What would you pay to add Zero Off to a boat?

[E_T]

If you have a strong carb'ed motor in a great hull would it be worth $7000 if you where able to have Zero Off added to your boat? I am currently working on a set up that would allow a conversion to EFI and DBW. Would this be something that Ballers would like to seen done?

[Wish]

So, confused. But if you can make this work on a GT-40 I can promise you will have folks knocking down your door to get a conversion. Just think how many GT-40s are out there....

[Andre]

7k and keeping my 1540 hrs engine or does it include an engine???

[E_T]

@wish once tested it would work on SBC BBC SBF including GT-40

[E_T]

@andre keep your hours. The other two options in the poll show the re power costs

[Wish]

Where do I send the check....? And of course if you need a bata test boat, I will gladly volunteer to work out any bugs with the smoothest running GT40 around.

[E_T]

@wish with my plan I would scrap your intake. But you already have alot of the needed components let me ponder the GT40 for a day or so. Could be a lower cost

[Wish]

Ponder away...not kidding on being the ginny pig BTW... :smile:

[Chef23]

For 7k I would pass. I think for my 2002 Malibu and 16k I could get into a newer boat with ZO. For 3K I would think about it.

[thager]

I would pay exactly $3K. Or at least that's what it cost me in 2010.

[Ilivetoski]

$13k for a 99 GT-40 $7K for conversion... $20k in a ZO boat? Good luck finding one on SIA under $30K

[Ilivetoski]

And I skied a 98 nautique today on my home lake which I have never done before. Only on a different lake which I'm not convinced has a good course. And the nautique felt as good if not better than my 04 lxi

[Horton]

@E_T stop selling fantasy! If you call @Jody_Seal and can convince him it will work and is practical => I will buy you a case of beer.

[Bill22]

You did not include "I don't need ZO to have fun skiing" as an option. :)

[Horton]

@E_T you can not trade @Jody_Seal 1/2 the beer to lie for you

[Wish]

So yesterday I pulled a skier that owns a Carbon Pro. He is a 15off 30mph skier. His words for the wake of my 1997 SN 196...."God I love that wake". If there is even a hint of possibility, an entire new batch of ZO boats could seriously rival the current rigs going anywhere form 45k to 65k...

 

So what would you pay to not pay that kind of scratch? Course you could pick up a used ZO boat for 30k..now there's a bargon..NOT.

[Waternut]

I'd be willing to split up to $3000, 3+ ways to get ZO on our club boat. No freaking way I'd even think about $7k to replace even the old classic PP.

[Ilivetoski]

This is making me think.. What if this is the kind of competition that boat companies need to come down on their price? 20k for a ZO 98/99 nautique is a lot more appealing than 60k even for a 200. They aren't $40k better

[oldjeep]

7k and you still have a 20 year old engine, trans, interior and an expensive intake. With as cheap as the CPs seem to be going for used it doesn't seem to make much sense.

 

Or stuff like this for 25k

http://www.onlyinboards.com/2009-Ski-Nautique-196-for-sale-Destin-Florida-42589.aspx

[vtjc]

I agree a Zero Off boat with around 1,000 hours for 22-25k is an attractive option for example: http://www.boattrader.com/listing/2009-Correct-Craft-196-650546

[Ilivetoski]

@oldjeep 19-20k for a 98-99 196 or at minimum 30 for a CP?I love the cp but we looked at buying one and couldn't find one used in good shape with a reasonable number of hours under $35

[crashman]

I like the feel of PP better and I don't ski tournaments. How do I take a new ZO boat and convert it to PP?

[ozski]

I just spent about $4500 to convert my new / old 196. I think its a reflection of how hit and miss Stargazer is, works fine on some boats and yet others end up going slowly insane trying to get it dialed in. Stargazer = box of chocolates and I just need things to work so I can focus on skiing, enough issues there to fry my brain on any given day.

[6balls]

$7K conversion on the GT-40 if the real deal and bulletproof...no franken boat issues.

 

Otherwise if I really needed ZO would sell my 2000 196 with GT40 for what I could get and shoot for a newer 196 with factory ZO...maybe have to put in $20K.

 

As it sits I'm going to ski one, two-tourney weekend in Sept and given how I'm skiing right now my score becoming less important than the good times that weekend. With that I don't need to spend anything and can keep running PP.

[E_T]

GT 40 will have to be thought out. I was only really thinking of carb boats. Good info here @crashman it's possible to do. What motor?

[UWSkier]

ZO on a 200x Monsoon would be swell too...

[Onside135]

@ilivetoski…no surprise that a TSC 1 hull would ski and drive better than an 04 Lxi…just saying...

 

@E_T…$15K for a PCM re-power sounds kind of steep. Wasn't @Jody_Seal doing them for around 10K and then flipping the pull out motor to save even more money?

[rockdog]

I'm still deliberating as to whether I should spend $600 on Z-box..

[E_T]

@thager what motor?

