Fever 32 Education
 

Gents,

Been a FasTech 353 owner for 11 years, Scarabs before that. Certainly not the most experienced owner here, but been around enough to know these sleds are fun -and need to be fed.

Considering a Fever 32 for NY Finger Lakes. Any tribal knowledge, pros/cons, survey fine points on the 32 model? Advice on avoiding a problem and identifying a good one appreciated too.

Thanks!

353 to a 32 fever? Are you downsizing or just changing things up?

More cons than pros on a 32 Fever I'm afraid. Old, small for its length, tight cockpit and berth, a nightmare bilge to work on anything and one of Fountain's most notorious ass-dragging boats in terms of overall balance.

If you are truly downsizing then I would go for a newer 29 single IMHO.

There were a number of 32' Fountains that sank due to their low freeboard, and the fact that twin engines on said hull puts the transom of the boat very low in the water.

There are a bunch of threads on the 32' Fountains in the past.

https://www.offshoreonly.com/forums/...e-sinking.html

People will tell you they are sinking. I still want to carry a 5 gal bucket of water and have the wife start bailing when they yell at us.

But the non step and small steps sit higher, the non step has vents on the side rather then the back. That was a stupid thing they did, I moved mine to the side and glassed the back up. Got tired of water killing my bilge blowers.

Of course with any old boat (almost all performance I/O's are old now) check for rot or one that has been redone.(talk to a buddy how his skater I/O was).
Fountain used little plastic trim rings with almost no sealing on them.

As for working on motors, moved trim pumps to the side and it isn't bad, look at the engine bays in a Baja, Sonic, or DONZI ZX, way tighter.

What I have found over the years the twin 32 is a little hot rod. Compared to say a 35 of similar top speed the 32 will do everything faster, think of a Vette compared to a performance sedan. Bit tight, sure but it's what you want. I have friends that love their pontoons.

In rough water I like the tight, not as bad as say a Phantom.

These little things will turn hard, and do not do anything strange when doing it,,,,,,,, unless of course trim and tabs are messed up but that is anything.

If all you are concerned about is top speed in a straight line, go for the bigger boat what ever brand that is.

And they are pretty easy to fly level.

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I looked at a SCARAB AVS that also sank because of water coming in, because the idiot anchored with the transom facing large waves.


These are NOT self bailing fish boats.

If you have your heart set on a 32, I know of a very clean one with a owner/fanatic if you are interested.

Thanks Tuchman. Not selling the 353, it lives in Florida. Looking for NY Finger Lakes boat, interested in adding a Fever.

Not set on a 32, though leaning towards a 32 or 29 for where I'll use it. Sure, we can talk about the one you know. I'll DM you my number, welcome to do the same. Thanks Tech!

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owned a 32 , one of the best boats I've owned

The 29 has a larger cockpit than the 32 for what it's worth.

Boeing Pilot, what do you did you fly, good friend of mine flew F4's in the Marine Corps, then 727 Co Pilot when Braniff was in business.....not to hijack your thread

32 Fever is a very underrated boat in my opinion. I owned one for many years. Sinking or too low in the back all a bunch of nonsense. I know there are examples of it yes, I've read all those threads too (as there are of many brands models doing those things) but don't let it scare you from this model.

If you are a fat guy and work on your own stuff do what Wildman said and move the trim pumps, lose weight or pay someone. I worked on mine without issue, pulled engines, rerig the whole 9.

As with anything, get a survey pay special attention for structural water intrusion (transom, exhaust tips, bilge stringers, forward bulkhead and for step hull models the step bilge area (accessed under the cabin step) and cabin floor (all known points on any Fountain).

If you want to get fancy and can find unicorns look for a newer 33 not many out there and only came with 496's mid-low 80's out of the box, OEM 496 reliability and have the newest style cabin and cockpit seating which is very very nice.

Wildman is spot on they are amazing boats and they handle incredible. I would pass on the 29's with twins or a single 29. 32's will do everything better and have a way better cabin. I would own one again.

As far as Fountains go, you can't beat the lines/ proportions/ stance of the 32's always got compliments on it.

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F4, that was an animal of a machine. Have flown a bit of everything, am on an Airbus 320 now.

Great response, thank you. Am thinking a 32 is probably the right direction to go.

Couple questions:
1. Seems some hulls have steps some don’t? Which years had which hull, which is more desirable and what is the value difference between one with and one without step?

2. My FasTech as 502 Mags. Not the fastest out there but have been virtually nothing but oil, impeller and plugs/caps/rotors -rebuild free for last 11 years. Which engine options are common to the 32? My preference is low maintenance.

Pretty sure 1997 1st year step hull in 29' & 32'

95 ish was first small step.
99 ish large step. With fountains there never seems to be a set start point.

