27 Fever Info
 

I am in the market for a used 27 Fever. I have a couple of questions about the boat before I buy one.

Whats the top speed with a normal load of fuel and people with a 502 Mag?

How about with a 500EFI?

What about the 454Mag?

Has anyone out there put a Whipplecharger on a 27 502Mag boat?

How big of a truck do you need to comfortably tow one?

How does this boat handle rough seas. We boat mainly on large shallow lakes, rivers, and the Gulf of Mexico.

How well does the boat plane with a load? A guy in our boatclub had one a while back with a 502 Mag and he had a hard time planing out with a full tank and four people. Is this common for this boat?

I see that all of the boats we have looked at have had the Hydromotive Q4 prop. I know when I put one on my current boat (22 Scarab) it makes it much harder to plane. It shoots the bow high in the air then the boat feels like it has to dig itself out of a hole to come up on to plane. Has anyone tried any other porps on this boat?

Are all the 27's set up for left hand props?

Any other help or questions I should be asking?

Thanks in advance. The knowledge base of this board is simpley awesome.

Ron

Ron,
Mine is a '94 27' Fever originally with the HP465. Basically an HP500. But more HP than the 502 mag's. It had the blower on it when I bought it. The factory test sheet listed it at 71 mph with a 23" Mirage. When I tried it without the blower, I got around 69 out of it. This is with a LH 24" Hydro. Yes, it did take some time to get on plane when I had 4 adults. A buddy has an 2000 w/HP500EFI, all stock that runs around 73-75. This is a stepped hull thou. He also has planing issues with 4 adults.

I would guess a 454 might break the 60 mph mark, but not by much. Way under powered in my opinion. I think it might have some big problems with a boat load of people. Just speculating here.

With my blower, it'll run 83 with a 27" Hydro, and then some with a larger prop. I still am over on the revs by 300rpm currently. It jumps on plane with 1/4-1/3 throttle, even with 6 adults. Blowers are tough to beat.

I used to pull it with a Chevy 4x4 short bed w/350. Powerwise and braking, it wasn't a problem. Wheel base was to short/dangerous. I now have a F250 SD ext cab, short bed. World of difference! Anything with at least a standard lenght wheel base will be fine. 1/2 ton is plenty if thats what you have.

Most of my boating is on small inland lakes, with Cumberland my biggest. I have no problem. Don't know about handeling on the bigger waters, or offshore.

It does seem like 90% of them are LH. Can't answer that. Will say that 27FOUNTAIN tried my LH 24" hydro, he prefered his 23" Mirage(?) RH. I've never tried a RH.

I love my boat! Only thing else I would currently consider is a larger Fountain, but just not too practical for our boating right now. Any other questions, ask away.
Jerry

Thanks for the reply US1. I am worried about the planing issue. Where we boat it seems like there is a no wake zone around every corner. I wonder if its the boat or the Hydro props making the boat hard to plane? Maybe someone else will chime that has run the mirage or the bravo.

I am looking at 502 Mag step bottom boats with low hours. If I can find the right deal then there will be money left over for a Whipplecharger. I think the boat will be perfect for me with about 150 more hp than stock. My boat (22 Scarab 502/502) now pulls a 27" Mirage 5000rpm and thats about where I would like to be eventually with the 27 Fever.

My current tow vehicle is a full size two door short wheelbase Yukon with a 5.7 and the towing package. I feel it will be enough for short hauls to the local river but we tow 4 hours to the coast a few times a year.

Its great to hear that more hp takes care of the planing problem. Id be interested to here what other options there is to take care of this problem like longer K planes, different props, or such. I have had a boat that was hard to plane and it was a real pain.

There are a couple of people on the board with 27's for sale. Where are you guys. I want to pick your brains about the boats and maybe buy one.

Ron

Ron..I had a 27 with a 500 H.P, it was a 1998. Same planing issue's, It also ran a Hydromotive prop. The Bravo 1 planes off better , but you sacrifice a few miles per hour on the top end. I have owned a 27, a 32, and currently a 35. I think if I was to do it again, I would have bought a 29 single. More interior room, rides better, not any different to tow, a few hundred pounds more. And believe it or not runs as fast as the 27! The engine room is a little larger so when the time comes that you may want a Whipple or Procharger, more room to work. I think that their was a thread about the rear seat being in the way when installing the crank pully for the blower. My 27 the engine was very close to the back of the rear seat. Maybe a little more money than the 27, but I think you may be happier in the long run.

blower clearance
 

This is the mods that was needed to my rear seat for the blower pulley. There was a 1/4" interference. SOOOO close. But it ain't horseshoes!

