29 with 850hp?
 

anyone ever have 850hp in a stepped single 29? how did it run?

Re: 29 with 850hp?
 

Pour some gas on a rabbits azz and light it... :D

Re: 29 with 850hp?
 

yep.............. :cool:

95mph my guess

Re: 29 with 850hp?
 

somewhere in the mid to upper 90's and it will be a handfull! I had a 598ci merlin with roughly 750hp and it would run a SOLID 90!

Re: 29 with 850hp?
 

There is a older 29 here in texas with 2 850's! Not many people have had the need to push it. What year 29 for the single?

Re: 29 with 850hp?
 

its a 2003. Iam looking for mid 90's to 100. I think around 850hp with a sportmaster and 5 blade, 1/4 tank gas might do it. I have a 525 efi in it now and trying to decide on going with a whipple or just building a motor with a little more punch than the whipple would give me. This way I can keep the 525 for a spare.

Re: 29 with 850hp?
 

I'm running a 1997 single engine with 750 HP and run 90.

Re: 29 with 850hp?
 

I like the idea of keeping the 525 for the spare, some day you will really want it.

Re: 29 with 850hp?
 

Guy local in the cleveland area is running a 29 with a 540 block all custom built by Gellner Engineering

Re: 29 with 850hp?
 

Great question,i met a guy this weekend on higgins lake who had a 29 single(a 97),I absolutely love how much room there is in engine compt!! I have a motor in my boat that made just shy of 950 hp on pump gas w/cmi elbow tops on dyno. The motor is in a 2000 272 baja,I'm seeing low 90's with it,probably will see mid 90's with perfect prop. After looking at this 29 fountain I'm considering buying one with a single,putting my motor in it,setting the stock motor in the corner of garage for resale.I looked up the 29 fountains on a internet search and they seem to go 10-15 mph faster than my boat with equal power(my 272 baja ran 76 mph w/630 hp before,85 mph w/750 hp) How fast should a 29 fountain stepped hull run with 950 hp propped perfect and set-up good? Thanks,Smitty

Re: 29 with 850hp?
 

i owned a 29 fountain, i think you would be very pleased with the boat. tom

Re: 29 with 850hp?
 

i had 1000 hp in my 98 single step single engine i couldnt keep drives on he danm thing broke three drives last drive i broke was a imco SC so took motor out should of ran 103-106 mph so good luck

Re: 29 with 850hp?
 

Iam thinking 1000hp and an arneson drive

Re: 29 with 850hp?
 

Why would anyone pi$$ away $$$$$$$ on a 1000hp and an arneson drive in a 29 Fountain... You'll blow drives and run out of hull real quick... Take that boat and all of those $$$$$
and put them towards a boat that is meant to run in the
90's-100mph................
A Skater, an Activator etc. etc. or buy yourself a 38 with staggered motors that will run safe and fast in most conditions....

I own a 29 with a 525 and she is a great boat for what she is. An extra 100hp would spice her up a bit, but beyond that you are looking for trouble....

Good Luck....

Re: 29 with 850hp?
 

I agree..... wrong hull. I have an 04 with 525.... THe thought of 1000 hp in it seems like a waste. Good Luck....

Re: 29 with 850hp?
 

Exactly... Out of water line.....

Re: 29 with 850hp?
 

I love the boat but have become bored with it. The lake I spend my time on doesn't get rough, so a bigger boat would be very boring. Kind of like driving around a cabin cruiser all day. AS far as putting the money into the boat, yes I never would get it back out of it but I would enjoy building it and having something different.

Re: 29 with 850hp?
 

I have a 29 with twin 502's. It's a great boat and will run about 75 or 76 with the right load. I dont think it would be safe to drive much faster. If you caught a wave just wrong at the kind of speed your talking about you could be heading for disaster. Not to mention a bravo wont support that kind of power and live very long.

Have fun but be safe!

Re: 29 with 850hp?
 

Boy I hear you and really understand. I think you can get to 85 and be ok - more than would be out of my comfort zone. I love my 29 too, and also want more speed. I just know how it feels at 76 - 78 when it hits certain water. I have heard keeping the bow up (5 blade prop rounded tips) helps and that you can power through the funk and be ok until the mid to upper 80's. But you need to remember that this hull gets ugly beyond that.

Make sure your lake is not too small for the speed you want to do - given it's too small for a longer hull. Maybe you want a Skater?? I ask myself that alot....

Re: 29 with 850hp?
 

I'm running a 950 hp motor in a 272 baja already and was thinking a 29 ft fountain would be a much sturdier safer boat plus the extra room in engine compt is like a dream compared to what i'm used to.I cruise in my boat at 55- 60 mph with the occasional burst into the low 90's. Are you guys saying a single engine activator would be a superior hull?I was thinking about upgrading to a 35-38 ft boat but buying a bigger boat AND building a second motor identical to mine to use in it would really stretch my finances. after looking at a 29 ft fountain i started thinking i might get one and put my motor and drive on it,return my 272 as close to stock as possible and peddle it,Smitty

Re: 29 with 850hp?
 

I think it depends on what you want to do. A buddy of mine had a 24 ft Baja with an 850 hp that could run 92. He upgraded to a 29 Fountain with a 525 in it and now runs under 80 without any problems, and the cost associated with running a blower motor. The boat cruises at 65 - 70 endlessly. I think while you can run a 29 Foutain at those speeds it needs to be in perfect conditions. I own the same boat, and frankly am disappointed with how it behaves flat out in wakes, cross chop and under currents. It also does not handle the rough stuff as well as an Activator. But it also does not need the power an Activator needs to run at speed. All these hulls are a compromise, pick your poisen and savor the treats...

Re: 29 with 850hp?
 

