38 Avenger Prop Question
 

I have a "95" with 502's/415's in it...not a rocket by any stretch. I'm looking for thoughts at whether to get my Bravo 1- 4 blades labbed at $1,000 (with shipping) or just blue printed at $500. BBlades advised - 2 to 4 mph gain with labbing maybe half that with blue printing. I have one prop that has a couple dings, so I'm going to have to do something - one way or the other. Are there any other benefits for my boat going one way or the other...Thanks.

2002 380 PQ, had some damage, sent props to BBlades repaired and labbed. 28 4 blades, 3 or 4 mph gained, not trying for speed, just new they need some attention. Very happy. Great people.

Some interesting reading for you...

http://www.hydromotive.com/info.html

Just curious what top speed & rpm you're getting; how much trim? 525's in yours?

496, runs around 67, might get alittle more out of it, tanks are always full and wife has 2 tons of stuff on boat. Forgot the RPM, think it was 4400 to 4500. When my memory kicks in I will post.

2000 380 496 HO B1 labbed at BBlades 30 pitch 74 MPH 5000 RPM.

Don, sorry to hi-jack your thread...remember bluepriniting removes any variances allowed during manufacture bring it back to 'blueprint' design and I understand labbing will modify the prop to optimize that design.

Guys, thanks for the speed info. I got 88 mph @ 54-5500 rpm last year (yeah that's the Whipple recommended rpm). That is with stock Bravo 30"s. Prop slip seems way too high at 16%I'm not sure if I should just have the Bravos labbed or go with 28" Maximus' labbed???
88 mph was on flat water and allowing the GF to load the boat LOL.

Nice speeds!!
I don't think the 90mph mark is too far off the radar!!

I have a 97 38 Avenger with stock 502mpi 415hp mags. With stock factory 25p Mirage plus 3 blades spinning in the best I would hit on the GPS was 69.1 mph at about 4750 rpm. I had Bblades lab my props the first time and seen no speed or rpm change but both engines were now the exact same rpm at wot. I sent them back and they tweaked them again for no charge and I got about a 75 rpm increase and now hit a best of 70.5 mph with no loss in cruise speed at lower rpm ranges. I will probably see if I can have them tweaked a little more to get closer to the 5000rpm range where you want a 502 mag to be. 3 blades will give you the best top end speed. Bblades runs a winter special after the new year.

Thought I wrote it down at wotk, I think I was running at 4700 @ 67, still could play with it some more, but I was ok with it for now.

Hey Guys,
Can you 38 owners give me your prop shaft center line to bottom of hull dimension? I'm 2.5" below but my slip number is high at a 3500 cruise. I'm running 28" bravo 1 and slip is ~28%. I tried 27" P5X and it dropped it 5% to low 20%. I'm thinking of adding drive spacers but look for more info.
Sorry For the high jack but seems like a lot of Avenger owners here.
Thanks,
LF

Interesting...

Mine: 2001 380 502 Mag MPI's B1 labbed at BBlades 28 pitch 74.6 MPH on GPS at 4800 RPM with two people and about half tank fuel. Picked up about 3 MPH from another company's "blue print job" which gave me nothing over stock B1's. Midrange efficiency also improved after BBlades work.

Hey L/Fix,

Wish I could help but mine is stored away long ago. I would really like to learn more about x-dimension effects. I am going to mess with props this coming year but also considering sportmaster shorties.

Thanks for the reply! It seem that nobody knows their x-dimension. I'm wondering how consistent PQ was on this. When I talked to Brett at BBlades he said that mine at 2.5" was high. He said he would like to see it at 4.5"to 5". That sounds very low for a stepped bottom notched transom boat. I wish I could get some other people to chime in before I send $800 plus on drive spacers!

Happy Turkey Day to all!!!!!!!

BTW, what are you asking for your 27'? I have a buddy looking to get into a PQ but is on a pretty tight budget.