I'm towing with a 4 door Tahoe, plenty of power, but the wheel base is just a tad short. The only place you notice is on the highway, a little twitchy. I'm running a right hand 23 Revolution 4 by Merc. Was a left originally, the only difference was at slow speeds it would lean slighly to the right with the LH prop and vice versa with the RH prop. I too have the BM 250 blower, love it, these boat (need?)like the increased power all around.

Thanks beak,

A 29 would be great but they are so much more than the 27's. They are out of our price range.

So a 27 with an hp500 still has the planing problems but supercharged it does not.

I guess I still want a low hour 502 Mag boat and then supercharge it. Im going to email Dustin Whipple to see what he has to say about the 27 Fever.

Anyone have a stock 502Mag 27 Fever out there? What does it run top speed and please include prop pitch and type and rpm.


Ron

I have a friend with a 94' 27 Fever w/efi 502 mag,24 mach sterndriver, completely stock. Runs 66 on its best day, 64 with a load. It may be for sale,low hours,garage kept its entire life. Let me know if your interested, I'll get you the number. Charles

27 Fountain, I am interested if the boat is for sale.

Ron
[email protected]

Thanks FeverMike, Your boat would be perfect for us but its out of our price range. Maybe I'll buy some powerball tickets tomorrow ha ha. But if I win that opens up new possibilities!

I have heard that the 29 was faster then the 27 with equal power but they seem to be about 15-20K more. I am still looking at the 29's though.

Ron

Hey Guys and Gals (if Jana stops by)

Thanks for helping Ron out, I think there is a lot of good honest advice going around!

Remeber the 95's and newer are step boats and the older 502's have no more HP than my 454 390 VS 385 so if my boat is underpowered at 385 with a step hull then the 94 and older non step 390hp 502's must be dogs. I say that in all jest because I know my boat is a mid 60's boat anyday with 2 people and never has run less then 62 with 4 normal adults even at 90+ degrees and 1800 MSL, it's been to 67.8 on my Garmin e-traks gps with me and 15 gal of fuel on a mid 70's day. The king himself has the test sheet at 67+ gold chains and all! :D

Also Ron, if you are interested, and I do want to sell my boat, but Kieth at Riverview has a pretty clean 32 with twin 502's for $50K that I really considered buying. It has hydraulic steering, it's on boat trader and he says it runs low 70's. If you call him tell him I sent you, he is great to deal with.

Mike

dallasboats.com,

check your email.

Ron
[email protected]

rjcardinal, excellent choice on the Fountain. I purchased a new 2002 27' last July with the new 425hp 496 mag H.O....LOVE IT! It has the Bravo I 26 RH pitch prop turning 5100 rpm. I do not really notice a huge problem jumping on plane. Lower the tabs, tuck the drive and nail it. I must admit, it is a little slow out of the hole but nothing terrible. Once it catches though it's off to the races. I had it out last weekend with a FULL tank (60gal...burning off the winter's full tank) and five adults and was still seing about 65mph (bone stock). Test report from Fountain says 68.5 and it is pretty close under normal circumstances.

I tow with a F-150 Spercrew with the 5.4 engine and have no problems. Boat weighs in a 5500 lbs dry. However, I am selling jsut to go to the diesel for longer tows.

BTW, if you can find it in your means to get one with the new 496, I highly recommend it. With the closed cooling system, winterization is beautifully simple and do it yourself.

Good luck! :D :D :D

Thanks for the encouragement teckersley, like I need any. I have been wanting a 27 Fever for a long time now.

Your numbers are the best I have heard on the boat yet. If you are pulling a 26" prop to 5100 you are going low to mid 70's! Even the boats with the HP500EFI have trouble matching that.

The good thing about this boat is there are plenty for sale. I will narrow down the feild soon and go and look at some boats. The money is there I just need to find the right deal.

We are looking at used boats so I dont think the 496 will be an option for us. I have been looking at 95 and up 502EFI boats with low hours because I plan to add a Whipplecharger as soon as possible. With 150 or so more horses the boat ought to fly and plane with any load.

I havent ruled out the possibility of a higher hour 454Mag or 502Mag boat. If the deal is right I should have enough money left to freshen the motor and add the supercharger.

Thanks for the reply,

Ron

rjcardnial-
I have a 93 27 fever with a 502 mag carb motor. Bone stock except for a k&N filter and initial timimg set at 12. The boat runs
67-68 on the speedo and 64-65 on GPS with a labbed 23 mirage at 5200rpm. Test report done by Reggie himself was 65.5 mph (I assume that in 93 they went by the speedo) at 4900rpm with the stock 23 mirage. Getting out of hole is really slow unless you put tabs fully down and drive fully in.

I also have a 24 4 blade spinelli that really gets the boat out of the hole fast. I loose about 2 mph on the top end but with higher speeds at lower rpm throughout the rpm range. Top rpm with the spinelli is 4800. At some point I will be upgrading the motor and using the 24 spinelli should be at 5200 rpm that will put me at
70+ mph.

