Austin 28' powered by twin small blocks
 

Here are a few pictures of Austin new 1999 Pantera 28' powered by new twin Mercruiser 377 Mag small blocks. Took it out yesterday with Austin in real 4-5 footers and they ran great !!! Austin then ran North 140 miles out in the Ocean in some rough water and had great fuel mileage results.

We also mounted a new swim platform, engine hatch, and sunpad.

I am sure he will post later with more info. on these Mercruiser small blocks.

Regards,

JO

1 more pic.

SWEET, great job JO and congrats to the owner. Doesn't look like you'll have any problem changing out those plugs.............wish I could say the same.

Congrats! Looks like a brand new boat..........

Is this the boat you took in on trade with no motors?

It looks great and twin small blocks seems like a nice set-up. What kind of speeds were you seeing?

Super install, looks like you were able to keep the standard bravo BB exhaust locations too. Very nice!!!! Did you try the 1.65 drives on this setup??

The boat is better than I expected and ran like a dream in the ocean… Jo, Pepe, Linda, thank you! I’ve been boating since I was 9, but never really experienced “performance boating” until the other day. Jo took me out the cut in Miami for a test drive, on the way out the cut he says “ you see how it’s calm on that side- you can make it out that way if you want. Then, see how the waves are bunched up in the middle (with the tide going out)… yeah. We could go that way if you want?” OK. He throttles up to about fifty (still break in, so no full throttle) and we ramp off a five footer! The boat was definitely in the air… maybe not as far as the pictures on the Pantera shop wall- but as far as the story I’m telling, we were! The boat came down smooth and just crushed the next wave. We went about four miles out I was watching Jo drive… throttles, trim, drives. It’s a lot harder that it looks to get the timing just right. On the way back in through the inlet we shot off another one. The whole “air time” reminded me of a stunt a friend pulled in a Cessna 172 … he pulled the yoke up and stalled the plane, as it started to fall, we were looking around the cabin and there was a pencil floating off the dash board as we were free falling!! Pantera is one strong hull, my boat is a 1999 and no stress cracks.

I dropped Jo off at the ramp and idled back out to the inlet, the whole time trying to familiarize myself with the boat and remember the pointers from the pro. I didn’t jump the center waves on the way back out, although I wanted to! It was around 3:30 and I needed to make it to Sebastian Inlet 140 mile north. Driving in the ocean fast is much harder than it seems, loving boats, I enjoyed every minute, and averaged 40-50 MPH at between 3000-3400 RPM’s. I think the boat gets close to 3 MPG at that speed, which by any standard, in a boat like that is great. It’s a 120 gallon tank (filled up before leaving) and the gauge is on 5/8’s of a tank. That’s the test ride, 140 miles, and then four mile to a no wake zone that’s another 3 miles to the dock.

I was, and am, very impressed with the Pantera people and product. This is no Bayliner! The fit and finish of the boat is great, solid as a rock, no little sounds that piss you off. Don’t forget mines 10 years old…and I bet it’s jumped more than a few waves. When I picked the boat up they were there double checking everything, washing it up, doing everything imaginable to make sure ,when that boat left the factory, it was perfect.

I have much more respect for those who go out there and race at 90MPH. I got much better just in those three hours out there, so hopefully 50MPH will begin the feel slow and the rhythm will find my throttle hand… it’s as much fun as you can have without going to jail!!

I’ll post a few more pictures of the boat once I get back to the Bahamas.

Congratulations the boat looks great ! I really like the twin small block setup in the 28 they are balanced real well.. I got to run mine Hard in some pretty nasty water the first time I ran the boat & it was sweet !!

great story. can't wait for the pics.
boat looks great (all white and so so clean :musik010:)

you made a great choice, Pantera makes a hell of a boat......

That's really cool , sounds like a great way to learn from an accomplished racer on your own boat!

BTW I REALLY like your graphics!! :D another all white hits the water!

Boat looks great!!
Love the commentary as well.
Nice job Guys - and Congrats on the new (to you) boat. Sounds like you got exactly what you were looking for.

congras and enjoy..

Austin, i didn't know you were going w/ the 377s. :cool:
seeing how much space there is between them confirms my ideas of what i need.
Excellent fuel economy too! You've got the range you were looking for, plus.
Congrats in a big way!!!

Awesome looking boat! I'm a new owner too. Mine's almost 20 years old and it feels like you describe!

Yeah, I like the 377's. Not having had inboards before it's a little hard getting around the engines, but I'm sure it will get easier. I think I'll need to go in head first- upside down- to spray the bottoms of the motors with corrision block.

Been busy getting it ready for the crossing on Thursday, the wife is flying over to join me, then out the inlet headin east...

Nice! Have a safe trip, and enjoy it!

