Guess who owns a v-drive tunnel boat?

[HM]

Me. :D
http://www.***boat.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=16111
I got to meet LilRick - who ain't so little! But I am a midget, so everyone is big to me! Rick and Darren (previous owner of above boat) are very cool guys and great ***boaters.
I got the boat less motor. The motor I have looks nothing like the above picture, although it will be blown (procharger m1), and I will have the motor covered. I should have it ready to run by the end of September.

[lucky]

cool frank - sweet ass ride -

[MKEELINE]

Congrats on the boat. Looks like a fun deal.

[lilrick]

You're not a midget...somebody just sawed off your legs I thought?:D

[dmontzsta]

That is a nice ride, very unique! Congrats.
BTW: You are might be a little short, but your extra weight makes you look like an adult. :)

[RUSHIN ROULETTE]

Very interesting...what hull is that?

[HM]

Very interesting...what hull is that?
21 Campbell

[RUSHIN ROULETTE]

21 Campbell
Did Cambell offer that or was it done custom?? Never seen that before...how does it run and handle?

[HM]

Did Cambell offer that or was it done custom?? Never seen that before...how does it run and handle?
Campbell made only a handfull of them, and they did not handle very well at all with the stock rigging....as why they only made a few of them. The tunnel is simply a box in the mold technology. I think this is the only whaler style, while the rest are closed bows. I don't know much...I didn't even know they existed until two weeks ago and I had to have one. :D
The guy that owned it before me(ITL RUN) has done quite a bit of tuning and tweaking. Moved the strut, changed the rudder, longer cav plates, and worked with Braaksma for the right prop. It is probably 80-90% of the way to being optimized. ITL RUN ran the thing pretty hard at parker for many years. His complaints are really only about how it turns. There is probably more to had on the top end of tuning, but I am not interested (right now) in that. I want to be able to hit the mid 70's safely, but am looking forward to a smoother ride.
This one needs a little TLC in the gel coat department, but other than that, it is way clean and rigged well.
Definitely a double take kind of boat.

[HM]

http://www.***boat.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=16108 http://www.***boat.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=16110 http://www.***boat.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=16111
Other Tunnel Campbells:
http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b307/inkahntrol/107-0731_IMG.jpg http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b307/inkahntrol/107-0734_IMG.jpg http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b307/inkahntrol/Mvc-002f.jpg http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b307/inkahntrol/Mvc-009f.jpg http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b307/inkahntrol/Mvc-001f.jpg

[RUSHIN ROULETTE]

Holy Moly.. :jawdrop: it's a whaler too.... wow that is very cool..never ever seen these before..how much HP are gonna have in it? Contact Ken Meyers over at B&K Boat repair in Bellflower..he is awesome with the Gel and paint work and any glass work...that is if you need someone...he has been in the same shop since 1958...he does all of my work..nice ride, good luck with it!!

[lilrick]

Holymoly, do you see any paint in the future for this ride? Just curious.

[InKahntrol]

Congrats, very cool boat. Did you sell the orange one?
P.S.
Nice pics... :rollside:

[Unchained]

From what information I've gathered, the prop location forward of the transom is the critical dimension to have with the tunnel hulls. Martigras relayed to me that the prop wants to be right under the back two cylinders with the engine mounted as far back as it can go. He's rigged them before so I have to go with that info. I want to move my prop forward another inch or two more to get closer to that location.
I've got a whole list of things to change next winter.

[HM]

..how much HP are gonna have in it?
I have a 502 that I am adding a procharger to that should make 700+HP. The motor makes 630HP right now n/a.
Holymoly, do you see any paint in the future for this ride? Just curious.
Paint? not if I can help it. Gel Coat? yes, probably in the very near future...like dropping it off on the way home from Darren's house. :D I plan to keep the same colors and scheme. Oh...and no "roll bar" is in the future either. My wife about kicked me in the nuts when I mentioned it. I believe she used the word "blasphemy." Which is funny, since my wife didn't even know what a v-drive was when she met me.
Congrats, very cool boat. Did you sell the orange one?
Yep, sold the orange one thanks to Dave Sammons. It will be added to "One Man's Garage."
P.S. Nice pics
Yah...I can't remember where I found those other pics - but they sure make me look like I am some kind of Campbell Tunnel guru even though I did not know they existed just a couple weeks ago. :D