Powerguy,
Fountain does their tests in salt water. That is worth a couple of MPH. My original report came showing 72 @ 6000 rpm.:eek: In factory configuration the best I could do was 70. My Speedo now shows 76 and the GPS shows 72.2. I need more power!
Dan

rj- mine's a '99 27' 502 mpi. You'll see 70 mph on the gaffrig w/2 people, 20-30 gals. fuel, light chop, and trimmed out.

I boat on the Chain 'O Lakes and we've got infinite no wake zones to washing machine chop. With 4-5 adults on board, it's a dog getting on plane. I'd like to whipple it but the economy sucks right now.

I've heard it's a different boat with a whipple though.

You'll like the handling and you'll never get wet when plowing through the heavy stuff.

Recommend hp 500 efi or 502 w/ whipple.

Thanks Powerguy and Breathe Later,

The speeds you gave with the props mentioned are what I expected.

I have emailed about a dozen people with 27's for sale. Im just waiting to hear back from them now.

Thanks

Ron

rjcardinal - I know that "I want a Fountain" feeling well.
I wouldn't rule out the 29 just becuase of price. I thought it was out of my range too, until a fresh-water beauty with HP500 came along for only a little more than I wanted to pay for a a 27. Keep your eyes open, and you too could find the deal of a lifetime. No personal experience with the 27, so I can't compare, but the 29 is awesome.

Wow Allot of responces on this, well here is my take, My old boat 1998 27 Fever w 502mpi 415hp. Great boat, ran strong top end 71mph on good conditions.

New boat 2001 27 Fever purchased new, w 500efi, rh drive, running 26 Hydro Radar 74-75 depending on temp, and water. Just a comment on the 29 Fever running faster than 27 w same power??? Nice rumor However I have run 2 29 fevers 1 w 500 carb and other 500efi, and I passed both of them. Same speed?? maybe, never faster.

On the comment of planning off, I have problems planning off with more than 6 people and full of gas, its just slow. with 10 people its nasty, but she still gets up. I am actually considering buying a less pitch prop just for weekends when I know I will have allot of people on the boat.

On towing, Chevy Tahoe, pulls good, Chevy Suburban Pulls great.

I think the perfect set up would be a 29 500efi w/ whipple, 27 gets hairy over 73 and does chine walk, just need to watch it.

WILL:p

Hey Jana, glad you chimed in!

Thanks for the encouragement. We are still looking at the 29's. However I haven't found one priced right for me yet. They seem to be 15-20K more for the same age boat. If you dont mind me asking, (you may email the numbers if you dont want it discussed on the board), how much did you pay for your 29. What year, hours, general condition, and options were on the boat.

27Fountain,

Good to hear from you. Wow, planing with 10 people on board! Maybe I'm worried too much about the planing issue. If the boat will plane at all with 10 people then its got to be acceptable with 4! So the 27 will chine walk at high speeds. I'll bet its nothing compared to my current boat (22 Scarab with a 502/502). It moves around pretty good above 75mph.

Still no return emails from the messages I sent this weekend. I guess I'll have to call these people on the phone.

Ron

It is not a bad chine walk, just drop the tabs a little and it goes away. Just need to be ready for it.( this is when the boat is maxed WOT no tabs, trimmed to 5.3) Also a trick on planning off, I don't know why but, if I turn a little to the left while planning off she pops up faster.

When planning off with 10 people, I put the a couple of the biggest people in the cabin, that helps allot.:D

WILL

I have a 29 with HP500EFI but I wanted to add to the planing issues.

It planes a little slow normally but I just tuck the drive and drop the tabs .... as it comes up on plane I raise the tabs and drive and throttle back keeping it at about 3k rpm the whole time ... probably about 5-8 seconds to plane with three people on board.

I have had 6-8 people on board and it takes a bit longer but it still get's up ...

27Fountain mentions turning left to help ... One trick is to turn the boat back and forth a little ... this helps to break the drag of the water on the hull. I used to do this in my 15' Sea Swirl (don't laugh we all have to start somewhere!) when I had a bunch of people on it.

If you are worried about it just put a smaller prop on her ... you will only lose a couple mph ....

I think Fever Mike did a bunch of prop tests with his 29 last year.

RAYMONDS has 3 29's. One 1992 single, two with twin 502's, a 1993 and a 1994. The twins do not have hydraulic steering, that would be a must add! Believe the prices quoted are much cheaper on there adds on Boattrader Online. I have wathced these boats for at least a year, they have got to be ready to deal. Just a little info, good luck on your search.

Jan

http://www.raymondsboats.com/3441.htm


http://www.raymondsboats.com/3510.htm

http://www.raymondsboats.com/3708.htm

rjcardinal - Check your e-mail!