Jo, how'd you like running the sbc boat.
Not many leave the shop that way.

well how was the trip

Trip was great... 5.5 hours dock to dock in some pretty big chop. I do have to revise the MPG estimate in the last post, not "knowing" the fuel gage I was a little off. The run from Sebastain Inlet to Abaco was a better test as I was able to easily add up the fuel used and compare that to the distance traveled. The boat got 1.73 MPG averaged over the total distance. That was crusing between 3000 and 3400 RPM's which I now think is a little high for optimal fuel consuption, which I belive now to be around 2750 RPM's and 38-40 MPH... I think this will yeild around 2MPG or a tad better. Plus the boat was still in the break in period and using 30w oil. I think I read somewhere that after the motors breaks in, and you go to the 40w oil ,the motors settle in and use less fuel... does anyone know if this is true and to what extent?

I'll post a few pictures of the boat in it's new home soon.

i was always told that the optimum cruising speed is 75% of WOT...so if your maximum rpm is 5250 your peak cruising rpm should be right about 39-4000rpms....can anyone confirm this

I've heard the same on break in. Should be a little more fuel efficient once its broken in.

Going to order a Merc System Monitor gage soon to really dail in the fuel burn. But I also look at it like this... if it only got 1 MPG, would I still keep it- definately!! As you all know half the fun is tweeking things out.

We talked about using that set up in my 2001 build. What did you get for a top speed?

Just opened her up today...wanted to wait until the after break-in oil change. saw 62 MPH at 4200 RPM's turning four blade bravo 22's . Merc calls for WOT to be between 4800-5200 on these 377's . So that means I need to go down three inches in prop pitch??? Fuel was at 3/4 of a 140 gal tank.

Hi Austin,

The 2004 Pantera 28' that was powered by twin Mercruiser 6.2 MPI 320 HP like yours would turn Bravo 1 24' pitch at 4500 RPM and would show 66-67 MPH. Then we installed Rev 4 Merc. props that were 21 pitch and turn those at 4800 - 4900 RPM and showed between 68-70 MPH depending on fuel and passenger loads.

I will run the boat with you soon and see where we are at. You are definetely down right now on top end.The small blocks are sensetive to weight so alot of fuel on board could drop 3-4 mph on top.Try and make a WOT run light on fuel and see how much difference you have on speed and RPM.

Speak to you soon !

Regards,

JO

Thanks Jo. I had about 3/4 of a tank of fuel, plus I'm pretty sure it's a 140 gal tank. The gage read 1/4 and it took 118 gals. Great boat... I've been all through it and the rigging is perfect. Everyone who has seen it has also conmented on how "clean" everything is. See you soon!

P.S. what's your arrival time??

Austin great story,

Whenever anybody takes a ride with Jo out in the ocean they are usually sold. As a racer myself, I can say that he is the best of the best when it comes to pure handling and throttling. Very few can put a 28 Pantera in big water with ease. You have a great boat there with a Company to back it up.

Albert

Thanks Albert !


Austin, I will email you this week arrival time and date.Going to make the call this afternoon.Will run it together soon.:cool-smiley-011:

JO

I agree that your boat has a few more mph in it... My 28 twin small block boat I had would gps right at 63 with less power.
(280-290 hp a piece) turning stock 21 mirage plus's 5,000 spinning them out.. I never played around with props , or their rotation but I have no doubt that the boat would have picked up a couple mph turning 23's b/c the motors were about to piss out & would hit a wall at 5k I really think it would have still turned a pair of 23's 4,800 orso... My 28 was older & I would think a bit heavier than yours (not sure how much heavier but I am confident that Jo & Pepe would have a good idea) Not sure what drives you are running but I would assume regular bravo's , which ifso should yeild a bit more speed than my setup due to the fact that my XR's were robbing a bit more power than regular bravos would. Not sure how much performance boat experiance you have so Please don't be offended or think I am saying something I am not , but you may be able to pick up several mph by getting a bit more seat time & experiance... I am sure Jo will take care of showing you how the boat runs best... Awesome boat !! Enjoy it & be safe !!! Scott

Jo, you may want to pack a few props for the flight. ;)

A couple of pics as promissed...http://www.wildislandresorts.com/Pan..._pics. 054.jpg
http://www.wildislandresorts.com/Pan... pics. 070.jpg
http://www.wildislandresorts.com/Pan..._pics. 074.jpg
http://www.wildislandresorts.com/Pan..._pics. 161.jpg

f'n sweet!

Pics are awesome.
I sure would like to live there myself. Dang It!!
What's that place like?
Let me guess "it's better in the ........"

.....well, yeah. It is!

Actually it's the same as anywhere one "lives". Life becomes "everyday" in any setting, no matter how dramatic, that's the way it is. But for the tee shirts... It's "better in the Bahamas"!

... just got back from a beach party and had a few too many rum and cokes.

Lifes great but my Pantera's broke... should have the rebuilt drives back in a couple of weeks.

Any updates on this beautiful Pantera?