I have a 35 Cafe Racer and am trying to get two things sorted out. The first is props. Power is 454 465 hp on Bravo 1. The boat came with 21 Mirage. Goes right to the rev limiter at about 60 mph. Tried 21 pitch Rev4. A tad faster. I am considering Bravo 1 4 blades at 22 pitch. Would this be a good choice? What gain in performance might I expect?

The second is drive related. One of my drives' reservoirs gains and looses it's lube level. When the boat is cold the level is at the "full" line. When I run the boat the level rises almost to the point of overflow. Then, the next day the level goes back to normal. I wouldn't think anything of it (expand when hot, contract when cold) but the other drive doesn't do this. Any ideas?

Mongo

Mongo,

dunno about the drive res. problem, but I think you should probably be running 24" Bravo 1 props...I think 22s will put you on the rev limiter also.

Sean

Hi Sean,

I also posted this on the Q&A forum and have gotten some responses there. The drive lube issue is an air bubble.

Props... I have tried Labbed 25 Mirage and could only get 4400 RPM at 60 mph. It looks like the right prop might be the 23 Rev 4. I'm trying to see if it would be feasable to have the ones that I have re-pitched and maybe labbed. Any ideas?

Mongo

imongo, I haven't had my Cafe out yet but mine has 23P X 16" 3 blade cleavers. The previous owner said it ran 5000 RPM at around 75 MPH which translates to about 68-70. I am running about 525 HP.

I was told that you should run 3 blades on the TRS drives since the 4 blades bite better and will be harder on the drives.

Hi Jim,

I have Bravo drives, not TRS. I have the 465 454's, so I am not running as much HP as you are. I'm thinking of going to a 23 Rev 4. The 21's are really nice props and perform really well, they are just too small. Is there any one out there that can re-pitch the 21's?

Mongo

Imongo,
I guess I didn't read your post well enough. Even if you re-pitched the 21 to 22, the slip on the 3 blade would still probably have you at the rev limiter. I agree with Sean. The 24 Bravo1's will probably be the best with your boat with bravo drives.

Now for the question...

Lets just say I am in the market for new props. I know I need a 23 pitch 4 blade. Do I go for the Rev 4 or the Bravo 1 and why?

Mongo