Easy - leave the swim platform black, go white on the hull.

Formula 357,
Your boat is awesome!!! What do you have for engines and exhaust? Your engine compartment is so nice. How much time do you have in this baby?
I 've been working on quick decision since April, and I'm about burned out with just gettin it to be reliable. Very nice work on the stripes. Did you do the interior your self or did you have it done?
It is all worth it in the end... It is just the rough road in between that gets discouraging...

Get a boat completely done? Ha, that's funny. THEY ARE NEVER DONE.............
THERE ALWAYS SOMETHING ELSE THAT NEEDS DOING.........IT'S A BOAT...........

QD - Sure - here are pics of the side, engine and transom. This is the first year of the 357 (1985). The wood swim platform really dates it and I'd like to replace it with aluminum. I do, however, like the fact that it does not have the silent thunder exhaust. I'm looking for a less expensive alternative to an Extreme Marine tubular swim platform. I may make my own and use the exising brackets. Notice the exhaust and that the swim platform had to be moved up about 3 inches to clear the pipes. Unfortunately, mine is the loudest Formula I have ever come across. I'm just waiting to get pulled over and cited for the noise but it hasn't happened yet. I'd like to quiet it down a bit.

Brent

HEY QUICKDECISION AND FELLAS , FOR MOTORS I HAVE HP 500'S WORKED TO BE 600 TRUE DYNOED HP . THE CAMS AND VALVE TRAIN WERE UPGRADED AND THE MOTORS WERE PUNCHED 40 OVER . MERLIN BRASS PORTED MANIFOLDS AND 1000 CFM DEMON CARBS .THE MOTORS WERE SANDED AND PAINTED AFTER THE MACHINE WORK WAS DONE , AND THE EXHAUST MANIFOLDS WERE SANDBLASTED AND POWDER COATED . THIS WAS THE ORIGINAL MERCRUISER - (GILL ) EXHAUST , AS THIS BOAT WAS A TRS 420 HP BOAT AND THEY CAME STOCK WITH THIS SET UP . I MODIFIED THE SWIM PLATFORM AS DISCUSSED IN THE FORUMS ON HERE ( WHAT A F#$%^&*G DIFFERENCED ! THE SOUND IS MORE FLOWMASTER LIKE NOTHING TOO LOUD ,BUT SWEET TO HEAR WHEN JUMPED ON . I HAVE BEEN WORKING ON THIS BOAT FOR 2 YEARS USUALLY ON WEEKEND ONLY , SO I CAN UNDERSTAND WHERE YOUR COMING FROM WHEN YOU SAY ITS SOMETIMES DISCOURINGING , AND A ROYAL PAIN IN THE ASS AT TIMES ! BUT AS I SAID IN MY SICKO MIND IT'S WORTH IT . TO ME THERE IS NOTHING MORE SATISFYING THEN A JOB FINISHED , AND FINISHED RIGHT ! RIGHT NOW I AM IN THE MIDDLE OF SANDBLASTING AND POWDER COATING AND REBUILDING THE GIMBEL'S AND DRIVES THIS TURNED OUT TO BE A PROJECT FROM HELL . IT WAS NOT EASY TO FIND GIMBEL ASSEMBYLS THAT HAD NO SALT WATER CORROSION , AND IF I DID , NOT TO HAVE TO PAY OUT THE BUTT TO GET THEM . I COULD HAVE EASILY BOUGHT THESE PIECES BRAND NEW FROM MERCRUISER, BUT TRIED TO SAVE MONEY TO USE IN OTHER AREAS OF THE BOAT. AS THE OLD SAYING GOES, YOU EITHER PAY WITH YOUR TIME OR YOUR MONEY, AND AS I PURCHASED MOST OF THESE PIECES OVER THE WINTER WHEN MY BUSINESS IS SLOWER THAN NORMAL, IT WAS MUCH EASIER TO PAY WITH MY TIME THEN MY MONEY. EVERY ONCE IN A WHILE YOU WILL BE ABLE TO FIND A GOOD QUALITY PART ON EBAY, AND I HAVE BEEN STOCKING UP ON THESE THINGS WHILE THEY ARE STILL READILY AVAILABLE. RIGHT NOW THE ONLY PIECE I AM STILL MISSING, WHICH IS OF MAJOR VALUE, IS TWO COMPLETE K-PLANE ASSEMBLIES, AS MINE WERE WORKING, BUT DID HAVE HEAVY SALT WATER CORROSION. AS I STATED BEFORE I WAS ABLE TO FIND CLEAN DRIVES, AND GIMBEL ASSEMBLIES, AND WANTED THE BACK OF THE BOAT TO LOOK BRAND NEW WHEN COMPLETED, AND I DIDN'T WANT TO REUSE THE OLD K-PLANE ASSEMBLIES, WHICH LOOKED LIKE THEY HAD BEEN PUT THROUGH A CHEESE GRATER.
DONT EVER THINK THAT YOUR THE ONLY ONE INVOLVED IN MAJOR HEADACHS AS IM SURE THAT EVERY MEMBER ON HERE COULD TELL YOU THEIR OWN HORROR STORY OF PROBLEM REPAIRS. KEEP YOUR CHIN UP AND YOUR WALLET OPEN, AND THE SUN WILL SHINE. WITH THE ADVICE AND HELP OF THE MEMBERS ON HERE, YOUR JOB IN COMPLETEING YOUR REPAIRS, AND MODIFING YOUR BOAT WILL BE MUCH EASIER ! IF THERE IS ANY WAY I COULD EVER GIVE YOU A HAND, PLEASE SEND AN EMAIL.
[email protected]

How fast she run with that set up?????

Formula Outlaw , Its An 80 + Or - 1 Or 2 Mile An Hour Boat On A Good Day . That Was With The Stock Mirages . I Did Not Have The Opportunity To Experiment With All The Other Props Out There Yet, As I Would Like To See What Hydros And Cleavers Might Be Able To Do For This Boat . By The Way Your Unit Is Very Sharp Looking So Is Bford1's , Cudas , Cmgs And Quickdecisions And I'm Sure A Few Others ! Can You Tell I Like The Look Of The Upper 80's Style Formulas ? The New Ones In My Opinion And I Repeat In My Opinion Have Too Much Nonsense In The Way Of Graphics For My Taste .

"357" I agree with you totally on the graphics on the new Formulas. They are way too "busy" for me. I like the KISS approach.

Cleaver props are pretty much old technology, I'd try the Quad IV's although I doubt if your boat is quite as "a$$ heavy" as our 311's are. Props generally are either, bow lifting, or stern lifting, or neutral. I'd still try some Quad IV's or maybe the new 5 PX's but those babies are expensive. That's still some pretty impressive numbers for that boat. It ain't light and you're not running tremendous power, just good solid power. Congratulations on a job very well done. Russ

F357 - as far as the K-planes go, you could remove them and send them out for sandblasting and new powder coat finish if there's enough material left. Mine were pretty beat, so to fix them up I just decided to sand and paint them as I already have too many projects going on with the boat right now to remove them. Maybe next year...we'll see how the paint holds up.

Here's a newer picture of "Outlaw" docked in the Hyatt Basin with Deb.

I had to downsize the picture from 1275 to 1074 width. Didn't the pictures used to be automatically resized or am I screwing up again. I lost some of the picture.

Click the picture to enlarge and it clears up nicely.