[Warp Factor]

Interesting. Looks like the prop would be "surface piercing" at speed.
A centrifugal blower (Procharger) may or may not work on this setup.
If you have tall enough gears and no transmission, you might need low rpm boost to get you up on plane, and centrifugals make next-to-nothing at low rpm.
You can't get sufficient power and rpm until you get the boost, but you can't get the boost until you have enough rpm.......kind of a "Catch 22".
They work great on jet boats though.
If you don't have at least a 2-speed transmission, I'd recommend a roots blower like the previous owner had, just to be safe. It would probably be cheaper too.

[LD Mandella]

Frank, looks like a lot of fun, we amy have to have a whaler drag race when you get it finished. I will be very interested to hear how it handles and runs.
John

[HM]

Interesting. Looks like the prop would be "surface piercing" at speed.
A centrifugal blower (Procharger) may or may not work on this setup.
If you have tall enough gears and no transmission, you might need low rpm boost to get you up on plane, and centrifugals make next-to-nothing at low rpm.
You can't get sufficient power and rpm until you get the boost, but you can't get the boost until you have enough rpm.......kind of a "Catch 22".
They work great on jet boats though.
If you don't have at least a 2-speed transmission, I'd recommend a roots blower like the previous owner had, just to be safe. It would probably be cheaper too.
While it looks like the prop would be surface piercing, remember, these are Campbells and are tanks. The previous owner had the thing into triple digits and it ran best with a normal 2 blade, which means the prop is still well in the water.
The motor I am putting in it is a 630 HP(615 lbs torque) n/a before the supercharger and already pushes 27% HD gears in a regular Campbell to the mid 60's and has no issues out of the hole. What I am looking for from the procharger is really the intercooler. The motor is higher compression and the procharger will be running a max of 7 lbs.
While in the past, yes, centrifugals didn't create much until the rpm comes up, but have you seen the size of the centrifugals these days even in turbos? They are making lots of power down low these days. Mine is an M1, so it is just slightly larger. But check out the procharger web site and the huff power guys stuff. They have changed the rules of the game through displacement.
And, the boat does have a turbo 400 trans in it. I have no idea of the ratio, but if it is not done already, I want to change the ratios so that 2nd will be close to 1:1 engine RPM to prop RPM for skiing/wake boarding.

[Kim Hanson]

Me. :D
http://www.***boat.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=16111
I got to meet LilRick - who ain't so little! But I am a midget, so everyone is big to me! Rick and Darren (previous owner of above boat) are very cool guys and great ***boaters.
I got the boat less motor. The motor I have looks nothing like the above picture, although it will be blown (procharger m1), and I will have the motor covered. I should have it ready to run by the end of September.
I have to say I sure do love the size of the engine , in your face wild shit........( . )( . )..............boat is tits !

[HM]

I have to say I sure do love the size of the engine , in your face wild shit........( . )( . )..............boat is tits !
Yah, it looks bad ass. Too bad I bought it without that motor. It will be much more stealthy when I am done - and almost as fast.

[beerjet]

Great looking boat holy . I absolutly love the tunnel and who would have thought to build a whaler at that .F*ckin classic boat .
-beerjet-

[Schiada Time]

Nice boat Frank. how have you and Karen and the kids been? Cole has got to be getting big by now. What is he like 5 now? I stepped up to man. Bought a '74 Schiada '22 V-drive. Put a new prop shaft, turn fin, rudder, stuffing box, and she just got a brand new 502 and Turbo 400 put in her last weekend. All that is left is wiring and plumbing. I sold the old Hallett to Mudpumper on the boards. It was time for a bigger boat as I am engaged and the future wie has a 10 year old daughter so enter the family boat. with my folks place up in Mead we mostly boat up there now and I needed a deeper V for the water conditions up there. Give me a call sometime 714-276-5268. I will probably have questions as this is my first V-drive. there are pics on the V-drive forum under Red Rocker's Schiada update.
Travis

