Fastest 357? And what is the deal with "flexing"?
 

Just curious as to the speeds on the 357? And I've read alot about this particular boat being "flexible" but what does that actuallymean in real world terms? Are the stringers going to pull away from the hull if you hit some bad water or what?

From what I know and have heard, the flexing just causes very minor stress cracks in the gel coat. Nothing major, just an annoyance. Usually quite easy to repair. It is strictly a cosmetic issue.

Fastest 357 I've heard of is mid/high 80's but takes big power to get them there, like 700 or better hp per side.

The Kamma 357's are probably faster over the Merc outdrives but don't know the speeds.

The 357's with Bravos will be a tad faster than the TRS models, but the TRS units are a little stronger.

One with 500 Bulldogs with a Procharger would run quite well I would think.

I'm going to swap motors in my 311 as soon as I can swing it. I'm looking for mid high 80's. Planning on going with twin 650's or thereabout.

Thanks for the info - I've been lusting after a 357 for a while now. Love the way they look and plenty of room for the Mrs, plus it's damn near a 38' boat by today's yardstick... hopefully in the next year or so! :)

That should work our perfect Dockrocker! I need one more summer with my 357 then she's yours.

Flex in a formula????I thought the old ones were built like a battle ship!!! Mike there is an ausome 382 over here for sale for 90K with everything on it 525's genny air you name it!!!

Don 90K is probably 30K or 40K more than I could spend. Got a nibble on a new job, going for the interview on Friday. If the stars align, we might be shopping in the fall. We shall see...

I really like the 311 and 357 Formulas. Got a windshield for the Mrs, big, heavy straight deep-V, a length that doesn't include 2' of platform. Update the interior (what in God's name were they thinking?!?!?), maybe see how much it would be to paint the dash white, new gauges and you're ready to go. That's my brainstorm, anyhow :)

I'll keep my eyes open!!!Thats why I bought my Sonic it fit the price model......I know of a 31 Sonic you can buy right.....about 50K lots of room for kids!!!NOT MINE its a couple years newer purple and white...

The "flex" is very very minor, the only way you could ever tell it has it is by the stress cracks, and it takes a long time for them to appear. It's not like you are out jumping waves and actually feel it or anything. I've seen stress cracks in every boat I've ever seen that's ten years old or older. Some of the lesser quality boats will have stress cracks after one season. Every fiberglass boat ever built, by the properties of the material used, will have some "flex" in it. Most of the time you are speaking of an extremely diminitive amount. At least I believe that to be true and is what I have been told.

Hell even a Destroyer has flex in it.

That's kind of what I figured - Formula has a reputation for building solid boats, so I was little confused about the 357 "talk".

Dock, bottom line is you will NEVER go wrong with a Formula. They hold their value as well as any boat made. And they are great rough water boats. I have no trouble in 4/5 ft. seas running with "today's" 35/38 footers.

Dockrocker

The "Flex" occurs both on the deck and in the hull. In the hull see above. I don't notice it but I have a little bit of cracking (to be expected in a boat that's nearly 20 years old - mine's an '85). The thing I don't like is that the deck is large and it tends to flex a lot. In big water you can watch the hatches bounce up and down. Bob Barker had his deck screws tightened and epoxied when he had his rub rail replaced and said it made a big difference. So, I will try that. Maybe I'm just used to a 272 with one hatch so I didn't ever see the deck flex before. But, it kind of freaked me out a little the first time I noticed those hatches and deck bouncing up and down. Of course, we are talking about a Forula and they are built like a tank compared to other boats.

I was also looking for a 311 or 357 for quite a while before finding mine. The 357 with Kammas in the classifieds seems like a pretty good deal. In the thread "What's a 357 with Kammas worth?" there are pics of mine and another 357 for sale and I wrote a little about how I got it and what I paid for it. I did get a great deal but mine needed lots of little stuff when I got it.

The 357 is a hoss. Mine will do 76-77mph depending if you believe gps or radar and the conditions. That's with two B&M blown 454s (approx. 540hp each). Bob Barker's 357 has two 650hp engines with Speedmaster drives and he says he gets 83mph out of it and has done some more tweeking and is expecting more. Very nice guy and knows quite a bit about these 357s. The 311s are very cool also and a very large 31 footer. I really wanted the 357 but would have settled for a 311 if I found the right deal on one. I would have loved it if my boat has Kammas instead of the TRS. If you're looking I'd be all over either that black 357 listed in California or the one in the thread "What's a 357 with Kammas worth?" if he has decided to sell. That one is looks to be in awesome condition.


