8T8242LS

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

tpenfield

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.

8T8242LS

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 ?

Splitdecision271

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.

Mr Maine

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.

8T8242LS

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 ?

8T8242LS

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.

Mr Maine

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.

8T8242LS

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 !

Splitdecision271

See pic below