BadDog

I have been running a Force 235 for 15 years. Been through 4 engines, 3 drives, tried many props, two sets of upholstery, 3 carpets and thousands of gallons of fuel. Speeds have ranged from stock of 58 to 81. Probably have 2500 hours on the hull.

My experience with this hull is that your best prop will be a Mirage Plus. A little more cup would help it. With this hull you sometimes need to over-trim to carry the bow then get on the tabs to stop the bow hop, trim down a touch and back out of the tabs then trim back up . A slight momentary turn to the left and back straight again just as you are trimming up will help put it up on the pad. If I just bury the throttle I will only get 75 out of it. A little finesse and it runs 80 no problem. Anything below 65 just play with the trim and tabs.

Budman is running the same hull and shaved the hooks, no real change but he is still running 60 and does not have enough cup on the prop. Get the excess weight out of the bow to help it carry.

LS1 MOLESTER

You're scaring me with the numerous rebuilds and refits.
Is this model a good platform?

23 pitch?
When you say "a little more cup", do you mean more pitch?

I have a fridge in there i never use.. should i toss it?
Would it make a difference?

My boat didn't come with the trim tabs.

Thanks for the awesome FYI's.

mats

The key to being able to trim the drive out is that the prop keeps its grip in the water. As BadDog says a prop with a lot of cup does that. Cup is basically a sharp concave trailing edge on the prop blades. The best prop I have had from that perspective is a Turbo stainless steel three blade that was "labbed" by a local prop shop to appoximately 21 inch pitch with some extra cup. The 7.4L engine spun it to appr 4600 rpm fully timmed out. 23 inch pitch is too much for that engine.

BadDog

Excellent hull, the rebuilds are mechanical related and would occur on a Cig or a Bayliner based on usage. You will have a hard time finding a boat that has the cockpit room that the Force models have. Carpet and upholstery is better than most boats. Just wore it out from usage and a desire to to have it appear new at all times.

I would be surprised if you could pull a 23 with the 330 especially once the additional cup is added which has the effect of decreasing the RPM for a given pitch. If you are going to work a 21 MP the pitch will need reduced some with the 330. A different intake and cam will gain a very small amount and can be done cheaply. You will feel it mostly in midrange but not see much on top. You could apply the money that would be needed for the rework toward the cam and intake and come out a little more expensive with more bang for the buck. Do some research on cams for the 330 and be careful breaking the cam in with the crap oils we have available now.

Try some max speed runs with the Fridge out. It will make a slight difference but the fridge is nice for keeping ice stocked. Maybe convert it to a storage locker and keep the fridge for resale. That was a big point in those models for many. Very nice to have on long weekends.

Get some Tabs! Whole different boat with them. No debate on this point, that is your first upgrade and will solve most of your handling ills. You will be able to carry the bow better with some tab which forces it down but add more trim to bring it up and it will not hop. This hull just behaves that way. You need more trim and a little tab to keep it up. Sort of lifts the whole boat up and out. With more cup it will carry.

mats

BadDog, do you need to overtrim and use tabs also on your current set up to make the boat run on the pad? Or was that only when you had the 7.4L.

LS1 MOLESTER

FYI for the search botton user -

No more porposing!

I got an almost new 19" steel cleaver from a friend.
Gained ~3MPH top end.
Out of the hole it just shoots out and get's on plane almost instantly.

I had an el cheapo 19" aluminum before.

I can run any speed fully trimmed out and the bow stays pretty much on the level.

At idle the boat no longer hunts left/right requiring constant over-correcting of the steering wheel. Now it drives almost straight like a car.

I took it to 4,800rpm and there was some room left.. not a alot.. but some. It could handle a 21" steel prop no problem.. but like MATS said, 23 would be a little much.

mats

What speed did you get?

Airpacker

a 19 clever? Haven't seen one of those around in a while. Matter of fact, the last one I saw was on a 1977 sea ray 19 footer with a 280 trs package. I would try a mirage plus 21 if you can find one or even a straight mirage 21 and have a prop guy bang a little more cup into it.

otis311

I think I have a 21" pitch cleaver lying around

Bob

LS1 MOLESTER

Maybe it is a 21 pitch??
It came off 2000 22' Celebrity with 454 magnum and thru-hull exhaust.. it must be a 21..

With cleaver it went 56-57 MPH on speedo at 4,800rpm.
On the previous aluminum prop went 54-55 MPH.
There's still some RPM's left.. not lot's.. but some.
Reason i didn't push pass 4,800 is because it's the max recommended speed.