phragle

iTrader: (3)

77 nova 250, tired twin 188s, alpha's bottom paint, not the best alum props, saw 47 and change. (for reference) The nova is a great riding hull and should be comfortable in mid 60's no problem. It is a big heavy straight bottom boat. I would go with the bravo setup and raise it a tad since you will have a blank canvas but nothing radical. I am 90% sure the bravo 1 and 3 are the same uppers just different lowers. no need for the b3 lower, just try some modern 4 blades. The transom is a little more work to do than a standard flat transom but not bad. Use some thickened resin to smooth the transitions and it will glass together much easier. Heres to hoping the transom is really bad. the worse it is the easier the job. But prepare yourself for finding wet stringers......

speicher lane

We have a Cris Craft Silver Bullet in the Marina running a 350 mag(300hp)/Bravo 3...somewhere around 3500lbs with fuel.Factory specs and install.

It is not a 25' Nova by any stretch but it is a heavier hull and runs with alot of wetted surface. The Bravo 3 pushes the boat on plane like a scared rabbit and tops out a tick under 60mph and no torque steer.

Nice combo for a heavier hull IMHO....if you were trying to go beyond 60 then you definitely do not want the B3 but in the mid 50's ball park it can work.

pqjack

nice job, Phragle

Mr Gadgets

Nova,
What gear ratio is the B3? If it is a nice one, you could swap the lower to a B1 depending on ratio of the upper. Let us know what the tag says and Merc has a chart to tell you what gears are in the upper so you could match a lower to get you to the ratio you might want.
Hope that helps.
Dick

dereknkathy

u can also buy the B3 boat and shop around for a B1 lower unit. upper unit and transom assy is all the same. if the B3 boat is that good a deal and that close by. plus you have a bit of time between when you start replacing transom and when you are ready to float-test. usually find decent B1 lowers 5 to 700 whole drives 1k on up...

77Nova

I don't know the upper ratio, but the drive is 2.00. The motor is a Gen V LX efi-mp, will the coupler/bell housing bolt up to my mark IV?

dereknkathy

yes, but you need to retain the mark IV flywheel.

77Nova

Phragle, found wet stringers... They aren't too bad, but I got my marinas shop to look at replacing with the transom. Just spoke to him 2 days ago and he wants to bolt new stringers to the old so he doesn't have to remove the floor... This doesn't sound right to me, should I be re-thinking having this guy do the job? He wants $3500 for the stringer job. I've had another quote for 5k to remove the floor and replace the old ones.

phragle

iTrader: (3)

77, you can do the job yourself, its really not that technical or difficult. you will have less than a grand in materials.

77Nova

I've got a 2 year old, and another on the way... I don't anticipate having time for that job until 2020