Carver Owners Forum

Confused here a bit. Just spent 3 hours on a 1986 Riviera considering a purchase. Probably not gonna happen as it needs all new canvas and I suspect that’s quite a few $$$

Here’s my confusion I was reading some posts here by or about Riviera owners etc and they indicated it had a BW v drive? The boat I was looking at had straight BW velvets? Twin merc chevys.

Did this set up vary due to engine? Just interested.

Not a Carver expert, but I’m 99% sure all Riveria’s come with straight shafts. To need V-drives, the engines would have to be mounted under the aft cabin and there is absolutely no room there.

Welcome aboard. I agree with b53. Maybe what they meant when they said v drives in the other post was that they were Velvet drives/transmissions, The term often gets misused.

Had a 2807. Straight shafts.
If you are worried about cost of enclosure, no matter what. You'll need a new one eventually on almost any boat. Most people don't replace their canvas right before they sell it.