Hey everyone, a marina neighbor of mine is selling his 353 and I'm strongly considering upgrading from my 292 fastech if all goes according to plan. It is a mint 1999 with Rio graphics with merc racing 500 efi's that were swapped in New in 2001 and now have 180 hrs on them. I don't know much about these engines, anything particular i should look at or anything that is a common issue? What is everyone towing their 353 with? I know I will have to get a heavy duty truck but im not sure what to get.. I plan on getting a survey done once the boat is back in town from storage. What does everyone recommend for financing also? Thanks!

You will enjoy the step up to a 353! It is a solid platform that will serve you well. The cabin is large enough to accommodate week end overnighting and the cockpit is large enough to accommodate 6 people. If you plan to do any trailer boating, the 353 coupled behind a proper towing vehicle will be just under the typical truck and trailer legal length limit of 65 feet in most of our states. A longer boat would typically require an over length permit for highway movement. We have a solid history with Formula fastech models starting in 1995 with a new 292 fastech,. In 2000 we grew to a new 312 fastech. Our last move was a new 2006 353 fastech with 496HO's. The 353 hull has been our favorite. Our tow vehicle of choice has been a Ford super duty F350 (one ton).


353 with Acceleration graphics

Beautiful bird! I'll most likely go Ford since everyone i know with a 6.7 loves them.

Great boat. Those blue motors are very reliable. However, you will need to do the topends of the motors at 250 hours (mercury recommended service interval). You should see 80 mph or so with 500’s. For towing, I had an F350 and went to a RAM2500. Night and day difference and no offense to the Ford guys, but I would never go back. To be fair I did have the 6.4, but every other aspect of the truck is far superior (except the damn side view mirrors ).

The owner says he sees 80/81 consistently. The other thing that caught my attention is that the boat has been maintained by Mel Rigs since it was new. He currently has the boat at his shop and is getting it water ready so I should be able to do a survey and sea trial in the next couple weeks if I don't have any issues securing a loan.

As mentioned above top ends will need to be done at 250-300 hours. Figure 4K per motor into your budget. The drives likely aren’t far behind...we freshened our xr’s after 300+ hours.

do the non superchaged blue motors really need the top ends done at 300 hrs?
I can build a 500 hp efi motor without the need for that.

yes, mercury used crap PAC springs in all 500efis that have lower than desired spring seat pressures. Do a quick search, there are several threads that talk about tear down findings.

additionally the head gaskets mercury used are marginal at best. They don’t have much life left after 300 hours.

if it weren’t for that...agreed top ends wouldn’t be needed.

Forgot to mention...should also do a leak down test. The springs and gasket are a must...let the leak down determine if you need a valve job.

me personally...since the top ends are getting ripped apart anyways, we did everything. Parts replacement is the cheap part. it’s piece of mind.

Dang.... that is one pretty boat.