Sounds healthy! Beautiful sunset and colors on the water. Please let us know how she performs. This has been a great thread.
A great repower and a new truck to pull with...life must be pretty good -:)

Bob has run it and got a max of 73 indicated on the speedo, I've had similar results the day I took it out. I'll have to get a hold of a GPS. The thing accelerates like it's possessed compared to the stock power. Bob told me it hits an absolute wall around 73 and he's totally right. Around 73 the boat is running between 3/4 and 7/8 throttle, you can push the throttle deeper and nothing happens. The props are definitely dialed in exactly for the stock 6.2s. I'll need to do some prop work to get my good MPH numbers. I was told it takes a while for props to be returned so I'll probably wait until next season, I have had enough waiting for boating! Loving the boat though, she sounds absolutely awesome and is so much more fun to drive. It definitely feels like my buddy's big block Sunsation accelerating. So much fun.

I think I'll be surprising a lot of people on Lake Travis this summer. She already out ran some of my friend's big block boats, I'll definitely make a better show this year.

I'm your Huckleberry. Pick the windiest day you can and we'll run from Starnes to the Gar. I'll give you the move to Emerald Point before I get on plane. That's nearly 1mi head start. You're going to have to drive it.

If you want to try props, call bblades and get Brett to send you a pair from his loaner program. And, there are plenty of gps apps for your smart phone that work just fine.

I replyed to your post on the Sunny Forum regarding shorties. I have a different setup than you have but I ran into the same issue....the boat hit an absolute wall at 80. As it turns out my boat was rigged with shorties and the standard length lowers were just to low in the water. You may want to call Kyle or Joe and see if the 6.2 boats had a lower X dimension or if it is the same as say a 496HO boat.

I just had cutting edge redo my props, had a bent blade, they added cup, and labbed them. Took a week and a half total. That's including shipping back and forth, they turned out real nice reasonably priced as well. They can turn them out sooner if you need. Boat sounds great!

Captain, what RPMs are you turning when you "hit the wall?" If you were under propped you would be up against the rev limiter.
I'm wondering if the stock 6.2 throttle bodies are not the wall you are running into? It would be easy to see if you were still pulling
vacuum at WOT with just an inexpensive vacuum gauge.

I'm not sure how your boat performs compared to my 29' Fountain. I turn 26" Bravo 1 props to 5300 with about 80-100 gallons of gas
and just me onboard. The drives are Bravos with 1:65 ratio gearing. My engines are bone stock 6.2s. If I had your power I'm sure I would need to
move up to at least 28" pitch.

Unless you were running well under 5000 r.p.m.s before your repower I would guess you will be needing different/larger pitch props.

Look at the dyno sheets for power curve. Rev limiter is 6000 RPM. He 's turning right in the meat of the power curve at 5400-5500 rpm.

How fast is a 32 with 496HO's?

That speed was on GPS and flat smooth water.

Thanks Bob. I should have looked at the dyno sheet. Definitely not running into the rev limiter.

I think you are right...I gotta make sure to write my numbers down this weekend and talk to BBlades

The older style (Pre 05/06) ran low 80's.

I'm out most weekends and in the spring we always have no shortage of wind! I'm always down to go for a run. I imagine I'll be chasing ya but a run to the Gar is always fun. Come out to the ABF run in the Spring and take your pick of boats to mess with :)

bob , what do you think the "WALL" is

Keep in mind that stock 6.2's make 340-350 HP at the flywheel fully dressed. We are at 400 so that equates to 3-4 mph improvement. The boat ran 68-70 stock so the math works. A good performance comparison would be this boat with 496 mags. After driving the boat I know there are several mph left in setup. The X dimension is really deep. It will accelerate from a dead stop with 3 blade props with very little prop slip. Most modern day hulls will not even plane with a 3 blade props. Possibly the factory sets the X a little deeper with the 6.2 compared to the big block boats. I really don't know. What we do know is how much power it makes and at what RPM. The rest is setup.

bob, Is he running 23P ,,, this is almost a mirror image of mine ,,,,, a tad different engine internals, and just a tad difference,,,, if you remember mine? would be very interested if You and Captain find more speed in diffrent Set-Ups,,,,, I'm planning to dig a little deeper by playing with tow-in on drives, checking vacum @ WOT, Maybe try raising prop center-line, spinning props inward ,,,,, ,,,,,, Is there a lake close to you to make test runs ,,,

Yes, very similar build to yours. 23" props getting 5400 RPM. This is on Lake LBJ which is almost 1000' elevation. Right down the road from our shop. Lake Travis is where we normally test but it's too low to get a boat in.

I have the boat on a lift at Lake Travis. As far as the prop...I'm not sure what they are besides Mirage three blades. I'll look closer tonight.

Captain, is your drive ratio 1:50 or 1:65?

By the time we got off the lake it was too dark to look at the props. I'll check it out this weekend.

As far as the drives...no idea...whatever stock they use. Maybe Bob can guess.

Drives are 1.5:1, props are 23 Mirage+.

