242LS - how much is too much power for these boats?
 

Hey fellow Formula family members! How goes it?

My 242LS is in the final stages of glass/structure surgery, and with some luck, I might be back on the water my August. Well, I hoping anyway. The plan right now is to put her back together with the current 454 Mag, and enjoy the last half of the season.

Question though is just as the title of this thread says... how much power is too much for the 242 to handle?

Over the winter, I plan to build a 540+ cubic inch engine. The current 454 Mag has a 400 hours on it, and though running well (when pulled), it's definitely getting old, and rankly doesn't have the power to really move this tank quite the way I like. My thoughts are to buy an already built 540 marine short block, and go from there (I could go 572 or larger for close to the same dollar figures), use some Dart Iron Eagles, have Bob Madura spec me the valvetrain, and probably have around 750 HP. Is that too much? And if I got to my goal of 700+ HP, what kind of speeds would I be looking at with a 1.5 Bravo drive?

Guidance and opinions are much appreciated!

Thanks!

I cant imagine wanting to run much more than 500-550hp through a stock bravo drive. That being said with numbers like that you will be sure to touch 70mph and thats pretty impressive for a boat this size

I would be interested to know more about the fiberglass/structure surgery that you are performing . . . having done some of that on my 242SS and recently on my 330SS.

Post some pics in a new thread, if you like.

I also think staying in the 500 HP range would be prudent with the 242. that surely is on the edge of what you want to do with a 24 foot hull.

Too much power maybe better defined by the bottom of your boat. I'm not familiar with a 242 bottom but if it's not a true performance bottom free of factory designed hooks you'll eventually hit a wall and no amount of power will provide any real speed gains. I had a 24x7 hull (P&D, Pantera, Jaws, etc.) with a 640 Hp 540 cid and it ran high 70's. I spent a year perfecting the bottom. Before I finished rerigging I sold the boat to a friend and helped him finish it. I took it out by myself for the first run and it showed 86 mph on the gps.The boat had a few issues and the water was rough so I came back in and told my friend to get his gps checked. Well the gps was fine and after reworking the prop the boat ran 93 mph. Point being the bottom was worse than I originally thought and the work paid off. I also know that if I hadn't done the bottom work 900 hp probably wouldn't have gotten me past 85. That would have meant spending alot of money for HP that wasn't really put to good use. Perhaps some others can chime in as to the ins and outs of the 242 bottom but as I learn about these Formulas I'm guessing that the bottom is a well designed compromise of speed, planning, ride etc.. Unfortunately some things that help one attribute hurt others but that's what Formula is all about, a really good all around boat.

Formula 242 is a really big 24ft and heavy,, not to mention that you could also get them with twins..Not a particularly fast hull compared to more modern designs so dont expect blazing speed even with that much power.. Im guessing 75-80mph set up correctly.
I think the only problem youll have with 650-700hp is keeping the drive alive.

Not sure about the 242 but I just finished a two year project upgrading the power in my 303 to 540s at 690 hp and I can tell you that they aren't hulls that like speeds north of 90 mph. Not stable and handful at those speeds.

I have a 1987 242ss and i was thinking about going about 500 with bravo and k-planes in the next year or so (collecting/searching for bargan price pieces) and was curious what to expect speedwis?. Currently running 454/330 alpha. 1st sea trial did 52 mph (speedo) @ 4,200. 23p cleaver. First and only shakedown cruse so far. Scheduled to do some prop tests next month trying for more smile!
Previous boat 1984 272ls new. Twin 260's/alpha's ran 64 open fl. Water @ 5,200 all day and would get on plane with single engine.
Great boat.
Keep us posted

Payup, are your 540's natural or supercharged?

There are a lot better cylinder head options than iron eagles. Talk to bob before you buy anything. And of you don't plan on upgrading the drive 700 hp will push that boat 0 mph and 65 on the trailer on your way to the drive shop.

Mohawk242s 242ls runs consistent high 60s have seen 71 gps. It is stable at those speeds.