242 ls single big block
 

Looking to purchase a 242 LS but the 330hp is not going to cut the mustard I don't think. What will I need to get this boat up to around 70mph or is that even possible with 500hp or less?

My first Formula was an 85' 242 LS with twin 350/260's.
I ran thru-hull exhaust with the exhaust tips custom made with 3 inch on the "engine" side and expanded to 4 inch coming through the hull and out. I ran K&N filters, and 24 inch "cleaver" style props, though I would not run those today. (owned boat in 92-96). It had twin Alpha SS outdrives and trimmed all the way out
just to the point of just the barest hint of chine walking, I could get an honest 71/72 miles an hour out of her. I had a friend who had same boat with a 454/330 and I had him by about 8 miles an hour. Nice thing about twins is you have a "get home" motor and docking is so much easier. Cruising, gas mileage was only about 10 % different, mine less than his. If you could find one of these give it a look. Make sure it has counter-rotating props, many came through same rotation. Good luck.

Thanks outlaw... don't the 242 LS's only come with twins in the 85-86 models? That's the only thing I guess is I was looking to get an 89 or 90 and have yet to fine one with twins. Otherwise I would probably go with the twins.

As far as what was available in what years, I can't answer that. Formula probably can. My buddy's boat was an 87'. I think that Formula started pushing the big blocks over the twin small blocks due to cost difference. The twins were quite a bit more. Also, routine maintenance on the twins was obviously more. If I were looking for a 242 I would strongly consider the older model with twins if the boat is solid. You could swap out the windshield which is the biggest item that "dates" the boat, plus the obligatory "burlwood" in the cabin. I certainly enjoyed mine and for it's size was a great rough water boat. I do remember people commenting they'd never seen twins in that size boat before, that was kind of cool. Pop a couple of 350/325's which is pretty inexpensive considering, and it'll move along right nice. Call Formula and ask so you'll know if they still offered twins in your time era your looking at and how many they sold. That will indicate if your wasting your time looking for a needle in a haystack. Keep me posted on your progress. This has brought back lots of good memories. Good luck....

Yeah, I found an 86 with twins and like you said the windshield is easy indicator of the boats age. I have a friend with a Chris Craft Stinger 260 1986 with twin 350's and he just replaced the 260 hps with 325 and I guess I would say my goal is to keep up wit him hahaha... That's a pretty solid boat as well. I will have to look into if formula made any 242 LS's after 86 with twins!

You could get the twins in '87 in the 242-SR1 and '88 was the last year for the option. both '87 and '88 were the new style rounded windshield. also in '87 the silent thunder swim platform was standard with twins as well. One sweet running package.

32storm,
Do you think the twins is a better performing boat than the single big block? I have not seen to many available with that option so they must not have made too many of them. Every one I find has the single 330 hp 454. Also, does the swim platform slow you down. I drove one a week ago and the guy said it adds a few hundred pounds.

The weight of the swim platform alone will slow you
down 1 mph, possibly slightly more. Another thing is that the weight of the swim platform, back past the "center" of the drives, will also cause the boat to be a bit more "stern heavy". If you have twins, then there's even more weight at the stern. To counter this and to get the stern higher in the water at speed, you want "stern lifting" props, like the Quad IV's I run on my 311. When I swapped my 23 inch Mirage for the 24 inch Hydromotive Quad IV's I gained a solid (gps) 5 mph at 3200 rpm and 3 mph on the top. The way these props work is that by lifting the stern higher at speed is like reducing the "X" demension on your drive. In other words by lifting the stern you reduce the drag, less drag equals more rpms. The guys at Hydromotive really knew what they were talking about when they explained exactly what I could expect by switching over. They had it nailed right on the head. Also by
modifying the silent thunder exhaust you can open it up more which allows the engine to breath easier. What I did was completely cut out the "partitions" that are bonded between the interior exhaust tips and the rectangular exhaust outlets and the small circular holes at the bottom of the box I enlarged so big I worry about pelicans making a nest up there. I did the exhaust modification while I still had the Mirage props on and gained 300 rpms at WOT. After that I swapped to the Quad IV's and between the two gained an honest 8 mph on the top end (gps). It was the cheapest 8 mph I'll ever see. Whatever you end up with, give the guys at Hydromotive Engineering a call. They'll give you the straight "skinny" on exactly what you can expect. They will not steer you wrong. Keep me posted.

sounds like a project that I can't wait to start! Now all I have to do is find the right boat!

