Sorry for the double post but realized i posted in the wrong forum so here it goes. I have a 1983 cobalt 20.5 foot i/o. I was wondering what uprades I could do to make it into a "wakeboat." Right now I have two 600 lb sacs where should I put them. I should have a monster tower on the way. What else should i do. The wake is pretty good though. A lot better than some Inboards out there but what can i do to make it better. I got this boat for $6000 and it has 550 hours. Is that a good deal? Thanks a lot.

anyone?

That seems like a lot of an I/O that old. But I know nothing about I/O. Thats decent weight, and the tower will be good. Get some racks and tower speakers and perfect pass.

Sounds like an ok price, depends on the condition of it. <BR> <BR>Just sold my I/O. (For an inboard). What I was doing was putting my fat sac in the ski locker and another up towards the open bow area. From my research, I/O's like more weight in the front. I had a killer wake, but was limited to my length on the rope (55 feet). <BR> <BR>Be careful not to add to much weight, my I/O was only a year or two old and after running that weight a few times (1000lbs or more), you could hear a change in the motor/stern drive thing..... <BR> <BR>Another problem with too much weight was the amount of time it took to finally get going. 15 to 30 seconds sometimes, thats when I started to take some of the weight out. <BR> <BR>Get a four blade prop too. If you get one with a different pitch (boat would be slower), but it'll handle more weight and get you out of the water quicker..... <BR> <BR>Dave <BR> <BR>(Heres a pic of the wake on my old I/O) <BR> <BR><img src="http://www.wakeworld.com/MB/Discus/messages/65921/241280.jpg" alt="">

The boat was in immaculate condition. What horsepower engine did yours have? What boat was it? <BR>Would it be worth it to get a tower or wait for an inboard (pretty long)?

270 HP, Chapparal 204 SSI <BR> <BR>As for waiting for a tower, it's a big difference with a tower. You might be able to get some of your money back on the tower... Depends on if the buyer cares or not ( that was the problem I had getting rid of mine), certain people buy boats and have to have it, others could care less and don't count it in as apart of your asking price.. <BR> <BR>If you plan on keeping it for a few years, then I would get the tower and get your basics down on this boat, and then move to something else if you want to step it up. Like I said before, and it might be true on your boat too, but I was limited to 55 feet on the rope and I wanted to go out to 75' - 80' and still have a good wake, thus I had to step it up and get an inboard. But I learned alot on my I/O and had a blast... <BR> <BR>Don't forget, you can get a tall pylon instead of a tower... and save some cash!!! <BR> <BR>Dave