HA- I'm done! This has been 3 months of hell! Having to drive 5 hours one way to work on the boat for the weekend, every weekend for three months has gotten beyond old. Wherever the speed ends up, is where it will be. Outside of little things, I am done with the speed quest with this boat. If I want to go faster, I'm buying a boat that goes that speed. In the end I know I will hit the mid 80's, and I'm completely happy with that.

Now with my 242, when I replaced the engine in that I started with a prop that was too big. From that prop to the correct prop I gained 7 mph, if my memory serves me right. So I am confident 81 will not be the final top number.

Was that an aluminum aftermarket valve cover that was cracked? From looking at the pictures you took the stock covers off.
With those slip numbers it sounds like your drives could go up even higher.
If you can find another -3 drive I have one but mine is 1:34 ratio.

I replaced the stock ones that you had on it, with stock Gen V aluminum valve covers. I tightened one a bit to much and cracked it along the entire bottom where the o-ring gasket goes. For the time being I put your old one back on. I have a replacement but I need to sand it down, and powder coat it.

I think you are right in that I could still go higher. I was expecting my slip to go up, not come way down. I think for this year I'm done messing with stuff. I'm going to remove 3" off the skeg as they are way to deep, I'll also try a few different props. For now though, other than some easy things, I'm going to just use and enjoy the boat for the rest of the summer. What rpms were you running the engines at when they were in the scarab?

endeavour32 Nice combination on repower/drive combo. Do you have any new video of completed project; on trailer or running? Interested in seeing hull angle while running with new equip. Thanks.

I'll try and get someone to video the boat this weekend. I'm also going to be testing some stock 26 bravos and see what the results are. I'll report back when I have more info.

Your slip #s and RPM are too low. The slip should be in the 12 to 15% range and your RPM needs to be around 5400 to 5700. If I was you I would find a pair of 25 Mirage + props.
You also might want to recheck your jetting to make sure You are getting all of the HP.
When I had standard length drives I ran Mirage 25 pitch ( not the + version ) and ran them for about one month at 6000 RPM. But I could blow them out getting on plane. I then installed stock 28 pitch Bravo 4 blades and turned then 5300 RPM. Then I went with the IMCO -2 shorties and on a good day could turn them 5400 RPM.

I would think that with the right props and running in the power band of your engines you should see at least 4 or 5 more MPH.

I agree with you! I'm going to try the 26 Bravos over the weekend and see what I get for numbers. If that doesn't improve things much I'll dig up a set of Mirages and see where I end up.

I just ordered a set of 27P labbed Mirage props. I never in a million years thought I would be trying a set of Mirages on this combo, but I agree, the slip numbers are way to low. Even with the shorties the boat walks on plane with not notable slippage issues. The labbing should be good for 300 rpms, lack of a blade 200 rpms and 1" less pitch 200 rpms and additional prop slip. I'm hoping to gain 800+/- rpms with these. Hopefully they will work. I'm still going to try out a set of B1 26's. Between the two, I think I will find the right set up.

I am SO glad that I am no longer doing everything times TWO.
I raised my X - 1 1/8 th inch and went back 12 inches and the boat gets on plane easier than it did before. I do believe once on plane my slip #'s will be quite high.
SO last week I modified my X drive upper to fit a Maximus 5 blade prop ( full diameter ) And then took the sawzall to the new to me $600 Maximus 28 pitch prop and cut 1 1/2 inches off of the bell.
The funny thing is that I spent more than twice the $ on ONE engine that you paid for both of yours.

I don't think that a BRAVO 4 blade is going to be the best prop for your boat.

Soon we will see. If you would have told me prior to trying the Bravo that I would need a three blade prop I would have thought you were crazy. But 6% slip is going to be putting a lot of unneeded stress on the drive, and the Mirage will be faster anyway. I won't be able to test the Mirage props for a few weeks but I'm pretty sure they will get me in the ballpark so long as I can get on plane with them. However even with the bell cut completely off of the Bravo's I had zero issues getting on plane. So with that said, I'm pretty sure these will work fine.

Yes the X2 aspect does get old, but I have to also admit, not much sounds as nice as a pair of screaming BBC's.

Tried some stock 26 B1's. Gained a few hundred RPM's, and lost 2 mph. Looks like getting this dialed in is going to be a challenge.

From my experience with the 336, 4 blades gave better mid range but loss at top end. 575 HP a side 27P mirage + best all around prop.

