Hello All,

I am just about to purchase a 96 Fountain 38 Lightning w/ 525SCs and Bravo 3 drives. As a newbie to offshore boats in general I am not very knowledgable regarding the various drive options and was looking for a little help.

Question: How are the Bravo 3 drives versus other drives?

Or, to put it another way -- Should I plan on replacing the drives pretty soon after getting the boat?

The boat is flawless and I know the seller very well. The engines just underwent extensive work and I have all receipts, etc. I just don't know much about the drives yet and wanted to know if I should be concerned.

Thanks in advance for any help you all can give me.

--KevinJ

Are you sure they are Bravo 3's and not Bravo 1.

Well, I am going by what my friend said they are. How would I know for sure when looking at them?

-Kevin J

Bravo 3 is a dual prop drive, as in one prop directly behind the other.

Bravo 1 is the standard single prop drive found on 90% of the boats

yeah, i have never seen bravo-3 on a fountain!!!!

I looked at the paperwork and it is indeed a Bravo 1 drive.

So...new question...

Should I plan on replacing the drive over some short period of time?

Thanks!

Kevin J

no Kevin you should be in good shape, with "stock" 525's run good props and watch the fluids. Those are pretty good drives

also the most important thing for all this free advice post some pictures

congrats on your new purchase and welcome to the board. Tom

Thanks for the info, Tom.

I will get some pics tomorrow afternoon and post them tomorrow night. I am really excited about the new purchase. I even managed to get my wife excited about the boat...which is a bonus! My favorite saying is "happy wife..happy life"!

I will be looking to add graphics pretty soon. Right now the boat is factory RED with no graphics at all. I am planning on attending some boat shows to see what style of graphics I like.

I joined SCOPE here in SoCal and I might have to twist some arms to get someone to go out some weekend soon! Being the "rookie" and all I will defiintely take any advice I can get. I also plan on taking a boating safety course and will start looking into that tomorrow.

The other thing I think I should get is some sort of radio gear. At the very least I think I would need a portable radio of some sort. Not to get off the subject too far but can you recommend a good portable radio?

Thanks again for the info.

-Kevin J

Same here Welcome to the Board... Do a fluid check and a pressure test and make sure there is no moisture in the oil.. keep the fluid changed and you should be good to go Thats a good engine drive setup...
Bob
Merc recomends 60Hrs on the engine oil(30 hrs WOT) for changes sesonaly or 80 hrs on the drives..(40 hrs WOT)

Congrats on the Fountain purchase...get your self a Merc manual on those motors and set them up to spec...have a great summer!