Formula 454-I'll keep an eye and ear peeled and see if anything comes up down my way I think you might be interested in. I live in Sarasota, FL, where are you located? Besides, looking is half the fun. Took me 10 months to find my 89' 311 SR-1, but I found a beauty. I'm only the 3rd owner. Soon as I can figure out how to post a damn picture I'll have it up. (and use the digital camera, I'm an analog kind of guy). Outlaw

I had an 85 242 LS with twin 350's. I just sold it after buying the 302 Kaama. I absolutely loved that boat, it just to run in the poker runs and things, I needed a bigger boat. I couldn't give you an honest answer on the top end, because I sold it after getting the steering bugs out of it. I installed a tie bar, because it would feel like the ass end was going to come around on you at any speeds over 45. That tie bar was the best $300 I spent on that boat. The fastest I had it up to was 58 on the gps, but that wasn't leaning on the throttles and not trimmed at all. It had 23" Bravo props.

Cuda, you were right on that "tie-bar". I had to do the same thing with my 242, I couldn't figure out why in hell it felt to squirrley, then I asked around and felt like an idiot when everyone said, "what do you mean no tie-bar"? DUH......That was my first boat and I was just starting to learn, so a call to Imco and problem solved.

Well I liked the boat very much just from browsing different boats online and such but this guy randomly let me drive his about a week ago just because I helped him load his boat into the water and of course I was asking all kinds of questions haha so he took me out for a run and I loved it. It was the 330hp 454 though with the swim plat for but I still loved it. I would love to try one with twins though to compare. and I'll keep that tie-bar in the back of my mind just incase!

By the way Outlaw I'm a bit north of you. I'm up in New England. But never the less the help is much appreciated. I would love to see this Formula 242 SR1 that was mentioned in 87-88 with twins. If anyone owns one or knows of a link with a picture let me know I would love to see this boat! thanks

454-whereabouts in New England, I have family up that way. I have a couple of ideas I'm going to try and maybe I'll get lucky and locate something for you. By the way, my e-mail address is: [email protected]
I'll keep ya posted.

FYI
If anyone tries to contact Formula for information an an older boat, don't bother. There are no records available prior to the Porter family aquiring the company. I tried to find information about my 1988 F-206 and was told that they had no records of those years.
I've found that when most companies are sold the manufacturing and sales records are the property of the previous owner and aren't usually transfered to the new owner. I personally ran into this problem while trying to access sales records on a set of tires I bought.

To see 70+ out of a 242 I think you will need over 500 HP. I have a 223LS and am running around 470hp. Craig223 also has a 223LS with around the same hp. We are both seeing high 60's just shy of 70 out of the boats. He is running a Quad IV, I run a Mirage Plus. The 242 is at least 1000lbs heavier than the 223 and I think has a 24 degree hull vs a 22 degree. I think with 500 hp you would see mid 60's, but I could be wrong.

Iggy,
I don't know why you couldn't get info on your '80s Formula, the Porters have owned Formula for decades. They were certainly the owners of Formula in the '80s and they do have all records and specs back much further than that.

Dave

Dave's right, I got info from Formula on an 81' 302 that I was considering buying. Ended up not getting into it, too much work, but Formula sent me pages of info.

Am real surprised your not getting 70 out of your 223 with 470 hp. Your right, 242 is a 24 degree hull. My buddy was getting 63/64 (gps) with a 454/330, in his
87' 242, no silent thunder platform though, just straight-thru's and he took his teak swim platform off. He also removed the "ice" box for simple storeage. I'm still surprised your not getting more out of 470 hp in your 223. Troutly, you got any feedback on this?

Scott 72, I forgot to ask, are you running in fresh or salt water. I was in salt. They say that makes a difference, salt is supposed to be more boyant or something.

The salt water is more dense, therefor the boat sits a bit higher in the water, and has a better "grip" something like the difference between running on ice or on concrete.

Maybe I'm wrong, but I wrote them asking questions about the hatches on the forward deck and few other things but the reponse was they didn't have any recods for that model year.
Back when Boilerdaddy was active here I posted a question about my prop and he got two engineers to write me about it. One engineer e-mailed a copy of the 1988 F-206 brochure. I will always be grateful for that.