Rjcardinal,

Just a thought, but you stated you have a Scarab w/ a 502/502 I am assuming you built it to 502hp? If so, get a great deal on a 27 Fountain w a 454 and swap the motors., and add your whipple/blower, you will be screaming. All Fountains (newer) I know of came std w/ hydrp steering, and bravo 1s. Motor swap should be less than $1000 for both boats

Just an idea?
WILL;)

27Fountain,

The 502 in my boat is a carb motor. If the fuel injection system is the same for a 454Mag and a 502Mag I could make the swap. I would probably need to recam the 502 as it is a bit lopey at idle and might give the stock EFI system a problem. I think the 502 is going to help my boat sell faster and will probably leave it in there. I want an EFI motor for my new boat because I feel it will be more drivable when supercharged than a carb motor. I have read numerous post from Dustin Whipple and feel he has the best system out there. I feel I can install his system and have a turnkey boat with little tweeking. I have had problems making a procharged carb motor run right with a friend.

Is the EFI system the same for the 454 and 502 Mags?

Im not scared of a little work and do all my mechanic work myself anyway.

Ron

27 FOUNTAIN
 

Ron,
I know of a 1997 27 ft Fountain With a 500 hp and a B&M Blower that puts out 685hp with 5lbs of boost. The boat runs in the low 80(82to 83 mph) It is absolutly spotless with maybe 70 hrs on it for $69,000.00 Its red and white with white interior,Indy Graphics.
Let me know if you are interested...
Paul Perzyk
586-986-7321wk
586-949-3307 hm
[email protected] email address

I really need help useing this reply system....
[email protected]

Paul I've heard that your boat is a real dog and can't even beat that red one on St. Clair.

It's not mine Davey... It's Wards 27

Hey Paul,

Thanks for the reply. I assume if the boat has a B&M250 on it that its a carb motor. I am trying to stay away from a carbed supercharged motor.

Thanks anyway

Ron

Okeey Dokey Ron,
I had a 27 Fountain and loved it, but you will soon want a larger one... I have a 32 now and it is for sale now because I want a new 35.... It probably never ends....Happy boating!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Paul

Ron,

We have a 2000 27' Fever II with a 502 MPI and a low boost Whipple application. For reliability we studded the block, added 8:1 blower pistons, HP 500 cam, lifters and springs, plus Dart Pro 1 aluminum cylinder heads. Dyno horsepower was near 700. Boat runs 80-81 GPS with a Hydromotive 28 pitch prop around 5,400 RPM. We ended up with this combo after consistently blowing cylinder head gaskets with higher boost, stock pistons and the Mercruiser steel heads. Whipple was very helpful and supportive. We have chased away all the gremlins and it is smooth, as well as fast. Love the boat. If we don't head to Factory 1 we plan on going to a 1' shorter IMCO Extreme drive, add some boost, try the new 5 blade Hydromotive prop and see if we can go to mid 80's plus. I would highly recommend a Fountain 27' or 29'. Drop me an email sometime. [email protected]

Scott,
I find your results interesting.

You are running a 2000 stepped hull, 28" hydro, 5400rpm @ 80-81 mph by GPS.

I am running a 1994 non stepped hull, 27" hydro, also 5400 rpm, but run 83 mph by GPS. (1.5 ratio)

Your a Geist guy, right?
Jerry

Jerry,

You are right. Doesn't seem to make sense. I will double check my pitch. Maybe I have a 27 instead of a 28. I will check it out on Monday or Tuesday. We have been focused on making this set up live. Have not been doing any prop tweaking. So far we have only been boating on Geist for convenience. Looking forward to getting together and trying some new water and locations. Should be fun. BTW... Met another guy with a 27 this summer with a slightly different supercharger set up. He was running mid eighties like you. Runs a speed shop north of Indy. Nice guy, beautiful boat.

Scott

Scott, did that boat also have the US1 graphics? Same as mine, but with a windsheild. There's a guy that owns a speed shop in Kokomo, Lowes Speed Shop, that has this boat. Name is Randy Lowe, he did some work for me last year. He built his own motor, was running a B&M 250, but was talking about replacing the carbs for an injection setup.

Jerry,

That's the guy. Seemed to know his stuff.

Scott

Scott & Jerry,

With the numbers you all are talking about, are you using stock Bravo? or upgraded? I am running a 500efi XZ and lost a drive last summer only 50hrs. I am spinning a Hydro 26 at 5250-5300 radar 74-75 pending conditions. I bet you Fountains are a blast w/ the blowers.:p

WILL

Stock Bravo still in one peice, (crossing fingers). I don't nail out of the hole or fly it. Blowers, either... :D or :confused: