Boat has 256 hrs. As Rafe said 111 were at idle, and .2 were at 5000 rpm and above. Mark and Chris at Precision marine assured me with that kind of use the motor should be in great shape. With only the standard top end rebuild needed at 500 hrs.

I'm going to contact BBlades first, and depending on his advice, probably send him my 24 and let him work his magic on it. Will keep ya'll updated.

You should get some more out of the labbed prop!!

Keep us posted

Sent my 24 Bravo to BBlades. In the meantime looking for a 23 Mirage Plus to try out. Anyone know where I can find a good one?

I have one I might be willing to lend out.

I may have one for sale soon. Are you looking to barrow it or buy it?

It had some cup work done that did not have any performance improvements.

Well I was looking to buy. But if someone is generous I wouldn't mind "renting" one. And if I end up liking it I would have the option to purchase

its good you went to brett, I have a 24 3blade its from hydromotive called a turbo. I used it with a stock 502 in my 24ol, it was as fast as my 25mirage but spun 200rpm more. about the shortie it worked on my boat and also on a 25ol that use to post here. he started with a imco box with a 3'' raised built into it. with a merc 525 he went from 74 to 81, then he put a merc 600 in and a 2'' shortie with a 1''filler in the end. so the boat was 4'' higher than stock ran about 87 to 89 the last I read. my boat hit 83 with the shortie was 76 without. if you keep it stock height talk to brett about the rev 4 23 or 25 by merc. good luck

Finally got some time to post up results of the labbed prop. I'm kinda disappointed...

Refresher: Box stock 24 Bravo 1. 5000 max RPM, 69.3 max speed GPS

BBlades labbed Bravo 1 24. RPM's went to 5300, but no improvement in top speed. Still staying right around 69.3

I can tell I huge difference out of the hole, much quicker and faster to get on plane. Handles good, Just no top speed improvement.

Still thinking about trying a 23 Mirage plus.

I have a 98 25ol with a carbed hp500. I have the same issue runnin 24p b1. Had it labbed by bblades and went from 4900 rpm to 5200 but didnt gain any on top end 69.7. It is a great prop for cruising though

First off, great looking boat. and great motor. nothing wrong with 70 but I know you want more. An imco lower by itself won't do anything by itself (except look cool). If you do a straight extension box and the imco shorty together I think you'll be in the mid 70's. Look through older threads for "wildcard" he has a 600 now, but originally swapped out his 496 for a 525. He added an extension box and raised the motor 3" and saw huge improvements. He later tried a shorty lower in addition to the 3" motor raise, and I think he saw a small improvement with it spaced down to 1" (+3" = 4") but the 2" shorty (+3=5") was too much. let me know if the mirage helps, but don't expect a big gain if any. Look into the extension box and 2" shorty... I'll guess you'll run 73-76 without touching the motor.