Mercury 3.4 l Formula EFI Outboard

[Dave S]

The one T4 I have has the shifter mount.......,looks factory....The only ones that know are not posting........

[rdmerhar]

The Apache was originally fitted with the EFI Offshore units, not T4 powerheads. The T4 was found several years later and still on the 25 mid hanging on the boat, coming off soon for a go thru, hoping to hit the water soon! Here's some serial numbers from the two Ebay motors I found a few years ago, they start with what looks like T2, now isn't that confusing! Happy Easter!

[rdmerhar]

Engine #1 another maybe clearer pic. Could this be production #1? In 1981 see the T2 larger number?

2

[rdmerhar]

Engine #2

[rdmerhar]

Correctomundo and I second that. T4 was added many years later, original were the 3.4 offshore EFI offered on the 20 and 25 mid sections. The Apache has 25". Still after the secret to the illusive 450hp powerheads! Believe that number was achieved with Bendix mechanical fuel injection and 3.8 liter displacement. Hoping to sleeve some damaged Cosworth blocks and boring oversize with custom VHM pistons to achieve the 3.8 liter. With the thicker sleeve the transfer port velocity will increase and the added finger port with aide in breathing more HP! Need some Merc T4 designers to offer there opinion!

[rdmerhar]

...bob saccenti apache "powerboats" inc. 33 footer. ben kramer was apache "marine" inc. & built the boats that were larger, up the road a bit, in hollywood, starting with the 41 footer & larger. your 33 was built on n.e. 188th street(offshore alley) in north miami beach, nowadays that street is annexed into the city of "aventura" florida. it was one of about 12 that came out of a newly tooled mold, and then stopped using. the reason being, that the bow was too sharp of an entry deadrise, and "hunted" too much when pushed fast in rough water with bigger power & higher speeds. there was a nice center console deck mold & related parts molds also tooled for that 33. over half of the boats that were produced from those molds were "work" boats, mostly grey gelcoat sterndrive center-console boats. they were later cut up & put in the dumpster. this 33 was known as the narrow beam 33 (the usual 8 foot beam), as bob also produced a 33 footer that was 9' 6" beam & was a bit more popular sales wise, that came out of an older cigarette mold that don aronow had sold him from don's storage lot next door. I don't believe, but could be incorrect on this, but i don't recall any of the narrow beam "sportdeck" 33's, like yours, were rigged new, as outboard boats. it is more than likely an early conversion boat to outboards, as the rigging in the photo's above look to all be original from that same era of time. the "adel" rigging clamps are what was popular then in south florida & used by all the serious offshore rig shops back then. the boats were well built for a reason. bob & ben were racing partners then, when the narrow beam 33's were designed & built, and the project was funded by kramer. the narrow beam 33 molds sat for a number of years, and were sold for a song to concept boats. they made mostly center consoles out of them, added a platform, & called them, i think, 35's. since their boats were pushed at a slower speed range, the "hunting" performance issue was/is less of a problem. hope this helps a bit, with the provenance of your boats history...

Story goes when the guys at Lake X first ran the 10 Meter Warrior, it had std.trim tabs, or maybe no trim tabs. I understand that when they got on it with the twin EFI 3.4's the bow went straight up in the air! They added the large twin piston trim tabs and problem was gone. I spoke to the earlier owner and his mechanic and with fresh engines this boat was a 70mph smooth runner, I only used it in lake Erie and it is so smooth at 60 thru big chop, just cuts thru and feels like your in your Dads Caddy! Previous owner would go to Florida Keys and just kill it in the ocean, never had any issues with what's being mentioned above, said BS, smoothest boat ever. (at the up to 70mph). Now I believe it might get a little squirrel with a couple big blocks but with the two light 3.4's its a great handler and lover jumping the waves. I am hoping to rig it with triples and strip out the interior and hopefully try to put it up against some big $$ boats in the 400 class. Almost tried to do the 2022 Eastlake Oh race this year but wasn't able to put that act together. Wishing everyone a great 2023!