2007 35 Lightning w 496HOs
 

Inquiring about a 2007 35 Lightning w 496HOs. The boat is advertised by Bald Knob Marina, told it's a one owner boat, appears to have headers which came with the boat from Fountain. Was this (headers) a Fountain option? Does anyone know this boat?
http://www.boattrader.com/listing/20...tning-99118215
Thanks

Might have been a special request by the buyer, never heard of it being on the factory option list.

Have an '06 with 525's that I would part with for less money.

I would say they were added latter,also new seen blue engine covers.I looks like a nice install though.

My friend and I met a guy from that area of Illinois at the 2008 or 2009 Miami boat show Poker Run Party (don't remember the exact year anymore) that had a staggard 35 Lightning built with 496 HO's and had Fountain do a lot of extras at the factory. I specifically remember him saying he had headers and, I think, Hering props put on at the factory. (I remembered him talking about the boat because I thought that was rather odd to put all that stuff on a 496 instead of just getting the 525's). He said he had never even been in one of the 35 staggard's. He just liked what he saw in the literature, called Fountain, spec-ed out what he wanted, and had it delivered to his lake house somewhere in the upper mid-west when it was finished. I remember that he said that he didn't like the drop out bolster seats in the back - there was no storage under them. If I remember correctly, his name was something like Brian or Brad Heatley or Headley or something like that and that his family owned some company that made industrial paint (Seymour Paints ??), and he had a bunch of boats, including a huge cruiser/yacht with a full staff which was parked at the Miami show ... Seemed to be a nice person... might be that boat !!

Ragged Edge, I sent you a pm.

bob t, you could be right. I've been speaking with the dealer and was told the owner wants to trade it on a new leftover 2008 Formula 353 at Bald Knob Marina. Apparently the owner used to have a Formula 383, bought the Fountain and his wife hates it because it's not as smooth as the 383. btw, what would be a reasonable price for this boat? The dealer is motivated to work a deal because he will be able to move his Formula. Thanks again for your advise.

Offer 124k,Guy should have keep the Fountain got rid of wife:lolhit:

That seems to be alot of money for the boat. You could maybe get a 42 with 525's for 150k 2007.

:rolleyes:The price is in line with the market!Nice boat with staggered but chizzle him down on that price and I think it's a good deal!:drink:

You sure can...http://www.teamshogren.com/pre-owned...ecutioner.html

For some reason the 35's staggards all seem high when compared to the 42's.

I have noticed this and the only thing I can think is that when you move up to a 42, you have to move up on a lot of things.

10K lift won't work for a 42.

3/4 truck can't safely pull a 42,

Drives will break quicker,

I don't know just guessing, if I were doing it and had the truck the 42 would seem the way to go. I just wonder about the drives.

How much of a premium/discount would be reasonable between a 525 / 496 package on the 35, everything else being the same. I've seen 525 equipped 35 Lightnings offered around $150k, so how much should be discounted for the 496 if any?

Recieved and back at you! Forgot to note in the PM that the boat is in a boathouse in Alexandria Bay. Check your PM's and give me a call.

FYI, there is no comparison between the 35 Lightning and a Formula 353. Been in both, hands down to the Fountain! Guys wifey must be a blonde. :drink:

Nice Boat
 

This is the way we ordered the boat for the customer back in 2006, it has been like this since new. Ran low 90's light load, high 80's with load.

Regards,

Team Shogren

Called the owner - the boat now has XR lowers vs the -2 shorties and he said it runs 75 mph with a full load and about 80 with light fuel and just the driver on board.

Sharp looking boat but it is way underpowered.

Sounds like it needs to be looked at.
 

If you spoke with Chris? the owner of the boat someone should look at it if purchasing as the speeds are way off from when it was new. The full stagger 525 boats will run 102 and this one ran high 80's with load when we delivered. The older side by side 500EFI boats run 88 and with the CMI headers on this stagger the HP is not to far off of a 500EFIHP.

We still have performance report if someone here buys and needs it.

Regards,

Team Shogren

80+ mph w 496s in a 35 - can't argue with the value here, however will there be any problems with these headers vs standard manifolds for the 496s? I've read some horror stories of the CMI headers leaking and damaging 525s. I like what I'm hearing about this boat but want to get a realistic idea of what it will cost down the road. Thank you TeamShogren for the info. btw I saw one of your 2008 35Lightnings in Georgian Bay (Ontario Canada) yesterday - nice boat.

