fossil fuel

I am posting this as s FYI on my 382 700 NXT boat.
There are only a handful of these around the country but I thought I would post this.
When I originally did the engine upgrade from 525's I installed the x dimension about 1" higher than the factory installs. We turned the props in for higher top end. I saw 97 in fresh water. The boat was rock solid at 97. The only drawback to that setup was at 60 or so it was hunting or porpoising. Tabs down to correct the porpoise and the roost from the tabs was higher than the roost from the props. So I added a extra aluminum plate to increase the surface area of the tab, helped a little but slowed the boat alot. Over 80 tabs all the way up with neutral drives and it was really good.
All my trips to the keys around 60 was the happy cruise speed for me, not so much for the boat. After some education on Cleavers turning in drives the stern down and lifts the bow, the big tabs try to lift the stern up. So why not turn the props out? So I switched the drives, Oh My what a different ride! Although the lift was causing severe blowout on trying to get on plane, New set of issues! So on the NXT there is a ventilation port...a little gorilla tape took care of that. Better than before but still a battle to get on plane. So while thinking that I was not going to give up and switch the drives back before I blew something up getting on plane last resort was to install 1" spacers. Well YAY!! The spacers did it. The ride is epic, the wham wham is gone and the boat runs 60 tabs up with no hunting. Lifting the transom and leveling the boat was concerning to me because of bow steer. So far none. I was cautioned by a leading expert here on the west coast about turning cleavers out. I ran 90+ in the open ocean for 60 miles last week solo. No ill handling to report. Formula told me they have run their race boats both in and out. I have not heard of any 382's hooking and rolling? due to bow steer? I now have a whole new ride! Oh BTW I did lose 6 mph but It was worth it. If I want to go 100 I would just do a Whipple HP upgrade. No big deal to me on the top speed.
It rolls softly up on plane at 2800 rpm, never did that before! Runs 90 all day long at 4700, behaves at 60!

Made It Rain

Hi Fossil,

I have had a 2012 and now a 2014 382, but both with Ilmors. I had Formula do both with props turned in and have had no issues. Boat runs great at any speed, and really never use the tabs.

fossil fuel

Probably why Formula is producing more Ilmore boats. I think the props are the same the only difference may be the setback and the shape of the Lower. Indy seems more of a #6 drive while the NXT is a non round bullet...Who knows?
Try to make it to our San Diego Poker run next year,
Dave

aquaforce

Are you glad you didn't sell it now?

How did it do with docking by the sticks with the props spinning out? Did you notice a difference from in to out when docking with the sticks? I have always heard that in spin is terrible on the sticks and that is the case with my 357 but I have TRS which may not respond the same as your NXT.

VoodooRob

I have seen 2 of the 382s with this set-up, really rare. Sure would love to see this setup in a 353 or maybe make a clone for myself, should be 100mph ...

Made It Rain

The props spinning in make it more difficult around the docks. The cleavers in reverse don't bite well either.

Mentalpause

Try trimming the drives up when docking. Gives less bite to the forward drive since it is pushing water more toward the surface. Adds bite to reverse since you push the water more down instead of against the transom. It works well with staggered set up. May also work better for props turning in.

aquaforce

I hadn't thought of the water force against the transom cancelling out the movement. Just looking at my prop line I expected the wash to go under the transom but thinking about it I see how the thrust could neutralize at the transom.
Nice tip, I will check that out to see how much I can gain. I definitely need more dockability.

Made It Rain

I have two issues around the docks: A) the cleaver props have very little bite in reverse. B) the Indy transmission has a much lower gear in reverse, and I have to get the engine RPMs up quite a bit in reverse. It took a little to get use to it, but I kind of have it down now.

fossil fuel

I think its just a operating quirk. I just bump the reverse throttle up a bit to get it to spin without moving forward. Really never had any issues with spinning in. Sometimes I just run it like a big single. Depends on the wind and conditions. No bow thrusters allowed! "cheating"