[E_T]

@Onside135 thats the number i came up with when i added all the parts up including new trans and gauges, ZO, CNC prop,

[gregy]

@E_T if you could get a software tuning package for E-controls similar to what they have vehicles, just about any combo would be possible. I think there is some for MEFI 4 and 5 but not sure of the possibilities for the E-control computer that you need for ZO.

 

I saw a guy that put a GM Multi-port injection on an International Harvester V8 using a homemade intake manifold. He cut the two distributors in half and did some machining, used a coupler to attach the lower international body to the upper GM. Then designed a custom rotor shaft for it. It used a GM wiring harness and computer even had a O2 censors for closed loop. It should be possible. The problem I found was that the Marine parts are expensive. I was adding up parts to convert to ZO and it adds up in a hurry. The best deal to me would be to find a newer complete salvage engine. I've seen some in the 3500 range. Found a 6.0 that was in a fire for $1500 but it had a lot of parts burnt.

[harddock]

What is the big benefit over Perfect Pass that would warrant spending many thousands to add it? I drive a GT 40 EFI 98 SN daily with PP set for slalom and when done, push the button for tricks, or wakeboard depending on who is next on the dock and never have an issue. All for less than $1,000 installed!

[E_T]

@gregy there are ECU's on the market that will handle the parameters needed. I priced the one that i did because it has a lot of self learning capabilities and could be used on any platform.

[thager]

@E_T 02 196 330 Excaliber.

[Chef23]

@harddock the difference regarding PP and ZO is that they feel different and it is nice to train behind the same speed control that you ski tournaments behind. At your sons level it isn't an issue but as he hits max speed and shortens the line it can make a difference.

 

I train behind PP and tend to ski about the same in tournaments as I do at home but some people struggle with switching between the different speed controls.

[oldjeep]

@Chef23 - question though. Is having ZO on a tiny little boat like a 196 going to actually simulate a tournament pull behind a big bus like the new Prostar? There has got to be a 400lb difference between the 2, not to mention the beam. Seems like there is more to it than just the speed control.

[ozski]

Many will argue that ZO in a 196 is the best setup possible. Its pretty close.

[vtjc]

Just missed a 06 196 with 6.0 409 HP and Zero Off in SC for $20k, 250ish hrs. A deal like that is hard to find but when you do it makes a conversion hard to justify.

[Ilivetoski]

@oldjeep compared to perfect pass, it is going to be identical to a tournament set. Yes boats are getting bigger put perfect pass in practice and zero off in tournaments is a huge jump.

[swc5150]

It was my understanding that this conversion was for carb'd boats. Just thinking to myself, how many ballers who desire ZO are still running carb'd motors? My guess is it can't be more than a handful? Kudos to @ET to work up something new though.

[E_T]

@swc5150 my thinking is more for like. '94 MC that with a little work could be a great practice boat

[MattP]

@E_T like this boat? http://sfbay.craigslist.org/eby/boa/5129720139.html

[Jody_Seal]

Vortec 96 and newer carbed chevy engines could be retrofitted with a PCM DBW/e-control induction system and ZO for around the $7K. Ford engines would take a bit more engineering and resources but theoretically could be made to accommodate and work with ZO. Do not think that $7K would cover it .

[ALPJr]

My ski buddy has skied with ZO for the first time this summer in a couple tournaments with different boats. He said he did not notice a difference between them and the pull of the 97 MC with PP that we have been skiing with for 15 years.

[Wish]

Without question there is a significant pull difference. However, it is possible to land on a ZO setting that actually feels easier then PP making it, for some..me included, feel different in a good way. Or may even feel somewhat the same as the setting may fit the skiers style. Also depends on skier level IMHO. To me there is probably enough PP boats out there that would like to have ZO but do not want to jump 15-20k for a boat upgrade and hassle with selling the one they know inside and out for unknown used ZO boat. Everything has a price and a limit on that price.

[DefectiveDave]

I'm not sure how big my demographic is, but all are out of my price range unfortunately. I'm not good enough to be competitive (28off) and am thus content with perfect pass most of the time. Strangely I seem to pick up a few buoys when switching to zero-off, but that's probably a longline anomaly.

 

That being said I would still love to have zero off if the price was somewhat lower in the $3-4k range. I know that's insane, but one can dream.

[JohnN]

The $3K number seems reasonable to add DBW/ZO to a boat that has EFI already, just for the tourney pull and the driving ease. At 7K I agree, you're getting close to a much newer boat.

[sunperch]

Repower your boat = no sales tax on boat, no increase in insurance premiums or property tax.

[E_T]

@JohnN ZO by itself is $1550 that leaves you with $1500 to play with as much as I would love to figure out a way to do it for that much I don't ever see it possible.

$1500 Zero Off

$500 for a new dbw throttle body

$800 throttle assembly

$500 wiring harness

-------

$3300

Before you really get started

At this point in time with hard cost just is not there

[oldjeep]

@sunperch - In MN buying a used boat from a private party = no sales tax

I guess your premiums would go up but only to the point that you raised your declared value - should do that anyways if you dump $7K into an old boat.

Not sure what you mean by property tax.