Are you fighting handling problems or just speed and slip? In the last week and a half. I have tried -2 shorty. Spaced shorty. Stock bravo and different depths on those also. Along with 24 and 26 stock and labbed B1s. Hydo P5X. A Bblades 26 prototype and a rev 4. Now back to Mirage plus 25 and 27ps. I'm fighting a handling problem. Bad enough you want to put the life jacket and helmet on. After all the tests. The mirage plus settled down the boat to where works great in most conditions. I gave up a little in planing only over all the others. And working tabs were very different with all. My 24* non stepped call it old school bull likes the old school 3 blade. It's many hours and gallons of drive fluid. But in the end it's worth the sweat to trying everything you can. Until the water changes again!

Handling is perfect! Absolutely rock solid and no issues at all at any speed. The boat hops on plane with no issues, I can cruise at 30 mph at 2000 rpms. My issue is super low prop slip and not enough rpms. I'll be back up on the 16th with the new props. It sounds like you guys really like the way the Mirage works on your boats. I really hope I get the same results. These will be 27 factory labbed Mirage Pluses. I'm hoping to gain about 5-600 rpms with them. If I do gain that, I'll be around 5400 rpms and I'll be completely happy with that. I'll report back in a few weeks.

I got on the water today also - only about 7 minutes of run time. BUT the boat ran flawlessly.
I built a couple of ductboard temporary mufflers so that I could run it on the hose without pissing off my neighbors. They lasted about 5 minutes. The boat blew them apart at idle. I got my idle perfect. It idles very smooth ( for a 598 Cube , .74 inch lift cam ) It goes in and out of gear without killing.
Now that the boat has it's full interior, half tanks of fuel and 200 lbs of stereo system it was a lot more difficult getting on plane. But once on plane it liked the 28 Maximus prop.

The hydro P5X works real good. Just a little more lift than I wanted in the stern. Not as much as the bravos though

I would like to see these on that 292

I need to stand corrected on the what I said on the 26 Bravo's, because I was comparing the results to when I originally tested the boat without the engine hatch on. Today when I pulled the boat I wanted to see exactly what I was going to get with the boat on fumes. I was sad to see only 75 mph and 4600 rpms with the 30P bravos. So with the hatch cover on I lost 200 rpms and 5 mph, compared to my results with it off. Also with it off, it was 12 degrees warmer and I had 100 gallons of fuel on board. So in reality I'm sure I'm losing more, considering the boat had almost no gas in it today. I need to devise a way to get more air flow, and the traditional scoops will not be added. I think I'm going to replicate what Donzi is doing with their boats. Not only is level with the sun pad, I'm pretty sure it moves a fair amount of air.

here's a video of my 311 turning 27p mirage's spinning in.
https://youtu.be/z_ELRLeo-lA

What speed are you getting with your set up? Also are you running HP 950 carbs on your engine?

I'm running with pro systems xc. I honestly haven't ran it for speed turning in yet. I did GPS her last year turning out at 83 mph with 25p mirage's 6500 rpms.I don't think I care to much for it turning in. we boat a lot in the bay and conditions arn't always ideal. turning in has been full of white knuckle rides so far. With the 27p shes runnin 6200 rpms I'll probably switch the drives back after our festival is over. http://www.prosystemsracing.com/proseries4150.html http://i1189.photobucket.com/albums/...psb5f3ed73.jpg http://i1189.photobucket.com/albums/...ps941452ae.jpg

Do you have any idea how patrick has your carbs set up as far as the jetting goes. I your engines are very similar to mine, and I'm trying to get a good baseline for my jets. Right now I'm rich. I'm running the HP 950, which I'm sure is what you have from pro-system, other than it's jetted to your engines specs. I know the Pro system carb I bought was just a street HP 950 with the jets and air bleeds changed.

I think the jetting is on the dyno sheets I'll post a pic
http://i1189.photobucket.com/albums/...psfjnbxbkt.jpg

Thanks for posting that. Your carbs have to be bigger than the HP 950 body. I'm willing to bet they are the 1050 body to need that large of jets.

What's your compression ratio and what cam are you running in your 496's? Did you have any work done to the Pro 1's?

yeah its a 1050 body with a comp cam 9.5:1
http://i1189.photobucket.com/albums/...ps69196f83.jpg

I've been really contemplating going with 1050's on my engines. First though, I need to get the correct props for my boat.

Those 950's were big enough. The last bit of throttle made no difference in rpm. I would dial them in and see how it works before you change anything else. Get your RPM right first.

Yeah- I'm not changing anything else until I know I need to. Right now, it's props. That is the biggest thing that MUST be done!