In what years were they improved?
 

Now that I've been looking at V20s anything without much flare doesn't look good anymore.

What are the notable improvements made throughout the years and in what years were they done?

In particular I want to know when they switched to 25" transoms and when the deck was raised. I want the deck to be above the waterline.

I'll be looking at center consols mostly. Seem to be the most common type here in TX. Been finding some nice looking ones lately for low prices. Seems only an odd group of people mostly in the northeast want these things.

:you:

The 25" transom was an option from early on(78 I think), but some time around 85-86 they started raising the decks up. I've seen 85's both ways, but all of the outboard 86's I've seen had the higher deck. The sea-drives and I/O's could still be a lower deck on up through the 90's from what I have seen.

i belong to that odd group of people.

now, did you mean the group is odd or the people in the group are odd?

because most of these northeasterners with V20's are odd indeed.

Well said Chuck. :you:

I don't have a V20 so I guess I am not odd anymore!! :hide:

This site is weird and odd.

Oh, and welcome to the site 8!

I suppose its an odd group of odd people.

Do these things sink? I mean, if I was able to put a hole in the hull in the gulf would it descend to the murky depths, or would it float at the top?

The later models have foam in them, I believe the consensus is 76 or 78 is when that started. It is hard to sink a V-20, ask MJ about his rogue wave incident.

I had a 1975 cuddy, Lets just say that a 10 foot wave will fill you to the gunnles and it will stay floating!! As long as it stays upright that is. :oh:

Was there a certain year when they changed from the ugly orange stripe to the blue one?

Sorry to those with ugly stripes. Can I get one with maroon? http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...roongigem1.jpg

Really just trying to judge age from picture when its not posted in adds.

I would think this boat http://images.craigslist.org/0101080...a10e00c256.jpg is older while this one http://images.craigslist.org/0101100...ca7900361a.jpg http://houston.craigslist.org/boa/702959765.html is newer but the wood trim tells me it is still older than this one http://images.craigslist.org/0101000...c8ed00d57b.jpg which is an 88.

Mine is an 84 outboard and it has the raised floor.

They used several different colors during the same year model run so you can't really tell the year from the color........mine is red and black.

How do you know if you have a raised deck? I have an '84 and I still get some water up through the thru-hulls...

-Svence

The raised deck should sit slightly above the waterline when at rest. The early V-20's sit with the deck just below the waterline. This is why they drained to the bilge and then the bilge pump pumped it out. Otherwise the deck would stay wet all the time. The outboard boats got the raised deck first, and some of the I/O's and sea-drive boats stayed with the lower deck. The color scheme is a poor way to tell the year, but there were a few hull changes through the years. 78 brought about the raised gunnel where as 77 was flat about 3-4 feet back from the windshield. And the center consoles switched back and forth from raised front casting decks to not raised, and had several different configurations. You can go through the catalogs in the history section to find some of the major differences.

My 83 cuddyOB has the raised deck, blue/black stripe & no foam..............

Not sure Ferm but I beleive there were two times they raised the deck, initially in the early eighties they raised it so that they could have thru hulls with floor scuppers, at least on the outboard boats. These drained overboard not into the bildge.
Then in 1988 they raised it again about 2 inches so that the floor would not take any water when the boat was bobbing and weaving in the water.
That is why the 88's and above are not as deep in the cockpit, they hit you in a lower spot on your leg when you stand in them to fish and lean against the gunnels.
This same floor height also applies to the V21's.
At least that is what I have seen in the 20 or so I have actually been in.

I've been in an 86 that had the high floors in it like the V-21's, and my 84 seadrive sure has a low deck in it. I think WELLCRAFT changed it up alot just so that later on it would keep the V-20 alive in people trying to decipher the mysteries surrounding them. That RAYMONT HUNTER designed hull shore has made for some good discussions.

Good answer Ferm. :you:

Model year 1977 was the year they raised the deck on the center console and 1978 for the Steplift . I'm not sure when the 25' transom was first offered . The boats we set up for a two motor mount until sometime in the 1980's .

You have a raised deck, they just did a poor job designing the drains.

If I ever see my V again, I am going to see if I can fix the problem....if it works I will share, if it doesn't, I'll cuss.

Still waiting for you to do it first Randleman. :beer:

Are all V-20's step lifts or just some models? I have an 84 center console.

:head:

All V20's and V21's are steplifts.

Check out this link to see how my 1980 CC drained from the deck to the motor well and out. Notice that they already came with foam.

[IMG] http://www.wellcraftv20.com/gallery/album109/scan [/IMG]