rrentsch

As I understand PQ made changes to their step bottom in 2000 to solve some planing and speed problems. Does any body know if these changes made a huge difference and how did the bottoms change ? I am looking hard at a early 2000 34' Viper and would like to know that the 1999 and early 2000 were not dogs.

Powerful Addiction

I had a 99 34' and it was not a dog out of the hole. It had 502's and it would be on plane in ~ 4 to 5 seconds with 28" pitch 4-blade props and very little tab. The 34' is a great boat

Tim

performancemary

Below is a message I received from Mark, one of the former PQ employees.
The answer to you question is that in late 2000 they adjusted the 34 hull to match what Mark is saying they did to the 38. It is easy to tell just by looking at where the tie down U bolt is on the transom. If the distance from the bottom of the lower edge is 1 to 1.5 " from the bottom it is a new hull. If there is 2.5 to 3" clearance its the old hull.
The new hull is a bit faster . I had a 99 34 footer with the HP500's ( OLD HULL) and it ran great out of the whole but had a fair amount of bow rise. Top speed for me was 77, the new owner has seen 80 . All on GPS.
The viper is a great boat but the 38' Avenger is better yet, espically with the 575sci's. Let me know if your intrested
Jim



Hi Jim,
I left the company in early 2000 so I am not familiar with your boat. However, I am familiar with the hull.

In late 1999 we modified the 380 hull mold to improve performance. Prior to this mold change we were doing extensive work to most of the boats after they were pulled from the mold. We incorporated everything we could in the mold so we would not have to work on the hulls after they were pulled.

One of the things that really has to be done after the boat is pulled from the mold is to sharpen all the edges. We had a typical 1/4 - 3/8" radius on our edges. To make the edge perfectly square in the mold introduces the potential for alot of lamination problems right on that sharp edge - meaning it may have to be repaired after being pulled. So we tightened up the radii slightly in the running area, but not to perfectly sharp. So that is one way to tell if your boat has been worked on after being pulled.

The other significant change made to the mold was to adjust the angle of the rear running surface. From the second step to the transom, we took that whole section and canted it up at the rear. We held the position at the step but raised up the rear end about 1 1/2". This allowed the bow to come up more at speed and gave it more consistent and higher speeds with the same power as the previous design..

rrentsch

Hey Guys, Thanks for the help !!!!! I will keep you posted
Rich

Venomous

I know the 2002 and later hulls of the 340 and 380 are the most efficient and fastest but what speed would a 2000 380 Avenger with 502's be able to attain? Owner says 75 mph but I'm skeptical. Anyone know or have experience with this year and drive package? Thanks.

JLS

I have a 2000 vyper and dont have any issues as far as what has been described in the past, It is a great boat.

Jeff

Powerful Addiction

Venomous,

The 1999 34' that I had with the 502's would do 75 (GPS) on a really good day - seen it once, but most days it would run 73-74. I had CMI exhaust, so I was not stock. I know a guy with a 99 38' with 502's and he runs in the low 70's. I would think 75 would be a stretch.

Tim

Wildman1

Venomus,
The World Famous "Blondes Preferred" 38 Avenger will do 82mph by the GPS. Running 500 efi's 30"Lab finish props and the bottom blue printed at the factory.
Sended the boat back to the factory in 01 and had 30 inches of the outside strake cut off. This settle the back end of the boat down in the water and give it a better ride.
There is to much lift in their design of the bottom with the pad. This was done so they could run with much less power then other boat manufacturers. When I had stock 502's in the boat it was good for only 70-72mph and that was with Stainless Marine headers on the motors. Remove the stock headers and you take out 384 lbs in the motor compartment. That is like taking 3-4 people out of the boat.
Good luck

BillR

If your looking for a 34 Vyper, you should look HARD at Macklins.

You will NOT find a CLEANER boat. Macklin is very anal about maintanence and cleaning his boat. Daym thing still smells new in the cabin. . . . . . . .

As far as bottoms, if they made bottom changes in late 2000, wouldn't that be 2001+ boats?
Boat MFG's begin building next years boats in June. So, if 2001 boats are being built in June 2000, and this bottom change was made late 2000 - then only 2001 boats have the good bottom?!?!

I also was told by Pete Basica, the 34 bottom was tweaked again for model year 2002. So if I was looking for a 340, it would be a 2002+ boat.
All I know, my 2002 was faaaast for 496's.

JLS

would anbody know when they changed the hull as far as the vin numbers go? Then everybody would know?