I guess i was under the impression the 29 ft fountain hull would handle the 80 plus speeds far superior to what i have now,your complaints are the same ones i have with my current boat. The thought of picking up a 3-6 year old 29 fountain for 60-70 thousand during the off season,pulling the stock motor and drive,dropping my motor and drive in and being able to run just about a hundred without boat getting squirelly and out of control was enticing. Im glad to get some feedback here on the idea, I guess the pure and simple facts are its still a little boat that wasn't intended to run much above 80 mph,Smitty

Re: 29 with 850hp?
 

Remember a 29 Fountain has about the same water line as your boat. A stepped hull gets you more mph with less ponies. I am sure that different drive setups, props and tabs can help. Just seems to me that you would be better served with a different hull..... Wish it wasn't true. I just bought mine in the fall of 03. Several people told me to go with at least the 35. The dollars didn't work for me so I bought the 29. Now I am smarter and about to blow a lot of cash to undo the deed. I am thunking about the 38 Fountain (I am on the water and a 42 does not work in my canel etc.), the new ZR Donzi )35 or 38) or maybe a Skater. Very confused and not wanting to make another mistake........ Good luck, Steve

Re: 29 with 850hp?
 

Thanks for the words of wisdom,Smitty

Re: 29 with 850hp?
 

Smitty..........I have a 94 29' non stepped hull........I have twin 502 Mags EFI.....I have seen low 80's and the boat eats up the chop. Depending on the conditions the boat could definitely handle more speed in my opinion. I have yet to be scared out there. I boat on Lake St.Clair... it gets nasty out there sometimes and there have only been a handful of days when I wouldn't open it up. Just my 2cents!

Re: 29 with 850hp?
 

Dago- is that low 80s GPS???

Re: 29 with 850hp?
 

yes I had it to 82 on the GPS........I just got a new 502 installed........had it out alone with about a quarter tank and hit 82......I was amazed actually......but I've had nothing but problems and frankly I'm getting ready to pack it in. It's my fault for buying an 11 year old boat without doing all my homework but it's one thing after another now.....see my other thread "big problems" amazing!

Re: 29 with 850hp?
 

I find 82 with twin 502's on a non step 29 a stretch at best. Are these motors stock? A new stepped 29 with 6.2's hits 72 - 74.....

Re: 29 with 850hp?
 

First of all what does that prove? Twin 6.2's....hell if they do 74 you better bet if they made a 29' with Twin 502's and a stepped hull still it would run 90 probably. I have no reason to lie......80 is nothing around here!

Well as far as I know it's totally stock, (they're EFI not MPI if that makes any difference)...........I bought the boat used...........I had it up to 78mph before the new engine install and don't think I had it trimmed right at the time(and that was with an engine that was definitely not running right at the time, obviously it blew up that week)...as a matter of fact when I got the boat I felt that the engine that eventually blew up was running badly....not idling right...always at higher RPM than the other one......I was on here asking people if they knew anyone who could dial in the motors. Now with the new engine I can definitely feel a power difference....especially when taking off and midrange too. The engines seem really dialed in, running at identical RPMS so I would say that aside from my other problems with the batteries the engines are running great. Unless my GPS is wrong....(is that even possible?) I was at 81.7mph (ok I rounded up a little) and I had to back off with some waves in front of me.........I was by myself and not very much gas......I was just happy to get it over the 79.9 hump and see an 80.........

Re: 29 with 850hp?
 

so if I hop up my twin smallblocks on my 29 non step to 400 aside (doable).......... I'll be in the 80mph range :evilb:
and I'll be 300lbs lighter....even more with pitching the cast iron exhaust :eek:
Id be happy with that..........doug

Re: 29 with 850hp?
 

As a matter of fact..........out of the box from the Factory I have the original factory test run numbers on paper (i'll fax it over if you want to see for yourself).........they have it running 80 from day one!

Re: 29 with 850hp?
 

I just read your tale on another thread. Glad to see things are looking up for you. Nothing sucks more than a blown engine on a new (to you) boat.
I assumed, maybe my bad, that you were talking about 502 mpi making 415 hp. For reasons I can't explain, I thought the 6.2's made 375, not the 320 they do make. Now it makes sense to me, thanks.

Re: 29 with 850hp?
 

My 93 29, twin 502 MPI's ran 74.9 gps with 4 large people and about 100 gallons of gas so I suppose with a light load it would run 80 but my wife starts getting on me before I get there. One time we caught a roller from the side that gave us a bit of a scare so they can get out of hand at high speed. I'm not sure that squeezing that last mph out of any boat is worth the risk. After all, how much time do you spend running at those speeds? Not to mention the extra fuel.
Anyway I just hate to hear about people getting hurt or worse doing something they love.

Jerry.

Re: 29 with 850hp?
 

I agree.......doing 80 for a few seconds in a smaller boat isn't the same as doing 80 in a 42 FT.........big difference.....and much safer!

Re: 29 with 850hp?
 

Dago,
What props are you running? Drive Ratio?
Thanks,
Allen

Re: 29 with 850hp?
 

and 6 times the money :(

Re: 29 with 850hp?
 

And you would know Tom!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Re: 29 with 850hp?
 

I had a 91 29 with 525SC'S, The boat ran 84 on gps and was fine once you got it up there, the fun part was the midrange chine walk on smooth water. Rough it was not as bad. DO WHAT EVER FLOATS YOUR BOAT.

Re: 29 with 850hp?
 

I had a 97' 27' with 780hp. Not enough hull on the boat.It ran 92 or "G". it would take the needle down to the G in Gafgig. If i had to do it again I probably would...but I had alot of problems with drives...stress cracks on the boat...there just not made for that kind of ponies