Mark,
the boat planes off as good as before if not better, I had the same problem with hydro props. I found a labbed 5 blade Herring 30p rh that I will test this weekend and will let everyone know how it turns out!

I believe that any of the late model Fountains are not going to gain much if anything by shortening the drive(s). Late model being defined as stepped hulls. I haven't seen one single newer Fountain, of any size, but particularly single engine boats, that doesn't struggle to get on plane. Reggie has milked every possible mph out of the boat hull before you ever buy it. All the tricks have been used to include very high X dimensions. An older non stepped hull might benefit more because the X dimensions seem lower. My boat for example (1991) will jump on plane with no trouble no matter how many are in the boat. I am positive I am giving up a couple of mph on top however. It's a trade off. The problem is it's an expensive gamble to purchase the short drives not knowing for sure what you will receive, if anything, in mph gains. If I could find someone who has tried short drives on a hull like mine and gained something, I might try it out. So far despite repeated posts noone has come forward with experience. You would think that Fountain would have tried everything in testing and could help us all out with some tips. It would sure save us all some time and MONEY! Fountain chick are you tuning in out there? Can you offer guidance?

Curt,
JimV is on the board and has a 92 27' with a 2" shorty and he gained 3-4 mph.

Indy I think a 92 is a non stepped hull with a lower X dimension. So maybe that helps prove my theory that the older hulls with the lower X dimensions and non-stepped could gain with shortys. I would like to hear from someone who has added shortys to a 32 non stepped hull like mine. If I thought I could pick up even 2 mph I would spend the cash. But man I would be pissed off if I dropped 10k and gained nothing...or slowed down, or couldn't plane off!
Another problem that the newer stepped hulls could face wth shortys relates to the airating of the water under the hull. If the prop(s) are real close to the surface they may get caught up in the boat wash coming from under the hull, reducing the bite the prop(s) have. I don't know, I am certainly no expert but I have observed a lot from the sidelines. Like I said it would be nice if one of the testers from the Fountain factory would chime in and give us a clue as to what works and doesn't work with these hulls. You know Reggie has tried everything possible to get thse boats up in speed already.

I ran the Hering this weekend and it handled great but I could only get 83.7 which is not going to do the job!

That has to be damn frustrating, never mind expensive. I still have a hunch that your stepped hull may not do well with 2" shorter drives on it. Maybe 1" would help I don't know. Have you tried talking with someone at Fountain yet?

Oh yeah, I have tried to talk to them but they never return phone calls! No big deal, the people I got the Hering from said to send it back if it did not work for me and a buddy of mine will buy the shorty if I dont want to keep it. You are right though, it is damn frustrating to squeeze that last few mph out, maybe its just not going to run any faster unless I add more power!

Indy,

What rpm do you see 85.5 mph with the 30"?

Also, how many #'s of boost is that at?

I'm going to go change to the Crane 168741 next season with an ECU change. At 5600 rpm I should get 700+ HP. What do you think your current HP is? Mine's approx. 640 HP at 5400rpm now.

85.5 with the labbed Bravo 32p rh at 5200 rpm and 5lbs boost.

Indy,

I guess your trials are a testimony to the effective setup from the Fountain factory. I've contemplated the same mods to my drive as well. Your at the point of diminishing marginal returns so any gains will be difficult. One of the things that worked for me was running Mobil 1 synthetic gear oil in the outdrive. It's alot less viscous so the parasitic drag is reduced. Teague recommended running the Mobil 1 (the 75-90 weight gear oil) or Amsoil synthetic. My boat runs 1-3 mph quicker than identically equipped boats running the Merc gear oil. Never any problems with metal on the drain plugs, shifts fine, etc. Also, the XR's have been pushing seals against the yokes due to pressure build up with the Merc lube. The XR, remember, is a "slower" drive, inherently due to larger dia gears.