Well the V-8's were sold to someone else. Probably for the best. I am having a new bracket fabricated from Aluminum, as the old ones are tubular steel. This may shave off 50 pounds. In anyone's expert opinion......would Merc 250's be too much weight? The reason I doubt myself is the mention of porpoising. I have ran smaller ski boats and always went about 50 or so horses over the CG rating. Call me stupid but I have never set up anything extreme or fast (4X4's, street bikes, ect..) with legalities in mind. It's worth the risk. Function is the greater weight.

I wuold suggest staying far away from those V8's. Parts are getting to tough to find. They are real hard on gas and heavy. 2.4 Bridgeports are not very reliable. Look for some used 225 Mercs or OMC fishing motors that are 25"

Hello Johnpittman,

I think I can be of some help.

I own two 24' Banana Boats.

The race boat was very successful with the 4.0 V8 outboard, (almost 400hp!), but the previous owner was a really experienced OMC certifeid mechanic and had about 10 spare motors to pull parts off of.

The V8 outboards have lots of torque for sure. Twins would be very powerful.

Keep in mind though, that you will have to spend quite a bit to upgrade your hydraulic steering to twin wrap around cylinders and you will have to raise the limit on your credit card to pay for the fuel.

Here is my other Banana Boat.

It had a stock 1989 2.4 Mercury 200hp for years. The most reliable engine I ever had. Boat went 55mph. Fuel burn was 20 gph. Never once had a problem with it. I used my boat on average 30 times a year.

A friend from screamandfly.com convinced me to trade him my Merc for this 4.0 liter Johnson 350hp outboard with about 60 hours on it since total rebuild.

After going out only 7 times, I got towed in 5. The other two I spent 2-3 hours floating on anchor pulling spark plugs and chasing electrical problems. When it did run my boat went 65mph. Fuel burn was 35 gph!!!!

Was it worth 10mph and almost twice the fuel burn? No.

In summary, stay with the mercury and stay STOCK!

My friend still races twin OMC V8's and loves them. But he is also a great Outboard mechanic.

I am not and I hated the damn thing.

As far as set back, I am familiar with the 24 sonic. Just like the 24' Pantera and 24' Superboat, you definately want a maximum of 17" of set back for best "all around" performance. You can go 25" and go faster, but you will not like the ride. Porpoise and doesn't take the waves as nice.

My white Banana has 17" of setback.

Did I help?

Put Some Hondas On It!225 Hp V6 Vetec Rocket Ship That Would Last Forever!go And Drive A Pilot Or A V6 Accord At A Honda Dealer And Expect The Same Performance WITH YOUR BOAT!

Once you go black, you'll never go back. If you can find a pair of 225X Promaxes, or 280 Sport/Offshores, 300s, or (last choice) 260s, you will have a good looking, great running boat. The Mercs are pretty reliable considering how fast they are, and much lighter than the competition.
With a fairly short boat and twins, weight is a major consideration in your application. Go black.
Regards,
Steve

I agree with Jollyroger. If anybody can build a Johnson O/B to make power reliably, it's Gordon Montague. He built me a 300 horse V-6 about 8 years ago and I ran the hell out of, it even with Nitrous. I occasionally turned it 9,000+ RPM with a 85 hp shot of NOS. I sold it to a friend who is even harder on engines than me and he's still running it on the back of his Allison bass boat. I finally switched to black motors too for weight savings and high RPM (10,000+) 1/4 miling, but, dollar for dollar, nothing makes low end and mid-range power like a Monty Racing V8.

John, My good friend has a 24 Sonic w/ twin 225 Mercury's, the boat needs work but the motors are only three years old with zero to no hours on them, they started to rig the boat with some nice equipment (KK Tabs, New gauges, new Bolsters, etc...) He will let the boat go cheap and everything your boat needs this one has it, give me a call and I can hook you up with his number.... Boat is located in Annapolis Md.
Patrick Dolan 410-320-5748 cell

I have a pair of 1996 Mercury 2.5 Carbs that are for sale. They were just rebuilt and have test time on the only.

How much for the pair?

Does one have a counter rotating lower?

Have they been modified at all?

Thanks.