Yes I have been in it once or twice. I just made the comment at a barbq the other day we were looking at upgrading in a year or 2 and one guy said he was looking at getting out of his 35 lightning so I said maybe we would talk some more. Where is the extra 5 foot going from my 31 to his 35? Is it engine comparemet, cuddy, cockpit? I do like the styl of the 35 cockpit but wasn't sure if it was larger or smaller than mine. I have always trusted griffs info on here so I assume he is correct

The 496/502's would drop in where your 454's are. If you think the Sonic is tight in the engine room the Fountain is tighter, or no bigger.

Consider upgrading the 454's with roller cams and new intakes. Which model 454's are they? 330, 370?

The Fountain 35 does not have a generator available.

Wannabe

It's been a while since I've seen a 31 Sonic but I remember the cocpits being pretty small in them. The 35 Fountain single step will have a larger cockpit and larger engine room. The cockpit is plenty deep IMO, not a low boat at all. Are the 500s carb or efi? The carb 500s were pretty thirsty. Ran good though. The boat should top out around 80 or a little over depending on props. By the way, in 2000 the single step 35 was called the classic, not the lightning. Good luck.

I have never known how to tell Which model they are. I beleive they are the 330 but not sure how you know which generation they are. I have heard you can look to see if the ports are oval or square but I haven't tore the motor apart. The 454's just suck fuel and I think over the long run some stock 502 or 496 would save me enough on fuel ,and what it would cost me in parts and labor to upgrade the 454's, that I would be better dropping some newer motors

I had a quote to do cams and some head work, rocker arms, etc and I think it was 10gs. The math showed it would get my sonic up to mid 70's. So I figured spend 10 grand to get 10 mph.

45mph round trip at $80 bucks seems like a cheap weekend to me. Also, the 35 really isn't a 35 if you take off the beak.

I'd look into a 35' Sonic with the 500's or 525's. I love the room in our 35. With the HP 500 EFI's we get low to mid 70's and the ride is fantastic, tons of room in the cabin and out back. We stay almost every weekend on the boat with two kids. The cabin in the fountain will certainly be smaller than in the 35' Sonic.

You lose 2 feet because of the molded in swim platform.

Some people will tell you you lose 2 feet in the beak, but I don't think we want to compare bow angles. If so, the 49 century I restored when I was a kid is the only true length, the bow was vertical.

Given that, I measured mine for fun once, at the most you will lose another foot. The low deck causes you to lose a lot of space.
So at the most you gain 2 feet, not that much really. Depends on if you are concerned about a cabin, do you use the cabin on the SONIC?

No gen option, may or may not have a pump out head in that year, pretty rare for pump outs. Most of the newer twin steps had pump out heads, shore power and a small refig.

The single steps have a low profile, so the cabin will be smaller then the SONIC. As someone said, the side by side will be tight, but almost all are. There will be room in front of the motors, that will help when working on the motors.

I think you boat on the OHIO which doesn't get very rough unless it is real windy, the ride shouldn't be a problem.

BTW
Fountains are not light boats, they are pigs. My 32 is 7200 lbs, and it is a small boat. From fountains web site for the single step.

LOA:
35' / 10.67 m

Beam:
8'6" / 2.6 m

Weight, Dry:
8,500 lbs.* / 3,855 kgs

Fuel Capacity:
160 gals. / 606 L

Freshwater Capacity:
13 gals. / 49 L

Draft w/ Drive Down:
35" / 0.9 m

I find it interesting that the title of this thread is "Can someone post some pics and thought of a 35 fountain lightning???" Two pages so far and nobody posted a picture.

Lmfao!!! I was thinking the same, this thread from start to finish so far has been somewhat of a soap opera. I agree with Kyboy tho, leave the man alone about his financial decisions. My .02 cents: If performance is number 1 on your want list then get the fountain for sure, if comfort for your family is number 1, followed by performance, I would stick with the sonic or something with a bigger cabin. I love my fountain but sometimes wish it had a little more room in the cabin. I am 6'3 so getting in and out of it is sometimes a pain. Good Luck!