1988 242 LS Brought her home
#77
Thread Starter
Registered
Joined: Jun 2021
Posts: 175
Likes: 124
From: Raleigh, NC
So had a great time all day today. No issues at all. Confirmed a few things which was nice.
Ran it WOT a few times. 5200 at 53mph GPS. Slightly disappointing as I would have liked to have gotten closer to that 60 mark. Was basically running the tach identical to the RPM. 3300 would do about 34 as well. 4000 rpms got me about 40-42.
I know I don't know how to properly trim a boat out but was playing and got the best speed with the drive trimmed up as far as a I could then started putting the tabs down and picked up about 2mph. Thinking a Hydromotive Q4 and a 22 pitch might get me a few more. Slip right now looks to be 23% on the Apollo (Michigan Wheel) 14.5x21P. something with a little more stern lift maybe.
Overall though had a great time. Wife admitted she actually enjoyed having a cabin with the little ones and they thoroughly enjoyed it as well. Wife likes the captains chairs but I miss bolsters as I do almost all my driving standing. Oh well... Happy wife right? 😁
I definitely need that flush mounted chart plotter. Trying to keep an eye on the phone screen and navigate and drive while it falls off the dash sucks.
Overall though 80 degrees and sunny weekday at the lake beats a day at the office every time.
Quick startup and idle video for fun:
Ran it WOT a few times. 5200 at 53mph GPS. Slightly disappointing as I would have liked to have gotten closer to that 60 mark. Was basically running the tach identical to the RPM. 3300 would do about 34 as well. 4000 rpms got me about 40-42.
I know I don't know how to properly trim a boat out but was playing and got the best speed with the drive trimmed up as far as a I could then started putting the tabs down and picked up about 2mph. Thinking a Hydromotive Q4 and a 22 pitch might get me a few more. Slip right now looks to be 23% on the Apollo (Michigan Wheel) 14.5x21P. something with a little more stern lift maybe.
Overall though had a great time. Wife admitted she actually enjoyed having a cabin with the little ones and they thoroughly enjoyed it as well. Wife likes the captains chairs but I miss bolsters as I do almost all my driving standing. Oh well... Happy wife right? 😁
I definitely need that flush mounted chart plotter. Trying to keep an eye on the phone screen and navigate and drive while it falls off the dash sucks.
Overall though 80 degrees and sunny weekday at the lake beats a day at the office every time.
Quick startup and idle video for fun:
#78
Registered

Joined: Nov 2020
Posts: 131
Likes: 160
From: Grand Haven MI
So had a great time all day today. No issues at all. Confirmed a few things which was nice.
Ran it WOT a few times. 5200 at 53mph GPS. Slightly disappointing as I would have liked to have gotten closer to that 60 mark. Was basically running the tach identical to the RPM. 3300 would do about 34 as well. 4000 rpms got me about 40-42.
I know I don't know how to properly trim a boat out but was playing and got the best speed with the drive trimmed up as far as a I could then started putting the tabs down and picked up about 2mph. Thinking a Hydromotive Q4 and a 22 pitch might get me a few more. Slip right now looks to be 23% on the Apollo (Michigan Wheel) 14.5x21P. something with a little more stern lift maybe.
Overall though had a great time. Wife admitted she actually enjoyed having a cabin with the little ones and they thoroughly enjoyed it as well. Wife likes the captains chairs but I miss bolsters as I do almost all my driving standing. Oh well... Happy wife right? 😁
I definitely need that flush mounted chart plotter. Trying to keep an eye on the phone screen and navigate and drive while it falls off the dash sucks.
Overall though 80 degrees and sunny weekday at the lake beats a day at the office every time.
Quick startup and idle video for fun:
Ran it WOT a few times. 5200 at 53mph GPS. Slightly disappointing as I would have liked to have gotten closer to that 60 mark. Was basically running the tach identical to the RPM. 3300 would do about 34 as well. 4000 rpms got me about 40-42.
I know I don't know how to properly trim a boat out but was playing and got the best speed with the drive trimmed up as far as a I could then started putting the tabs down and picked up about 2mph. Thinking a Hydromotive Q4 and a 22 pitch might get me a few more. Slip right now looks to be 23% on the Apollo (Michigan Wheel) 14.5x21P. something with a little more stern lift maybe.
Overall though had a great time. Wife admitted she actually enjoyed having a cabin with the little ones and they thoroughly enjoyed it as well. Wife likes the captains chairs but I miss bolsters as I do almost all my driving standing. Oh well... Happy wife right? 😁
I definitely need that flush mounted chart plotter. Trying to keep an eye on the phone screen and navigate and drive while it falls off the dash sucks.
Overall though 80 degrees and sunny weekday at the lake beats a day at the office every time.
Quick startup and idle video for fun:
It takes quite a bit of power to get these ole birds to move, 53 isn’t that bad for a sbc in one of these.....at least what I think.
How did it do getting on plane? The 4 blade is definitely the best prop for my setup....be nice if you could try a few different props out and takes notes on pros/cons of each to find the best one for your setup.
#80
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Joined: Aug 2019
Posts: 1,218
Likes: 413
From: BC
Do you have any specs the 383?
Were there HP/TQ #HPgiven?
Cam?
Heads?
Carb?
Stock SBC Merc exhaust manifolds?
One limiting factor for dual plane intakes, is they need bigger carbs to breathe. The plenum cutouts are poor solutions to the issue...as they don't flow well at all. With a true dual plenum, each bank only sees half the carb flow.
The cam and valvetrain may be setup to get more rpm out of the engine, vs the Merc specs that are really low for gas engines to perform.
23% slip is def on the high end. Have you made the calcs right with the drive ratio? Many on here with 242s should be able to suggest some good prop options.
383s can be built to better than Merc 454 (330) torque and hp without much strain at all.
Were there HP/TQ #HPgiven?
Cam?
Heads?
Carb?
Stock SBC Merc exhaust manifolds?
One limiting factor for dual plane intakes, is they need bigger carbs to breathe. The plenum cutouts are poor solutions to the issue...as they don't flow well at all. With a true dual plenum, each bank only sees half the carb flow.
The cam and valvetrain may be setup to get more rpm out of the engine, vs the Merc specs that are really low for gas engines to perform.
23% slip is def on the high end. Have you made the calcs right with the drive ratio? Many on here with 242s should be able to suggest some good prop options.
383s can be built to better than Merc 454 (330) torque and hp without much strain at all.
Last edited by Tartilla; 09-26-2022 at 08:51 PM.






