Bravo.....the GM 3rd/4th gen F-body 10 bolt of the boat world....lol

Good morning Daytona,
I'm not trying to hijack your thread. I think the motor combo you're putting together is badass. Nothing like a roots carbed bbc. The power, sound, look all exceptional. I'm just speaking from experience that you're most likely going to have drive problems and start factoring that into your budget. You start putting a 100 plus mph prop on that drive and raise the X-dimension to reduce drag and you can't get on plane w/ a 1/4 throttle. Again not being a Debbie Downer here just start thinking about upgraded drive options. This going fast business is expensive!

It sounds like your x-dimension is setup very conservative. If you can live w/ a 95mph boat you're good to go. If you want your boat in the 105-110 range you're going to have to raise that propshaft at least two inches. That's when planing get's tough. All trade offs. I couldn't live with a 95mph single engine cat and then I started mashing gears in the Bravo style drive.

Drag becomes exponentially problematic at higher speeds. You're going leave 10 plus mph on the table w/ your current x-dimension. That may be worth it to save money on the drive setup but it's difficult not to try and maximize top speed performance w/ the style of boat you have. I'm not an expert but I've learned alot over the last five years of ownership of a single engine cat.

That would be the ticket!

Secondwind. My prop shaft is 2 inches above the lowest point on the bottom of the hull and I don't begin to use more than 1/4 throttle to get on plane. I just rev it to 5000 RPM and it rolls onto plane.
I have my drive "Tinkered" to allow more negative trim than stock though.
I have a terrible slip # until I get up in speed. ( 80 MPH and up is 4%)

Tinkerer,
I remember when you were working on the additional negative trim to get on plane. Maybe some of it is hull design. The AO has a fair amount of bow rise to get on plane. With a 34 pitch B1 prop I have to get to 3200rpm before the boat rolls over and the prop is biting until she rolls over. With two people on board it's smooth. With six professional beer drinkers it's labored. Once she's on plane everything is perfect-acceleration, turning, etc.

Just curious, is there any chance of a cam that's been designed this Century making more HP.

I replaced my valve cover studs with 1/4-20 stainless socket head cap screws. I run solids and can remove my valve covers without loosening my exhaust using looong ball end 3/16" Allen wrenches.For reference; Stainless Marine manifolds and CMI E-Top headers. I do have to take the V-clamps off the tails.

I ran solid Ultradyne cams for 6 or 7 yrs ('06-'12 or '13) max 6500RPM Comp 943 springs 0.022" lash. I would check lash at the start of every summer or any abnormal tick, never a problem. I run Isky Red Zone lifters that have been rebuilt once. In '13 I installed Cam Motion HR cams and still run my solid Isky Red Zones. I run Comp 933 springs 0.007" lash 5500RPM. I had issues with my valve train on one head cylinder 1 and 3 intakes. I did change out 2 of my Scorpion rockers on those two cylinders with 2 other Scorpion rockers. (I didn't like the feel of them and the had a noise) Both were 1.8 ratio but 2 different models. I did not check the push rod to head clearance with the 2 new rockers. (I assumed they were the same) The push rods had the slightest contact with the head and I assume were deflecting a little. I clearanced the head and got thicker push rods to solve that issue. Now every time I check lash it's just checking it. No adjustments. Might not be exactly your situation and I'll get flamed in a minute or 2 for running solids on HR's lol but it's all good. Hours?? I probably have 250 hrs on a set of Isky rebuilds and 250 hrs on the 943's and 150+ on the 933's, 12yrs or so combined. I just rebuilt my bottom ends and switched blocks last spring, but reused all of my valve train components.

I left my Crystal ball at home , sorry.
Not sure how solid is more reliable, because you wont break a lifter?
But it`s ok to pound the $hit out of the valvetrain with a solid set up? I like my hydraulics to cushion my valve train I also like shocks on my cars instead of a solid rod. find that everything stays together longer and the seats don`t fall out of the car from the vibrations.

I think you answered you own question, and I agree with ICDP......

Im not a cam expert they have all been run off this site..:D... I run whats been proven to work, maybe you should pose those questions to the manufacturer, like Crane and Isky. I ran solid lifters on drag cars and its a PITA cant imagine doing it in a boat.....jmo......

I don't think hydraulic lifters work like a shock absorber it can actually go the other way bleeding off while the valve is closing there are a lot of trucked out there with solid rollers in them with no issues that go 200k on a valve adjustment. I have herd plenty of guys having problems with hydraulic lifters making noise and replacing them with solid lifters with tight lash. To each is there own on this. Think lunati has a voodo series that where made by Harold from ultra dyne.

You may want to talk to one of the senior techs at Comp Cams, Bullet, whatever brand you like, they could tell you what you should run to meet your goals. I'm guessing the price difference between a shelf cam and custom is a better core and you get closer to what you want. The solid roller lifter with high pressure pin oiling last a long time even with a lot of low RPM idling. Good springs, Pac or similar quality with the right pressures and my choice, stainless shaft rockers would get you where you want to be. Of coarse this is only my opinion, not gospel.