I could really use some advise its a 91 26 nova st non step hull stock 280hp 5.7s bravo 1 drives. I am just getting it together and have never run the boat. it had big blocks but now has small blocks. I have no idea how its going to run any help would be great thanks Keith

I would guestimate something close to a 23 Mirage Plus.

what do you have now? 23's or 25's. i have 23 mirage (1 plus, i reg) 300+hp 350's in my 27 nova 3. they say my step and pad make no diff in boat performance from the 26 nova straight hull. anyway, unless going from 305's to 454's, it generally makes sense to try the paid-for props to get a baseline to work from. 2 inches of pitch is roughly 10% difference in WOT rpm. if u have 25's and have a hard time getting on plane and can't hit 4000 at all, then you have an idea you wanna go down to 21's. without wasting the price of a pair of 23's. you might also be ok with the boat's performance with exisiting props. something tells me you didn't go from 454's to 350's cuz u wanted to maximize top speed...plus, with the weight the stern just lost, bow lift is gonna be a different issue than before. if you have no props, try to borrow a set of 23 or 21 bravo or mirages. heck, even a junk set of aluminum props if free (or 50 bucks each off ebay) will give you an idea what boat is gonna like.

thanks guys I bought the boat without power so I have no props. I didn't put back the big blocks for a couple of reasons first I think twin bb is a lot of weight for a boat that's only 25' 8" Im not looking for a rocket this time but what I hope will be a good handling boat. plus the cost of fuel and I built this one for my son and I hope it was a good decision to go with small blocks I figure if we like the boat we have a lot of room for more power on them bravos. There is a pair of 22 four blades on e bay what do you think?

BBlades is at the Miami Boat Show. I would wait until they get back for some advice and would probably use their test program if you can't find any props locally to try.
They may have done props in the past for a boat just like yours.

seeing that the lake is frozen over I can wait thanks

Keith, I would start some 3 blade 21's and see where your at. My old nova had 21 cleaver style props running about 4600. This was with 260hp and alphas, so you will probably rev a little higher. Those old 350's are great motors and props are cheap.

We'll be back next Thursday and can help you with a couple of nest props we have some things that will work for you.

Thank you,
Brett