IGetWet

Yes either way it's going to be like a whole new boat. I won't be trying to chase the top speed number but at the same time I don't like the idea of wasted power. Stephen has never mentioned anything about hull blue printing but I suppose it's very possible he had tweaks done to make his more efficient and is keeping that card close to the chest. Again I think it comes down to keeping the lower up as high as possible and still getting a 5 blade to lift the bow.... God help me if it snows anymore!

Revd Up

A buddy has a 25 OL with a factory ordered / stock 525 EFI , XR drive, hydraulic steering, and K planes. Runs 73-74 GPS. w/ 26P Bravo 1.

IGetWet, if you ever get up to Castlerock, you will see him, and do a double take. His has the same graphics and colors as yours, except the orange and blue are swapped. Same orange swim platform.

IGetWet

Wow, very cool. We've talked about getting out to that lake sometime. I wonder how deep his propshaft is. I bet he'd get a couple more with a labbed mirage plus, but then you lose the accel out of the hole as well as some handling. He's got a great platform for upgrades!

IGetWet

Should finally be able to do something soon. Got the bushings for the headers to eliminate the jumper water hose from header to bottom of tailpipe, got the oil hose drain kit, finally decided on oil and filter so I got those ordered. Hopefully the oil and filters show up before this weekend so I can start her up on the pallet and change all the fluids and filters and put the oil drain hose on. Really just dying for something to do. After MUCH indecision I decided on Driven MR50 marine full synthetic 15w-50 and the Mobil M1-302 filter.

BIGSLOW

[QUOTE=IGetWet;4535132]Should finally be able to do something soon. Got the bushings for the headers to eliminate the jumper water hose from header to bottom of tailpipe, got the oil hose drain kit, finally decided on oil and filter so I got those ordered. Hopefully the oil and filters show up before this weekend so I can start her up on the pallet and change all the fluids and filters and put the oil drain hose on. Really just dying for something to do. After MUCH indecision I decided on Driven MR50 marine full synthetic 15w

Make sure your hose fits through your drain plug before install. I put one on mine and the hose didn't fit through so it is useless.

IGetWet

Damn! Good point I will check. Pretty sure it's the same because the kit came with the exact same plug that the boat uses now but won't hurt the double check.

IGetWet

Thought I'd show a picture of the header water flow fix

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After having these tested at CMI I talked to them about the cracking header issue and they told me it's all about water flow, they have seen some problems with long tailpipes on staggered setups as well, but more about water flow. Makes sense as it sure looks like with the jumper from the header rail to the bottom of the tail pipe most of the water would go that route vs up through the header. If you still have the jumper hose on your 525, 600, 700 headers get these bushings asap. $23ea I believe @ boats.net. I doubt many still have the jumper installed, but this motor did come this way from a "reputable" builder out in California.

Imco SCX 1300 lower should be in hand on Friday. I'm really hoping I can get it to work without having to bury it. I've talked with cutting edge propellers and I'm optimistic that we can get something to work. Still waiting on a call back from bblades........ not sure that call is ever coming

class6

I can't believe Mercury had them build the water rails like that, makes no sense

IGetWet

Yea it's a bit of a head scratcher. They tried putting restrictors in the upper tailpipe ports to control water pressure as well.... seems like they just tried to over engineer the exhaust water routing. The bigger issue was not making it a recall item to get routing corrected

IGetWet

So how do we feel about picking the motor by the four corner header mount bolts? They're 3/8-16 bolts. The only thing that makes me slightly nervous is the bolts seem to have a little play or slop when threaded in, a very small amount, not sure why, maybe because of the stainless header bolts in the aluminum heads? More than one shop I've talked to about picking the motor says they pick them with a spreader bar and loop straps underneath the headers, but I'd like to avoid that if possible.

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