496 With CMI
 

I feel the header problem has been made out be worst than it actually was/is because of the way problems may have been addressed to the consumer by the mfg. Honestly, in freshwater boats, we have seen so few problems and most of the problems we did see were in 2005 and early 2006 model years. The headers on this boat were installed in 2006 and have not been a problem to date.

This is actually a very cool boat but if it only runs 75MPH there is a problem or it's in Guardian Mode.

Have a great weekend.

Team Shogren

Scott,

Why do u think that 42's can be bought for close to the same price?

I don't think so. If she would run 75 in GM, she should be good for much more than 90 at max RPM!

The owner said that when the boat was new it came from the factory with -2 shorties and would run 85 MPH under idea conditions - 80ish with a full load. For some reason the guy just doesn't care about top end so he replaced the -2's with standard length XR's and the boat lost 5 mph. He said it now runs 80ish on fumes in cool weather and 75 under normal conditions with a load.

35 with 496's
 

Marginmn,

Thank you for info, nice boat for someone and being the way Chris is he takes care of his stuff. I need a set of shorties (I think they may be a different gear ratio than the standard 1.50 lower) so I will give him a call this week to see if he still has.

Surprised they shaved off that much speed but 80ish in his water is not a surprise as the chain water has alot of dirt turned up in it from being shallow which gets warm early and creates friction on hull. I think the boat in good clean water should still run low 80's all day with standard lowers.

Have a great weekend.

Regards

I find your take on this more believable. Have a real hard time believing that a 496 boat, staggered or not, will run into the 90's.

Yea that's what the guy who owns the boat told me. I don't know why he would want to underestimate the speed of a boat he is trying to sell.

Still a very nice boat if you can buy it right and swap power.

This boat is back on the market and I'm thinking about going out to look at it when it arrives at Shogren. I am moving up from an Advatage 25 Citation and I def want an 07 or 08 35 Lightning. I've read a lot of threads about how great the handling and speed of the full stagger 35's are. (I boat with two other Fountains - a 2005 38 Lighting with 525's and a 2007 42 Lightning with 600 SCI's so I'm somewhat familiar with them.) I know this one has been altered (headers, lowers, etc) in an effort to appease the former owners. I agree as others have stated it is underpowered but I have a plan that could fix that.

Really, I'm more interested in a 525 powered Lightning but if the price and condition of this one are right, it has a good enough platform to build off of. If I can work a deal I see 2 phases. One - this winter - bring the drives back to factory spec with SSM lowers and a set of props favoring time to plane/mid range. (I'm fine giving up a few on top for overall performance.) Two - next winter - build up the 496's with Raylar forged stroker kits and reprop again favoring time to plane/mid range.

My biggest concern has to do with the drivability and reliability of drives and props. I've read several threads here (and a bit of experience with the 42) on how the full staggered Lightnings can be a handful to get on plane (worst in rough water) and can be problematic in regards to breaking prop shafts, throwing prop blades and overall just hard on drives. I'm by no means wealthy but also not afraid of the potential costs of some of the aforementioned drive pitfalls. That is just performance boating -,but being a Mn boater our season is short and down time due to component failure is hard to swallow.

Thoughts? Also - anyone know or recommend a good prop set up that is fairly drive friendly and fairly reliable? Maximus? Hering? 5,6,7 blade? Thanks.

Here's a 2008 35 Fountain staggered 496ho's... $99K

http://www.nationalpowerboat.com/35-fountain--2008.htm

There's also a nice 2007 35 Staggered 525's here in the classifieds for only $129K no pics in ad.
I emailed the seller, and the boat seems like a decent buy.
I'm looking for a 2007-2009 35-38 with 600 sci's and ITS.

Thanks for the leads Teddy G. Spoke with Billy today on the 2008 with 496's. Nice guy and he sent me several pics. Nice Fountain but has 2 deal breakers for me - it's a salt water boat and the paint is identical to my buddy's 42. Still waiting on a reply on the 2007 with 525's.

http://1drv.ms/1O9nYC8

If your able to access this is the link that the owner of that 2007 35 sent me.

Looks like a great boat. I have called twice and also texted him but he is not replying at all Guessing he sold it already?

From what I've read the 4 blade bravo's and 5 blade maximus props are the way to go if you want to plane easily. Durability of the propshafts I'm guessing might be better. Also if you're in rough water they are more likely to break. Looks like going with the Imco SCX drive is the way to go for durability but they are expensive.
The 6 blade Herrings are difficult to plane, but give you the big top end ##.
If you get the IMCO SCX-4 looks like you can get the bigger prop shafts, and run cleavers, which are designed to surface.

Does anyone know where this boat ended up or know of any other 35 staggered 496 boats?