[HM]

Nice boat Frank. how have you and Karen and the kids been? Cole has got to be getting big by now. What is he like 5 now? I stepped up to man. Bought a '74 Schiada '22 V-drive. Put a new prop shaft, turn fin, rudder, stuffing box, and she just got a brand new 502 and Turbo 400 put in her last weekend. All that is left is wiring and plumbing. I sold the old Hallett to Mudpumper on the boards. It was time for a bigger boat as I am engaged and the future wie has a 10 year old daughter so enter the family boat. with my folks place up in Mead we mostly boat up there now and I needed a deeper V for the water conditions up there. Give me a call sometime 714-276-5268. I will probably have questions as this is my first V-drive. there are pics on the V-drive forum under Red Rocker's Schiada update.
Travis
Hey Travis! I keep forgeting you go by Red Rocker and not Hot Hallet...which I liked referring to you as Smokey the Hallet after your electrical issues at the first CBBB.
Sweet deal on your new boat! Cole is 5, Nate is 3 and Marah is 1. My wife and I are baby making machines. Probably gonna have atleast 1 more. It is part of my secret plan to take over the world. Cole is wakeboarding now and he can even do ollies.
Congrats on the engagement! We will definitely have to hook up. We still need to laugh about how I drug you to an ACN meeting.
I don't know if I am the greatest source for info on v-drives, but if your looking for what not to do, I got a lot of experience in that department!!! Now days, I just talk to the experts and do what they say. It is amazing how well that works!

[Arizona Don]

I had a Taylor 21' v-drive wailer with a delta pad bottom. On the plus side, the thing would fly effortlessly without the weight of a deck. The lack of adequate storage and people sitting in front of me bothered me some, but after experiencing Lake Powell's afternoon storms, I decided that an open tub is too vulnerable to immediate submersion under conditions that a boat with a deck would repel water.... I got a normal daycruiser instead. Three words about doing triple digits in that thing ( or even 70)..... GOT LIFE INSURANCE?

[HM]

I had a Taylor 21' v-drive wailer with a delta pad bottom. On the plus side, the thing would fly effortlessly without the weight of a deck. The lack of adequate storage and people sitting in front of me bothered me some, but after experiencing Lake Powell's afternoon storms, I decided that an open tub is too vulnerable to immediate submersion under conditions that a boat with a deck would repel water.... I got a normal daycruiser instead. Three words about doing triple digits in that thing ( or even 70)..... GOT LIFE INSURANCE?
Perhaps I should just have you make a deck out of spare plywood on the side of your house to make one of your famous cruisers?

[InKahntrol]

While it looks like the prop would be surface piercing, remember, these are Campbells and are tanks. The previous owner had the thing into triple digits and it ran best with a normal 2 blade, which means the prop is still well in the water.
That makes sense... I know Martin Frasini has a steel 11.5x15 2-blade on his tunnel, and it apparently works better than a 3-blade.
FYI- have you ever seen the Green Limosine? It's Bob Whelen's (owner of Campbell Boats) personal ride, a 28-foot Super Whaler with twin Mercruiser 377 small blocks. It seats like 15 people, has a dance floor and built-in kegerator.

[Arizona Don]

The green limosine is bitchen for what it is.... a Campbell showcase alternative to luxury pontoon or deck boats. Mr Whelan has other boats he'd probably take to somewhere like Powell where big water vulnerability would be a problem. Putting a deck on it wouldn't be a bad idea and Campbell could probably make you a brand new one. I personally wouldn't spend for one until I was sure that the tunnel option wasn't an unfixable factory experiment.
The 20/21 Campbells and Spectras are still by far the coolest all around and useable v-drive boats out there. Yeah, it's a challenge getting anything like a smooth ride out of a 21 footer when the lake is mostly occupied by ocean liners. Gas prices might eventually turn most of them into party islands (I wish!)
BTW... Dan, You did a marvelous job with your Campbell... I wanna get a closer look sometime when you're in town!

