Questions about my 88 242LS
 

Hey everybody, I'm new to this site and am liking it, I have a few questions about my 1988 242LS I just bought and hoping for a little help. First this is my first boat so I'm pretty green and still am learning how to drive it, it has a stock 330 hp bravo 1 with a 21p mirage S/S prop. It seems to be right on par with what everything I read 50ish mph @ 4300-4500 rpm's, my concern is it's a turd out of the gate and takes forever to plane, is this a common characteristics for this boat ? It has Silent Thunder on it, that's one of the things that I like so much about the boat, but after realizing that it fills with water I had to laugh and said that makes no sense to me hundreds of extra pounds right on the stern of the boat !?!? I read a bunch of old post last night about props so I'm guessing the 21p 3 blade is pretty close. Again just wondering if this is common thanks for your input !

Jerry

The silent thunder does not really hold that much water, so no worries.

The deep v hulls do take a while to come out of the water. If you want some better low end performance you could try a revolution 4 blade 19 pitch. It should get you right up out of the water.

I had an 18 pitch 4 blade on my 242 for a short while and it was like driving around in second gear.!

A 19 pitch should be ok, but you will loose some at the high end.

Thanks tpenfield sure looks like a lot of water coming out when you pull it out of the water !!! As for the 19p I hate to lose what little mile an hour I have now lol ! I've been told by a buddy to try a four blade so I'm trying to scour one of those up now to do a little testing with, he has a 23p mirage he's gonna let me try but I think it may be a bit much but we'll see ?

You also have the option of drilling holes in the underside of the ST platform. This will allow the water to drain out the platform and not fill up the chambers. At idle you'll still have the low rumble but as you come on plane the water will drain out thus lightening it and boat will get a little louder too. Its an option, not saying you have to do it. Research it on here, many have done it if you are interested.

Saw a 357 SR1 this past weekend with his platform drilled out. Awesome looking boat and sounded nice too.

They are heavy single boats and just aren't going to blast out of the water like a bass boat. Are you trimmed all the way down to plane off? If you are turning a 21 mirage to 4500, that is close. A 19 will probably turn too high for a 330 horse 454 as turning them above 4600rpm is a waste as the horsepower falls off quick.

I have heard Rev 4 four blade props work good for straight bottom heavy v's with a deep drive. You could try one of those.

Thanks splitdecision, I read about that and was trying to find pictures to see where guys have drilled them, that does interest me but want to make sure I start poking holes in the right spot LOL !! I'll research it again and see if I can find anything, do you know where ?

Hi Mr. marine actually I trim up a little, roll into it getting the RPMs up around 3300 and then start trimming down and that seems to work best, if I have the trim all the way down I think it would go across the entire lake with the bow in the air LOL !!! I researched a bunch of old threads on props for these 242's and it seems that a 21p three blade a 22p 4 blade and 23p three blade were the main choices and 19p was exactly what you said.

I think you should try it with the trim all the way down. That forces the bow down and allows you to plane quickest. Also if you have tabs, you can put them down to plane, especially if you have a bunch of people/gear.

See now that's the way I had it with the trim down and the tabs down and it seemed like it took forever to plane and wanting to almost bog the motor !?!? That's why I trimmed up a little to get RPM's up and as soon as the bow came up I started trimming down and the bow started coming down and got on plane !

See pic belowhttp://www.offshoreonly.com/forums/a...t-boat-023.jpg

WOW that's it eh Split ? Thought it would be more complicated ! Thanks for the pic I appreciate it been looking all morning found a few threads about this but no pictures at all !

From my experience with a small block 223 and my big block 23ft. VIP I agree with mr.marine. I'm used to my 22 ft. Donzi that is out of the water at 2,200rpm. So driving my my vip or my friends formula it seems forever to get the boat on plane. The fastest way I have seen has been tuck the drive it's a better angle to push the boat on plane. Also drop the tabs, I do it every time because it keeps me from opening up the 4 barrel. The bow won't go up as high and the boat will plane off. As your rpm starts coming up and your on plane just bring up the tabs. What your doing sounds like your sucking air to get the rpm up and then tucking the drive. Almost like the exhaust holes on props to help get the motor spinning. Also are you sure your using the tabs correctly. Push the buttons up and the tabs go down. Then the opposite to bring them up.

Also I may be wrong but I actually gained a couple mph with the 4 blade on my friends 223. He gets a lot more lift. You could trim the outdrive and the boat wouldn't lift. You had to use the tabs to get its heavy a** out of the water. The 4 blade now lifts the boat with trim and I can week a bit more lift with the tabs.
Again this is my experience with different boats but somewhat similar size. I may be wrong but just trying to help.

I appreciate the help DBleil89 again this is my first boat and I am as green as the front yard so all input is greatly appreciated from everybody ! I Talk to a couple local marinas and am working on a 22p 4 blade now, if I could just get the step up a little quicker I'd be happy ! I've taken the engine for granted assuming that everything is good so tonight going to check plugs, timing etc. just to make sure that's all good and try to splash it tomorrow and try that technique ! Thanks again !

idling will fill the thunder, while running they don't hold as much water as thought,

After 20 years on my 223 330 bravo and 23 mirage, I am now running a 23 mirage plus, and it comes out of the hole much better

For the record, that 21" Mirage was the stock prop for that 330 HP package.

Thanks for the info boiler, I had a chance to test a few props before winterizing it so now I have an idea

I would recommend starting with the trim buried until on plane. 22p 4 blade might be a little much. Im pushing a little over 400hp spinning a 22p 4 blade to 4700 and a 21p 4 blade to 4900.. id say try a 21 and you may get about 4400 out of it if youre lucky. Maybe think about a 19 3 blade also.

Thanks kmoney, I wanted to try a 21 4 blade but couldn't find one and ran out if summer. I did get to try a 22 four blade and the holeshot was way better than the 21 three blade but it only rpm'ed to 4000/4100 and I also tryed a 19 three blade, the holeshot was awesome but was over revving @ 4800/4900 rpm's . I've come to the conclusion that it just needs more power !!!! LOL