Boat looks great in the water. Congratulations on the successful test run. Where do you run the boat at down there? Great job!!!

Very nice !!! looks great

Appears to sit way higher in the stern with the 350s.
Did you notice much handling differences with the lower weight?

Im sure some of that is due to no silent thunder and the lighter hatch cover. I never ran the boat before so I cant compare before and after. seemed to handle very nicely. there is not interior yet either and was light on fuel. new props are here today, if i can get a break in the weather I'm going to go testing.

the river

Which size did you end up with, 1 or 2 sizes higher? Can't wait to hear the numbers!

Looks great sabercatt! Very impressive. Let us know the numbers after she is dialed in.

I went 2 sizes. They were supposed to arrive UPS today, but hit a late train in chicago last night and now I have to wait till monday. At least its still raining, that way I feel a little better. Sad thing is, they have now arrived but are sitting in a truck in the UPS parking lot till monday. Gives me some time to work on the upholstery this weekend I guess. I should have some info monday night hopefully.

well managed to get the boat out for a 5 min ride tonite before getting rained on. the new props (f8's) did a lot better than my old ones (f6's). Ran just a shade over 61 at 5000rpm. Came on plane with no problem. 4 guys, 1/4 tank of fuel calm water. Im guessing I can probably go up another prop size to f9's (the largest they make), although in the used market (my price range) they are next to impossible to find. Im sure that in a decent chop I will be bouncing off the rev limiters with these still. The other option is to change out my drives for a different ratio. I have 1.95 drives on now and could go to the 1.78's and a smaller prop. not sure if that is the way to go or not. I'm open to suggestions/opinions on that. overall was pleased the results. i was fairly confident going into tonight that the f8's were going to be too large but obviously not the case. I wish I could have spent a bit more time and seen what the cruise speed was. let me know what you think.

Go out and confirm your cruise speed. I'm betting you are at or near the hydrodynamic limit on the drives on the top end. Don't expect too much more speed airing out the hull, a couple MPH maybe, but no magic. If you can get 40mph at ~3200rpm, that would be excellent mid-range out of a pair of small blocks in a 292. It's easier for the 1.95 ratio to spin the bigger prop than it is for the 1.78 ratio to spin the smaller prop. Again, depending on cruise performance, you might be right about as good as it's gonna get.

It might not sound so spectacular compared to what people usually post for these old hulls, but I think 61mph at 5000rpm is incredible for a 292 with small blocks, and that still has a hook in the hull.