I just got done installing miracle plates on center engine & filled in top holes on outer engines. I will sea trial tomorrow . Hope for no more overheating problems.

Still overheating with miracle plates. I ordered a transom pickup from BOBS MACHINE SHOP. I just got done installing it & running the hose to engine. This should solve all overheating issues. Water test in the morning.

Really surprised you're having problems still Craig. Do you think the center motor is too or is it turbulence from the other motors??
I have a low water p/u too but haven't needed it yet.
75 is very impressive too.
Take someone w/a camera tomorrow.
Good luck and be careful.
Gary

Overheating problem solved. Pictures of my engineered transom pickup, ran the hose to the flush out fitting, plenty of water now, engine went to 190 degrees trimmed up but never overheated. Now I am going to have to figure out how to plum it into powerhead instead of through flushout. I am also going to have work on props. I have a array of props running on it now. I ran it today with a 27p 4 blade hydromotive prop turning 5700 rpm's, 28 p chopper turning 6000 rpm's, the center engine turning a 32 p cleaver prop 5800 rpms. cleaver is on center engine that is a 225 . gps speed today was 78.8 mph. I would like to find 1 28p lh chopper & a 30 or 32 p chopper for center engine, now the fun begins testing & tuning. I am very happy with the speed so far.

Outstanding Craig!
 

Great news. 78.8... yowser! Freagin crusin, especially for out of the box.
You can plumb your water to the lower unit, just above the cavitation plate and a couple inches aft pf the leading edge. Find that style case w/a nose cone, and measure and duplicate where it's water line taps into the housing.
On props, I think a set of 28 Bravo One's will be tough to beat on your rig.
I'm testing them on my Sonic now and love them so far. Can run my motors higher w/them than anything else I've tried and they carry the bow very nicely which I' guess yours could use too.

Took the boat out on Saturday for a few hours, Boat running fine now. I am still in the hunt for propellers. I am very happy with the way the boat is performing. I just took it out in the Kissimmee chain of lakes, The airboaters were wondering what the hell was going on with a triple engine boat cruising through Camp Mack. Plenty of water now in the chain of lakes. I would have ran it longer but the rains came through early. In search of a set of 28 bravo's to try.

What are the other motors run temps? I thought 190 would be high should they run 150or 160 with a 143 t stats?

all thermostats are gutted, temps on the outer engines are running at 175. I was thinking that 190 was high also but wont go over that now, so I guess the gauge might be off just a little, as long as hot horns aren't going off, not going to mess with it for right now, but now the ecu took a crap that sends a pulse to the tackometer. I am going to have to see if I can get it fixxed now, always something with a boat.

Those are some great speed numbers. I might need to drive to Lake Wales and check that thing out.

Craig....
 

after going through everything on my 250 OMC's they run @ about 180*. News stats and impellers.
I even tried a trick we do w/the hot rod motors which is to replace the stats w/a stainless washer to reduce the water passage size to create/retain some water pressure while still allowing 100% flow and saw no change.
Up north in 70* water those motors run 145*. Down in here in 90 ambient air, 90% humidity and 85* water temps though......

I am going to try turning the motors outward instead of inward just to see what happens with the temps & speed. I have always heard that turning them inward made them run faster, We will see how much speed it looses by turning outward. I am going out of town this weekend , so not sure about if it will be done by the weekend or not.

I swapped them back and forth...
 

on the old Sonic and w/set up exactly the same the starboard motor (spinning in) spun like hell and ran like crap. Switched em back and it ran perfect.
W/good gear cases, a 1000 lbs less weight and the motors 2" higher who knows but in my unscientific experiment it was another test that
went exact opposite of expert wisdom.
Based on that you may pick up doing the switch to spinning them out which is mostly standard these days.

Great project! Keep pics coming!

I changed the lower units last weekend to turn out instead of in, & lost 4 mph but the boat does handle so much better. I can even turn it around in my canal much easier. I am taking the center lower unit off to take to Bob's machine shop to have the fitting installed to direct water into the w/p housing from the transom pickup. more pictures coming soon.

I took the center lower unit to Bob's Machine shop to have the fitting installed in the lower unit to run the hose off of the transom pickup. They are a first class operation there, I waited to have it installed & they were very accomidating there. I have the lower unit back on the boat now & hope to sea trial this week. I am getting the boat ready for the Sebring get togethor on Lake Jacksom on Nov 5th. I will have more running pictures this week.