[Arizona Don]

Perhaps I should just have you make a deck out of spare plywood on the side of your house to make one of your famous cruisers?
My woodworking skills kinda suck, but if you want help painting that trailer to match the boat, I'm pretty good with spraycans!

[HM]

My woodworking skills kinda suck, but if you want help painting that trailer to match the boat, I'm pretty good with spraycans!
LOL...couldn't hurt. The reason I threw out the jab on the wood was I thought you tried to make a cruiser deck for an old flatty many years back and people gave you shit for "hacking" up a boat.

[HM]

I personally wouldn't spend for one until I was sure that the tunnel option wasn't an unfixable factory experiment.
The whaler is exactly what I want. New is not that big of deal to me. I don't go to powell. I live on a small lake where the boat will get most of its usage...and we have a 35 mph limit. Mohave (north of Cottonwood) and Needles/Moabi is where I spend most of my river time...maybe once or twice a year? If I can convince my wife that we should by a place in Needles on the AZ side (what ever that is called), then we might go more.
As far as the experiment, yah, I don't think anyone has optimized these things yet. But, the previous owner had dialed it in pretty well with strut location change, longer cav plates, longer rudder (not depth) and lots of prop work. He got this thing running triple digits and owned the boat for almost 20 years. He ran the thing hard at parker and his biggest complaint is in the turning. I am not interested in triple digits.
I am in touch with someone who is one of the v-drive tunnel gurus and he has 3 separate improvements that he feels will optimize this boat. I think the boat is pretty close to how I want to use it, so I plan on only doing 2 of the improvements as one is solely for the top end (strut angle) while the other two will help overall handling.
Regardless, I don't think I am doing any in the beginning as I want to get a feel for how it handles now. I am going to have the gel cleaned up right away. And possibly a couple cans of krylon on the trailer. J/K'ing. Couple of stainless fenders, some well placed diamond plate, and some carpet work will clean up the trailer nicely.

[Campbell Dude]

Boy was I supprised to se a Campbell tunnell, then I was even more suprised to se my Campbell tunnell " IT DONT MATTER ". There are not many of us around, Three or Four from what I have ben told. It took me years of searching to find mine. Then it cost me two bathrooms a living room and den remodle ( to get the wifes ok ). I have had the boat for two years now. Last winter I tore the boat down, new wiring, insturments, braided hoses, carb, ignition and converted from electric plates to a manual locker with a foot overide.
You are wright about the turning issues with these boats, although I have found that a little down peddle to settle the nose then some throttle and the boat will come around quite nicely.
I have bin working with Ron Braaksma on the prop and at least that is heading in the right direction. Be cauatious when you get your boat in the watter as they dont always behave as you might think. Withought the rest of the v hull to displace water, wakes that you would think you will ride up and over you will plow the nose of the boat right into. Also you will need to steer more agresively accrost boat wakes or you will end up with your tunnell straddling the wake and the boat will want to follow the wake. Would love to talk more about your setup as I am still working mine up.

[Arizona Don]

LOL...couldn't hurt. The reason I threw out the jab on the wood was I thought you tried to make a cruiser deck for an old flatty many years back and people gave you shit for "hacking" up a boat.
Some projects are best called off before people or valuable property get hurt or damaged. I'm not saying the boat wouldnt'a been bitchen in a modified configuration, I just wasn't the right guy for the job, so I sold the boat uncut.
Besides, It's cheaper and easier to find and buy what you want than to try to create it.
Hopefully your wailer carries the nose okay and turns in, rather than hooking turns. Without the deck weight, it may carry the nose better than closed bow copies. Also, I'm thinkin a couple of hefty friends in the rear seats during testing might help determine balance/attitude and prop bite/lift issues. Slap an engine in that thing and test,test,test before getting too financially involved to change your mind. If you can't sort it out, sell it to the next optimist.... minus engine!

[rrrr]

Great looking boat.......
You're gonna need to steal a booster seat from Denny's, though. :crossx: :crossx:
Nice!!