Model years for HJ-7 and P-44 Paragon

Anyone planning a transmission or motor swap, or a new shaft, should be aware of the fact that 1964 38' Commanders through 1967 seemed to all come with the HJ-7 Paragon transimssion. After 1967, perhaps halfway through the 1967 model year, Chris Craft transitioned over to the Paragon P-44, which as you can see from the previous posting, is several inches longer in overall dimension than the earlier HJ-7 .

Any shift forward or aft would affect the balance of the boat, maybe not a lot, but when you are talking about that much weight X2, it can be significant. It is not known at this time whether the motor location remained constant when accepting the two transmission models, or whether the later series P-44 caused the motor to move forward a few inches. Naturally, this will potentially affect the length of your prop shaft being used.

The HJ-7 uses 6 bolts from shaft hub to transmission. The P-44 has 4 bolts doing this same job.

I have a pair of both of these transmissions, if anyone needs photo documentation of either one, please let me know.

Regards,

Paul