Very Cool.
 

Interested in info on the Sebring run although I have to work that Saturday.

Here is a few pictures of running the boat today on Tiger Lake.

More pictures running on Tiger lake today.

Boat looks great Craig. Great angle of attack and perfect motor trim angle. Very efficient set up.

I took the boat out again today, Boat is running great. I am working on trying out some more props. Getting the boat ready for the Sebring trip next weekend on Lake Jackson. few more pictures from yesterday.

great boat and great pics.

I painted the stripes on that boat when I worked for Trick Paint, we painted all the Midnights. Looks like it's holding up pretty well, was probably around 84-85ish IIRC

Looks awesome!!!

......I miss my Midnight:(

Boat looks great , in Miami there is a 37 open 4 250mercs for 39k! How fast will that run low 70s?Hull is 1985.

Thanks for all the compliments. The fastest I have run the boat so far is 78 on gps. I am still testing the boat setups. I have the engines turning outward now & the best so far is 74.9 gps. The boat handles so much better turning outward that I am going to leave it that way for now. I had the boat down in Sebring last weekend for an event, boat ran flawless. I will keep you updated on progress. My winter project for it is to put in back seat.

Nice job...congrats!
The whole outboard thing has grown on me...a LOT.
So much that I just had Shaun Torrente Racing build me
a nice little motor for my old school Carrera 24 SS7M.

I took the boat out today on the Winter Haven chain of lakes, I went to see the water ski show at the new Legoland, It was very cool. I went through the chain to make sure I could make it through all the canals, there is a boat parade in 2 weeks that I am going to decorate the boat up for, no pictures at this time but will have more soon.

Craig

boat is running great, waiting on some more props to test for speed.

Here are the shells for my back seat project. I am going to make an aluminum stand to mount the 3 seats for a back seat. Project moving all slowly.

I took the boat out for a run on the Okeechobee waterway this past weekend. We ran from Moore Haven to Labelle, Made a stop at the Swamp Cabbage Festival , & then continued on to Alva. It was about a 100 mile round trip ride. The boat is running good. Not good on top end speed yet, I had lots of fuel in the boat for the run so it only topped out about 71 mph. We had a great time. There was about 14 boats that showed up.

More pictures of the trip. I am waiting on a video of my boat running. I will post as soon as I get it.

I finally got the seat bases all made up, I have the seats mounted on the bases but I need to figure out the seat heights now. The seats are very comfortable but to high where I have them sitting right now. They are going to sit about 3 inches lower. I hope to have it all done next week & then start working on the sun lounge.

Awesome. Looks like you guys had a blast. That is an area and a trip I plan on doing in the near future.
Looking forward to seeing the video of your boat running Craig.

I finally got the rear seat all mounted. I am taking the boat out to river ranch for the weekend & then taking the boat to FT. Lauderdale for the air & sea show. I hope to get some good running pictures this weekend.

I never made it to Ft Lauderdale, weekend got washed out. I went to Clearwater beach this past weekend with the family. My wife's maiden voyage out with the kids. all of us had a blast. The boat ran perfect, Wife pleased with the boat. Waiting on my Fiberglass guy to bring boat over to install the sunpad. Wife will be really happy once that is done.

Very nice.
 

Just got our cockpit re-done and boat now has a sun lounge for the first time and the Mrs loves it.
Couple of us locals are camping on/off one of the islands this weekend if you're bored ;)

Hey there Gary, Glad to hear that you got your boat back & are using it. It has been along restoration project for me. I am trying to use the boat as much as possible, I love the boat. I can't wait for it to be completely done. I am ordering trim tabs for it soon, my next major expense. I hope to make it to your coast next month. I have to work this weekend, so won't be out boating. I hope to meet up with you in June.

Craig

Nice project...............
Where did you get the rear seat shells

I got the seat shells from Summit Racing. They are a very nice seat with cushion under $100.

Let me know when your ready to sell her!!!.. I ll be waiting!

I just got done swithching the lower units back to turning inwards & have it filled up with fuel. I am taking to Vero this weekend & taking it up the ditch towards Sebastion inlet. I have new trim tabs on order. I will get more pictures this weekend.