Hey bob,, did you by chance put a vacum gauge on the intake @ full throttle,, i remember you telling me to try this,, i have not had the oppertunity to do this..

Here's an idea. There are about 3000 of us viewing this thread. What if we all chip in 5 buck each and let Bob and the Captain try some different parts on his Sunsation? I'd like to see a different intake (I posted a pic on this thread) with the throttle body recommended. I'd also like to see some CMI headers installed.
Then maybe turn one of the prop guru's lose plus have one of the engines (or two) tuned on a dyno. I would think 15k would cover the parts and Bob's time... I know there are Vortex heads out there that come with 2.02 intakes and 1.60 exhaust valves...

I like where your head is Wes :) I'll be a guinea pig anytime for that deal.

wes ,,, what was intake and throttle body ,,,, are you running small block

Mr. 01scarab29. I have a stone stock 29' Fountain with twin 6.2s. It has Bravo 1:65 ratio drives and 26" Bravo 1 4-blade props. I'm guessing I have about 40 h.p. more that your 350 setup?

Bob had mentioned that there was not a lot of choices (affordable - the scorpion intake is about $1500.00) for EFI intakes and I asked if he had any experience with the Edelbrock 7138 EFI (see picture on #4 page postings).
It has an optional 90 mm throttle body. He had not. Bob and the Captain came up with a pretty hot SB combo. I was just curious if there was another 40-50 or so horsepower available in an 87 octane combination. That's why I suggested that
all interested parties could chip in $5 to fund a little "late winter" experimenting. Heck I pay more for a magazine just to read one article.

We already know from Bob's great work that Captain's current combination would benefit from larger throttle bodies. Probably about 1.5 m.p.h. there alone (not sure of the cost). At what point do headers really make a difference? That would cost almost 3k per side. Bigger heads?
I have really enjoyed this thread and appreciate Bob and the Captain's willingness to share any and all info. Let's get this $5 each started!

If we did headers we could have gone crazy with the cam and really made some stupid power. If anything that was our limiting factor. We made up some ground with my manifolds and stainless risers, so we went a little bigger with the cam. But headers...it would have been ridiculous.

Captain, not having super deep pockets (I feel very lucky to have a 29' Fountain for a toy) adding 6k to your build for headers...well that's a lot. From reading on this forum,
those that have headers are having them checked every season (probably very smart) adding additional expense - no idea how costly. Still, I'm very curious as to what they would add to your current combination.
It sounds like you made some good decisions. You know you can add larger throttle bodies and some blueprinted props down the road if and when you want a little more.

Yeah I think we're on the same page with that. It would have been great to do headers and then run a huge cam without worry of reversion. But that's a price tag that would have made me need to say screw small blocks and go big block.The cost benefit completely flies out the window when you start adding headers to the build.

Yes I think it's sitting in a nice spot right now. I'm happy with the way the engines run, they sound great and the power is hugely improved. So much more fun to drive. If I do get itchy, I'll think harder about those throttle bodies. But for now, I think I'll just need to figure out my props and I'm done for a while! I want to quit writing checks for parts and start using the credit card for some gasoline!

Captain, it's difficult when every performance improvement you want to make is times two!

One suggestion. If your don't have oil temp gauges on your boat I would recommend them. The 383s tend to heat the oil more than you might think.
If you already have oil coolers you may find you need larger units.

Even with good bowl blend, you are at the limits of those heads. You guys made real good power for a fully dressed 383 vortec head engine and a marine cam.

If you want to step up the power and some more rpm, you know what you'd have to do next. Heads, complimenting cam, and thus forced into better exhaust because of more cam.

The power this combo made means you guys done good.

Have fun with it.

Thanks SB.. I'm pleased with the results. I agree we're pretty much at the limits of this configuration.

It's really difficult to compare different builds when the dyno configuration varies so greatly. This same engine on a dyno with dry headers and no accessories would make over 450 HP.

Bob Lloyd

Bob, interesting that your build made as much power as the Mercury 383 Scorpion that required 91 octane fuel, had RHS iron heads, and a tunnel ram intake w/90mm throttle body.

hey Bob ,,, do you know where I can find starboard front half windshield for 1996-2002 scarab29 ? need the glass.... or do you have an optional thought

Don't know but I'll keep my eyes open. There was a guy in the shop the other day that had gotten a pretty complex windshield made out of plexiglass type material. It looked really nice. I believe he got it done in Houston, but was pretty pricey.

Bob

I had to replace my starboard side and looked everywhere with no luck. I ended up going with acrylic instead of glass. It was very easy to mold to the frame, no heat gun was required.

Got this e-mail from Bob, thought you guys might like to know about it as well. He dynoed a pair of stock 6.2s, so this is a good indicator of baseline. We apparently made a very nice jump from stock numbers.

Seems most definitely like money well spent in the ole engine compartment. Sure looked good running that day, came on real strong when you put the hammer down.

Just wanted to thank all of you for posting all this info... such a great read!!! Now I have ideas...

Good hopefully you put together something fun. Engines have been definitely making for a good time. I think the only thing left is bigger throttle bodies to get more RPM out of the engines.