Brent Ford

Guess I'm lucky, I have never noticed any deck flexing in my 89' 311. I do have some VERY minor stress cracks in the port hullside that's being repaired now. What amazes me is that it does not rattle, at all.

My 357 has stress cracks along the back seat upper corners under the engine hatch.My windscreen has cracks on the back edge. You really need to keep after the deck/hull joint at the gunwhale. I seperated mine, scraped out the old bonding material the trough bolted every other screw so it wasn't being held together by sheetmetal style screws. The hull sides are fine and the top deck is also fine. I have new 502 EFI's 415hp/each with TRS and turning 22 Bravo 1's (4 blades) no bottom paint and I can hit 72GPS@5000 RPM in a 2-3chop. These boats are heavy. I picked mine with one of our cranes it scaled at 10800 lbs with 1/4 fuel. Mine is for sale Mid 40's. Good luck, MFB

Anybody ever ride in a Cigarette Cafe of Top Gun? Talk about the deck flexing!!! Could not believe it! You can see the whole deck wobbling up and down. The Top Gun did this even in small waves on a river ... would be scary on rough water! I have never seen this on any Formula and certainly not on my 311 or 382. I thought the Cigarette was supposed to be the "gold standard" in performance boats, but I'm just not impressed.

FORMULA ROCKS !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1

mfb -

Did you actually seperate the deck from the hull to do the work? You are talking about the fastening screws under the rub rail right? I've got to figure out something to do. My hatches bounch up and down just like RedDog is talking about on the cigs. I've heard others say their 357s do this and some don't. Of course, mine is as old as it gets for a 357 ('85) so maybe it's the age.

Wow, 10800 pounds!!! I didn't think they were that heavy. I was guessing about 9800-10500. That explains why it takes so much power to move these things.

Yes I lifted the deck off the hull, sort of one end at a time using a "A" frame gantry and chain falls. I used machine screws and backing plates at every other hole so as not to interfere with the rub-rail screws. Its how the factory does it but we made it a lot stronger. I used 5200 in between the overlapping joint to help seal it. then we used a black 30 year sealant under the rub rail to help seal that joint. I do have upper deck flex in a heavy sea condition. Its not to bad though. This job took all of 2 weeks to complete with two men. the hard part was getting all the old adhesive out of the deck/hull joint. Then it was very tricky lining the deck up again. One thing that has made a huge difference is the 502's and the 4 blade props, the boat will ride a lot flatter without using to much tab. MFB

I did the same thing to my 302 as MFB did to his 357. I did it a little different however. I took off the entire rub rail. At that point there were a few screwes left. I took out a couple at a time. I was then able to push the hull in from the deck and have room to clean it out and put the 5200 in. I then put the screws back and then through bolted the bolts that hold the rubrail on. The one thing I did that helped a LOT was to use tape and paper and hung it just below the rubrail. That caught most of the spill. It took me about the same amount of time as Mark to finish the job. Two easy days drinking beer and having as much fun as you can doing a job like that :D

Mark you just have all the cool toys now don't rub it in :D:D

Sorry Jon, You know where everything is when you need it. Does the shop look better than the last time you saw it? :rolleyes:

I'm a little confused here (YET again, or is that still?).

My 85 302 has BOLTS with large backing washers every 12-18 inches, and two screws spaced in between holding the deck to the hull. Do your boats only have screws?:confused:

LOL, mfb I just read your reply really fast and I thought for a second that you said "chain saws" not "chain falls". My eyes got as big as saucers.

Seriously though - I think it was Bob Barker one other (maybe reddog) who said that they just took out the screws and either used epoxy in the screw holes and/or through bolted them and it made a big difference. I don't think I have the tools and help it would take to seperate the deck from the hull like you're talking about. I assume you did that just to get the old epoxy (or whatever they used) out. Or, was this important in re-bonding the deck to the hull? It sounds like I'd have to pay to have that done and I'm sure that could get really expensive. Any suggestions?

Audiofn - your method sounds easier. You were able to push the hull back enough to really get in there?