Formula Outlaw,
I am running in Salt water. I think with a little more tuning I will see around 70 or over. The boat with a the original 330 ran around 61 on GPS. I have a few tuning issues that are holding me back. I'm running too much carb (an 850 holley) with only 461 CI. Got a deal on the carb originally but I am running pretty rich. Want to try and 800 or 750 soon. I haven't had a real calm day this year to be able to really trim the boat up. Best I have done was around 5100 at a little under half trim. I am running external steering which really helps. I know Craig223 was running a Merc 420 in his boat with a hotter cam in it etc. He GPS's around 69 running a Hydromotive. My uncle had a 1990 242SS running a 454Mag (365hp) in it. He was running right around 62 on GPS with it. I know the SS are a tad slower due to weight distribution being more towards the bow.

Scott 72, sounds like you're definitely on the right track. Have you tried rejetting the carb? You should be able to rejet it leaner. That might avoid you having to replace the carb. It's worth a shot. In my 242 I ran slower in "glass", I got my best speed with about 1-1&1/2 ft chop. Just enough to get some air under the hull. If I was on "glass" I lost about 4 mph. I think once you get your carb problems resolved I definitely think you'll be on the high side of 70, maybe 73/74. Keep us all posted.

Outlaw, if he was getting 63/64 without the swim platform with the 330 than with a 415hp and the swim platform I would assume you must beable to get about 68/70 or so. I saw an add for an 89 242ls with a 502 ci 435 hp and it said it would due 70 mph. I would still like to see an 87-88 242 with twins! That would be the boat right there. The whole problem is I've been running a 19 ft Chapparall (father's boat) with a 4.3ltr 180 hp and that thing will do 50 with a regular prop on it. So if I get a boat that's 5 feet larger and looks a lot meaner, I would like to be able to get some extra speed! Know what I mean!

I know what you mean. There is a BIG difference between 50 and 70, especially when you go up by 5 ft. and a thousands of pounds. The swim platform my buddy took off was a simple teak platform, all he did was lose the weight. If a boat is running the "silent-thunder" swim platform, with the swim platform acting like a big "muffler", unless you modify it, you do lose top end rpms. I know, I've done it. Go into 311 sr for sale and check out some of my posts in there. My guess is that if an 89 with a 502/435 will do 70, and if it does have the silent thunder system, modify it the way I did
and you should pick up a couple of miles an hour. Speedwise though, to me it sounds about right. Once you get above 65 or so, every mile an hour comes hard. If you've got the patience, keep looking for one with twins. There's one out there somewhere, it's just gotta be found. I'll look hard down here for you. Keep the faith. Though that 242 with the 502 does sound sweet.

As soon as I found out that the silent thunder swim plat form slowed you down slightly and also almost completely muffles the sound... I was already thinking of ways to modify it even though I had not even taken a good look at it yet. I mean I like that fact that it quiets the boat down a bit but sometimes it just sounds better loud!

The way I modified mine, you notice the difference immediately, by removing those partitions that are bonded in place directly in front of the rectrangular exhaust outlets. Where you REALLY hear it come alive is up on plane when those big honkin holes I cut in the bottom of the box where the little circles used to be, clear the water. As soon as the stern starts to come up it's like afterburners kicking in. It would be extemely helpful in areas of the country where the noise police are jerks, idling by it's nice and throaty but not going to draw annoying attention. When she's passing 50 though it starts to get loud. Personally, I like loud. And the engine sure likes it, I gained 300 rpms by the mods.

242 LS / 540 CI
 

Hey Formula,
I have a 1990 242LS that orginally came with the 454/365 motor. I repowered with a 540 motor.
This really brought the boat to life..

It is now for sale....moving up to a larger boat.
Excellent shape !
Stand up McCloud Bolster...factory option....
external steering...
Bravo rebuilt by Lake X facility..
Master Lube system
Halon system
EMI Thunder Big tubes
Float on Alumunium trailer
45 hours on New motor....

Interested???
E-mail me

Sheikman

Sounds like a really nice boat. I really wanted a 242 when my Four Winss Liberator Burned up (rack storage fire) but my 223 came up cheap (it had a motor that took water), so I couldn't pass it up. As for my carb, Formula Outlaw, I did jet it down. Checked my vacum at idle and changed the power valve too. It runs pretty good, but on the rich side all around. Does have a slight studder getting on plain and does load up a tad at if idling for a while. I just think a 750-800 would give me a little more throttle response.

Formula454,
I have heard from people that owned them that the 242 with twin 350s was prone to porposing at almost all speeds under WOT. Cruising at 30 to 40 was said to be annoying due to the porposing.

Also, with twins comes those whimpy Alpha drives. They are not very strong and they do that "gear-grind" thing going into gear.

Another drawback is the absolute lack of space for maintenance back there. Just a nightmare to do any work.

If it were me, I'd look for a 1990 through 1992 (yes, they made the 242LS in '92) with a 502 and do a little building from there. Much better maintenance, lighter overall, less stuff to deal with and just as fast if not faster. There a few real beauties out there with 502s and nice bolsters too!!!!:cool:

Thirdbird,
I wouldn't doubt that being the case. I bet having twins is a maintanence nightmare! To be honest I drove a 242 LS with the 330 and the performance was great. Just looking for a little more power, but if you say that they made them with a stock 502 than I think we're in business. I'll have to look around! Thanks for the pointers though!

Sheikman,
is that 540hp or 540 ci? Is it fuel injected? Sounds like a great boat. Unfortunately I'm not going to purchase anything until at least next boating season, but I would love to see your boat if you have any pictures and if you can not sell it by then than I would deffinitely be interested!

i never experienced porpoising with my 242-SR1 that couldn't be corrected with either trim or tabs. No problem cruising in the 30-40 MPH range, which was common for extended trips. I did have tie-bar from day one, so that wasn't an issue.Coming off a wave, it's almost impossible to land wrong with weight of the dual small blocks in the stern. Top speed with the stock 350mag twins is aprox. 67 MPH, which is faster than the same package in a 272. In general, I thought boat handled fine with twins.

I would agree completely that for maintenance it is very tight access with the twin small blocks. But, the 272 isn't much better, especially with twin big blocks, the 272 is probably worse.

Unfortunately alpha's are alpha's. I never ran into any problem with the alpha's other than the gimbal rings wore.

A 242 with a single 540 or 502 probably would be nice ride. Sheikman's 242 sounds like an interesting ride. But, personally I prefer twins.

I never had a porposing problem with my twin 242 either. Let's face it, twins in ANY offshore boat is going to be tight due to the narrow beam of these kinds of boats. My 302 with twin 468's is just as tight, if not tighter than the 242 with twin sbc's. Fortunately, I never had a lick of problems with the sbc's. The only thing I had to do was change the oil, and I took it to my marine mechanic for that.:)

Never had a problem with porposing in my 242 either, unless, like any boat, I had the drives trimmed too far out. I put about 365 hours on mine and never had a problem with the alpha drives, but then I wasn't making tons of horsepower either. I never had any shifting problems either. I personally like a "get home" motor. Yeah, it's tight, but I could change plugs ok, and do all routine maintenance myself. Sometimes you'd just have to figure out how to get to something. Changing one of the starters was fun. I ached for a week. But a 540 in a 242 does sound interesting. I'd like to know what that runs top end.

About the porposing, just what I was told by others, no first hand experience. I'd go with what you guys say here. Those other bozos probably had no clue about proper trimming.

I will say one thing, a 24 footer with two potent little small blocks does sound pretty cool. Love to have the chance to pilot one someday:D

You guys are right about tightness in the 272 with fat blocks, its not pretty in there. My 311 has tons of room but then again I don't have transmissions in there. The engine compartment is one of the big reasons I picked the 311. Not too big to trailer easily too.

I had a 242 for 4 years. Its one of the best (if not the best) riding 24-25 foot boats you can get.

Thirdbird, couldn't agree with you more on the ride of the 242. I ran mine mostly in the North Atlantic, and that's never smooth. Couldn't even begin to guess how many times my props were out of the water and it always came down straight and true. Never ever got a feeling that the boat was out of control. I just felt like I could trust it. Could you imagine a 242 with twin blown small blocks? What a sleeper that would be.

Formula 454, keep looking every once and a while you see some nice ones for sale. I have 87 242ls with a new 454/350 boat rides along very nice. If you find one with more hp than350/400 this boat should really come alive. As for the swimplatform I think it looks great and keeps the noise level down. Where are you in new England , I am in western mass.


Sheikman, how about some pics.