possibly non factory front bolsters. Hard to tell on the seats since only 5 or so of these were built and I literally have only seen 3 or 4 factory pictures. The boat is currently rigged with a set of 300 Loopers on a set of smoked Gil Brackets. I have secured 2 NOS Gil Brackets out in Mich. I’m up in the air as to the extent I’m going with this one; depends on how soft it is. I’d like to keep the boat original as possible, so all work will be done with that in mind. I havent decided on power yet. I have a line on some mod loopers and another line on a trio of 2.5 Carb 7 petal 200 Mercs. I’ll try to keep the thread updated and post some pics. Thanks.

Cool boat, keep us updated. Big boat even for V8s, what does it run ? Out of curiosity, were Raiders solid glass or cored ?

Matt

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Originally Posted by MattGreen

Cool boat, keep us updated. Big boat even for V8s, what does it run ? Out of curiosity, were Raiders solid glass or cored ?

Matt

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Thanks, the options were twin V8s or trip 200s according to some wellcraft aficionados.
Said to run in the low 60s; that must be at best. Raiders were the same construction as KVs. There is mention of kevlar in some Raiders but the information is extremely limited.

JMHO. Stick with twins if possible. Going to triple 2.4’s is not going to net you more speed, only more headaches. I owned a 33’ Sonic with 3 2.4’s and it was a powerhead eater. Not enough torque in them. Good luck. ��

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Originally Posted by sonicss33

JMHO. Stick with twins if possible. Going to triple 2.4’s is not going to net you more speed, only more headaches. I owned a 33’ Sonic with 3 2.4’s and it was a powerhead eater. Not enough torque in them. Good luck. ��

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Thats what I’m leaning twards, rerigging the whole dash for trips would be a pita too..

Well much to my dismay the boat was much more of a full blown project then anticipated. I passed on it. Back to the drawing board....

You made the right call. I bought a Scarab of the same era and the deeper I got the worse it got....should have passed :rolleyes:
Soggy Scarabs seem to be the norm. What else are you looking at ? Have you considered a Tempest Europa ?

Matt

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Originally Posted by MattGreen

You made the right call. I bought a Scarab of the same era and the deeper I got the worse it got....should have passed :rolleyes:
Soggy Scarabs seem to be the norm. What else are you looking at ? Have you considered a Tempest Europa ?

Matt

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Thanks for the encouragement Matt! Yeah it just wasnt right, I almost cried, lol! Funny you mention that. Yes I love those Tempests, also the 34 Raiders and 30’ Superboats. Hard to find a bigger classic O/B sportboat.

Big outboard sportdecks are becoming real hard to find these days. Rarely you see an outboard powerplay or superboat or tempest for sale. When you do...they are sold within a couple days. When you find a scarab or a stinger, you have to check them through if they havent been redone. If you do find one...spend a couple more $ to make sure that you have updated power.

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Originally Posted by Turborr

Big outboard sportdecks are becoming real hard to find these days. Rarely you see an outboard powerplay or superboat or tempest for sale. When you do...they are sold within a couple days. When you find a scarab or a stinger, you have to check them through if they havent been redone. If you do find one...spend a couple more $ to make sure that you have updated power.

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Well said, I agree. They dont stick around long once they pop up. I’m keeping my eyes peeled. There are a handful of O/B boats that’d work for me but I prefer a sport boat.