2" Shorties on 35 lightning
 

I have a 1999 35 lightning and thinking of putting 2" lowers on my bravo's but wandering if the ride and attitude of the boat will be effected or will it pretty much keep it the same but give me a better top end. Have Carb. hp500's.

you should see 2-4 mph gain, can be a little tricky to get on plane w/4 blades, attitude of the boat will not change much, do a search on this subject.. it has been done by a few members including myself:cool:
looking back, not sure if I would do it again, my .02, I would spent the $$ in other places

Been there done that with my 99, not worth the money IMO, factor in the combined cost of the shorties plus a custom pair of five blades to get maybe 2-3 mph? Spend your money making more power!

I disagee with about the custom props. We have one here in town (99 single step excutioner look called lightning in 99) with 2 shorties and is running 4 blade off the shelve props that comes up just fine. Also with his setup he picked up 8MPH.
Allen

Good to hear it worked for someone, sure didn't for me!

8 real MPH, I highly doubt it, My '99 35 Single step 35 went from 81-82 to 84-85 with -2 lowers

Save your money put it towards pro charger or whipples& gain a real 8-10 mph!

After the blower install, the boat ran 93 to 94 mph. Then installed the shorties-boat ran 102. It's not just the installation- it's how the boat is set up, propped, and tuned. This is how I make my living and it can be done- just ask 29scarab10 what he gained off a set of shorties and props.

Couple of things and everyone remember I am not picking on anyone or trying to start a fight just stating what has been posted here (in this post and others)

Ran-Dom 32 appears to have bought his drives in late 2008 and then got a cat in early 2009, I highly doubt he did anything other than bolt his drives on and put his existing props on and go run the boat. I am implying not much testing of props due to new boat.

Indy 27 already had nose cones on his drives (this would help). He put shorties on tried one set of propellers and then sold lowers and props. See his post dated 9-22-08. I am again implying not much testing.

Paradise Island appears to have a non stepped boat being a 1990 and it appears also that he may have had something to do with a newer staggered 35 with 525 that ran 103 MPH with 6 people in the boat that already had shorties on it (speedmasters)

What I am trying to show above is they just bolted something together and expected it to work. They have not done extensive testing.

Now on to Economics 101
You should be able to buy housing and shaft and use your existing gears and have some put together for around $4500.00 for the pair. using a 4 mph gain as suggested above results in $1125.00/MPH
You should be able to buy new 2 shorties complete for $7000.00 for the pair which would result in a cost of $1750.00/MPH
remember this is using 4 MPH gain if you gain 6 or 8 mph this cost considerable less.

Someone is going to say that I have not figured in the cost of props and the reason I have done this because if you change to say supercharged engines you will occur the same expense.

Know you can supercharge your engines. To buy new supercharges and due upgrades necessary to make it live (head gaskets and fuel system) you are looking at spending $30,000+ (this is including labor as most cannot put on a supercharger themselves). Most say the have seen 12 - 15 mph increase on 35 fountains. Using 15 mph this is a cost of $2,000.00/ MPH.


So speedchangesyou if you are determined to make your faster you need to determine your goals and you budget. If you are looking for a couple of mph the shorties should do it for you. If you are looking for between 12 and 15 mph supercharges should do it (as long as you do not intend to run over 100 mph). If you are interested in running over 100 it will take both to get you there.

Thanks Guys for all the advice it has really been helpful. I probably will put the money to better use. I love this site and all you Fountain Diehards. Speed