Unfortunately the pictures I took of the engines & drives did not turn out at all. Phone acted stupid with the focus and all I got was a few blurry images. I will take some new ones when I see the boat next. Looks like there might be a chance that the water test could happen this week and as early as tomorrow but more than likely if it does it will be Wednesday. Crossing my fingers we can make it happen and I can bring her home this week! Already have the old boat up for sale and received quite a bit of interest.

great looking boat, and those motors are a nice combo, but you don't here much about em do to rarity, can't say if there one way or another, but make sure they haven't been toyed with first, how many hours? maybe I missed it somewhere in the thread

That boat is a rare find...looks as if it's been in a time capsule. Seeing that interior brings back a lot of memories !! Thanks for sharing.

Any news? Did ya test it out?

So yesterday I met up with the PREVIOUS owner (spoiler alert!) at a local launch for a sea trial. Not much to discuss other than it went very very well. Boat behaved almost perfectly. I say almost because each of the engines ended up stalling once or twice if you brought back the throttles quickly or idled for a long period of time. The boat has barely been used over the last couple years and I honestly believe it just needs some gas run through it and to be used. A little disconcerting since the engines are difficult to troubleshoot. Might just be bad gas who knows. Either way I am not to worried about that. Performance wise this boat is impressive and the engines run very strong. I briefly opened the throttles and the boat shot right up to 60mph (GPS) with out even fighting or messing with the trim. Obviously I'm still very unfamiliar with the boat still so I pulled them right back to a nice steady 40mph cruise.

I am VERY impressed with the quality of the ride on this boat. Night and day difference between my old boat and this Formula. It was kinda rough yesterday (steady 1.5' footers) and while the Checkmate would have been fine it wouldn't have been very comfortable and I would have been constantly adjusting tabs and steering. This boat didn't even seem to notice them and happily cruised at 45 while me and the owner had a conversation.

Needless to say the boat ended up coming home with me. He gave me everything he had for the boat (including a spare ECU for the 320's) along with the boats complete documentation in the red 3 ring binder I notice everyone talk about. every dime that was ever spent on the boat is listed with the receipt. Quite impressive.

Enough of me rambling. Time for what everyone really cares about, the pictures.

At the launch about to head out:
http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b2...psvvz9hsmx.jpg

After the test and hooked to my truck!
http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b2...pst3hglgaj.jpg

Engines just don't want to be photographed! sun kind of screwed this photo up but oh well. Its the best I have at the moment
http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b2...psa7whqg8u.jpg

Alpha SS outdrives
http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b2...pslkgv0s9d.jpg

Pictures of the Helm. Boat is like brand new inside. Kudos to Formula's build quality and the great care all previous owners gave this particular boat.
http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b2...psfjfcm9zz.jpg

All tucked away. Poor checkmate getting kicked out of its home.. haha
http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b2...pstr2bjuxq.jpg

awesome, good luck!
I have the red 3 ring binder too!

Thanks!

I know your boat has the bravos so it's not a direct comparison but out of curiosity what props are you running?

mirage plus- 23pitch. what about your boat?

Haven't ran the part numbers but they are stamped with Quicksilver 21. I have a single 23 mirage in my shed. Need to find another one and try it out. Also have a 21 mirage plus as well but like the 23 would need to find a 2nd one. Oh the joy of twins haha

Jim, you have one of the best of the best...enjoy it and appreciate the classic nature of the boat.

23's are what I'm running on my 255 Liberator/Bravo's Twin Vortec 400+ HP. Very similar boats in weight and size. At 70 I'm about 4800. Very good combination.

You might consider joining the Formula Boat Forum http://www.formulaboatsforum.com/VBFORUM/forum.php and sharing that beauty with the guys over there...I'm sure they will appreciate it !!