4.5 - 5 vs. 2.5" high? I'm thinking I need to get more of the drives out of the water. I have the drives trimmed all the way up when running at top speed; boat is level. I am way off in my thinking...really need to learn more on this before I spend a bunch of money too. Start with props for now.
The 27' is going cheap only because of location. It's on powerboatlistings and boatsville. My listing just wouldn't work on this site?

My boat is off site and in storage, when I get the chance to get out to it I'll take a measurement.

Johnny B Good - that is a huge difference to what I'm seeing with my 4-blades Bravo 1's @ 24 pitch. On the GPS with these the most I see is 64.5 For an increase to the speed you see, I should just buy a new set of props! After reading about blueprinting & labbing, I'm not sure the incremental difference is worth the thinning of the blades that occurs. Some of the articles say that the thinning caused by either process can reduce the blade strength by 50% plus. With my everday running and sometimes getting into sand at party spots, I'm not sure that this is a best bet for me. I'm blown away by your top end vs. mine!!!!!

Hey Liquid Fix - can't provide an "X" dimension, my Avenger is "racked", waxed, covered and put to sleep until April 15th in Monroe.

Thanks Verbi, it would be a big help to get that info from a few other Avengers,

Don, at the rate that I'm gathering info April 15th will work!!!
I will remind you again come spring.

I have a set of stock used 26p Bravo one 4 blades that I bought for back up and I will see about a 2 mph increase at all rpm ranges up to about 4000rpm then I will lose about 2mph on top end compared to what my un labbed 3 blade Mirage +’s would run which was 66mph on gps. It seems for what ever reason my Avenger is fairly quick to what other equally powered Avengers. My buddy has a 97 Avenger with HP500s but running 4 blade hydromotives spinning out not labbed and he does have an added on A/C unit up in the bow area and I run dead even with him when we are loaded the same.
I would try a set of 3 blade Mirage plus props that are known to be undamaged and stock, try spinning them in for more bow lift, double check your toe in on your drives, make sure your bottom is clean of any growth etc., and last do a leak down test on the engines. Of course my top end speeds are in perfect case scenario’s, but I will see 68-69 gps 90% of the time thru the season.

Thanks - NeedFor Speed!

Dropped my props off at Hydromotive and talked to Todd at length. Learned a bunch in a short period of time. For one, my 24 pitch Bravo 1's really only averaged out to about a 22 pitch. We had a long discussion about 3 & 4 blades and advantages/disadvantages for my Avenger. (he sold me on the advantages of a 4 blade.) What a "wealth" of info! It was great to sit down & talk with someone vs. over the phone and mailing vs. the ability to drop them off and pick them up. In the end, I went with blueprinting, balancing & polish. Looking forward to picking them up in January!

I've learned lots on this forum myself (good laughs too) and since PQ is about to evaporate for good we have to come here for support...lots of knowledgeable people willing to help.

Now, where's that global warming...winter's too damn long!

Just measured mine and it was around 2" below bottom (give or take a little), but drives were trimmed up a bit. Slip at WOT is around 15%, 24% at 3500rpm, 19% at 4000rpm.

Thanks for the info RPM. I'm going to add drive spacers and see if that helps me out any. Mine can get tricky to plane in rough water as well due to the props breaking loose. I will post results this spring with before and after data.
Happy Holidays!!!!

Did you ever add the spacers? How did it run?

Man, I got so much going on I haven't even had time to put my eyes on the boat much less work on it! I think the best thing to do would be sell it or trade for something smaller. I don't know what to do. Atleast it's parked inside so i guess it's not hurting anything. Now I'm depressed!! LOL!

I was curious if you ever sold it or not. I am the guy who looked at it back in early March, while in working in Beaumont.

The sale of my old boat drug out a month longer than scheduled and my lowball offer on a 380 Avenger up north was accepted. I would think you could sell yours pretty easily, as it is a nice boat.