Most came with 502 mags, or HP500, HP500efi.

There are a few with 525sc, 575, and a couple later ones with the 383 mag?

Think thats what the small blocks were.

The difference between a 502 mag and HP500 is a few mph on top but the big place you notice is in the mid range. The blue motors are strong.

Mine has HP500EFI, top ends done around 320 hours. Just under 800 now. Been a great low maintenance motor.

With the CMI e-tops it takes me about 30 min a motor for plug changes, maybe 1 hour each for sea water pump.

Wildman,

Can tell you are very dialed in on this model. Can I assume the larger step version of the 32 is preferable?

Regarding engine options, had be a bit under the impression that the blue engines required more opening up and maintenance, but perhaps that was inaccurate. Is there a large consideration here regarding the engines in the way of reliability, parts support, HP/drive wear?

Did these come with one type or more than one type of drives?

The 502 mag mpi is 415 hp.....the HP 500, 500 EFI will be closer to the 520 range, regardless of maintenance the blue engines are more desirable and better resale.

What F2 said on the engines, 525 EFI's really gave blue motors a bad rap because of the headers and horrible valve springs. The springs do need changed on the blues but once done they are a good motor, I mean 500HP (Mine dyno at 515) out of 500 cubic in is not a very stressed motor.

On which step 32 is more desirable, IDK.

If you spend time on the inner web everyone will say get a 35 and that keeps the 32's down in price. I would say which ever one is the cleanest, but remember at this point all of these things are getting really old and will need stuff done.

Full disclosure,,,,, mine had the bad exhaust seals and I had to redo transom, stringers and a little bit of the bulkhead. But it allowed me to fix a lot of the "production" rigging also.

Had a friend that his 32 was one Hull ID number from mine and it was solid as a rock.

1995 was first year of the step. Mine was a 95 but had no step oddly enough. They also came with 454MPI's. The 502MPI's are very reliable and can actually be built to make a good amount of power pretty darn cheap using damn near all of the same parts. I followed some threads I found here when one of my OEM risers decided to leak and took down one of my engines. It made a world of difference performance wise and I did not need blue motors to exceed what those boats do out of the box with them already.

Most I've seen have it from the factory, but make sure you get one that has the hydraulic add on steering at least and even better if someone has converted to full hydraulic like I did. Best thing I did for that boat actually.

As Wildman said I too learned about soggy wood. Mine had poor sealing around the cabin drain tubes that protrude into the bilge through the forward bulkhead. The boats sit nose down on the trailer when level so any water that was in the bilge IF not drained out fully will collect there and behind the bulkhead under the tank and cockpit floor if it's a fair amount. I cannot speak to how step hulls or any that are not on Myco trailers as mine had sit on their respective trailers however they may not have this issue or are designed differently. In my case, the previous "open checkbook" owner let water sit there and it was wicked up and into the center stringer, two others and bulkhead. I would look for one that has had structural repairs that way that's one less thing you need to worry about haha.

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All great advice, thank you for the education. Are you saying some of these were built without hydraulic steering? That's surprising.

Where there options in different drives? If so, which models are desirable and any to say away from?

Sounds like you proactively, or perhaps reactively due to the previous owners lack of attention to detail were able to correct/adjust aspects of your boats design as it came from the factory to a less likely set up for damage -might there be any "checklist" of good practice things to do like what you've already done?

Yes some were built without hydraulic steering and simply the basic cable steering helm, cables, valve and a tie bar on the outside between the drives. I should also clarify the ones that did come with "hydraulic" systems are not a "full" hydraulic system but "add on" hydraulics tied into the OEM cable/ valve system. In my opinion this setup is meh for a performance boat, overcomplicated and most likely cost more than a full hydro setup to the helm would have been out of the gate. The conversion was so simple it is pathetic. Rant over lol.

I have only seen 32's with bravo 1's in a couple of ratios1.5 being the most common. Unless someone switched to XR's, or something else at some point but I don't think they ever came that way. I never had issues with mine...lucky on that one I guess.

A good "checklist" per say would be that anything that has NOT been replaced at some point WILL need replaced at some point. I'm sure many here can attest to that! Don't trust that a seller with service records has taken his boat to a marina that actually knows what they are doing either. Many horror stories I have read about that also and not owners' faults. Someone that does their own work, is passionate about the sport knows the boat inside and out would be the ideal seller you will know that boat when you see it. I see some here that have had zero similar failures as me but a completely different set of failures, they tell me that's boating haha.

Just throwing this out here, if an '06 35 Lightning twin step with fresh 525 EFI's and new XR's is of interest, mine is seriously for sale. This boat will smoke any 32, any day. No offense to a 32 Fountain, they just are not a twin step Lightning.