Ready for Summer
 

Everyone ready for Summer or doing winter projects?

Projects aren’t done but I’m ready for summer.

Several weeks of pretty brutal cold and snow, I’m sofa king ready for spring. But like liberator221 said I have barely started my projects and have a lot to do. Like whole new interior among other touch ups 🤦🏻‍♂️. Wife should be happy I just left the motors in the dam thing


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We are getting closer, putting on a pair of Imco SC's with -2 shorties and doing a repair on a Drive Guardian. Should be back together and ready by next weekend. Then just have to wait for Ice to melt!
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well, i'm waiting for you to let me know how those shorties work out !

my drives have about 1000hours on them , somethings going to give.

also a a very minor oil drip on the starboard motor, trying to decide if its worth digging into this again.
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It's -4 here in Michigan and we are going to get another free load of hickory firewood today after it warms up a bit. I have 3 props here to test on the boat and a pair of headsets on the way but it's hard to get excited about boating when temp is in the negatives. :(

Looks awesome, I'm looking forward to see how the shorties work. I will post results as soon as I have the info.

I'm north of Chicago so same weather here. I guess maybe a little talk of summer to break things up!

i might not be able to wait that long. either i just gamble on them or i rebuild the whole drive and possibly sell the stock lowers later. i'm also confused about the lower gear ratio? i've got 1.36 ratio , dont know if thats good, bad or whatever?

I went from 1:36 to 1:50 and it changed the way the boat drove in a great way. Most of my boating is on smaller lakes though so the 1:36 although not bad didn't work as well for me. With my new motor build I also jumped a prop to a 32, my 30 was bouncing off the rev limiter. I have been told the -2 will be helpful, they are still about 2" below the hull. I wish I could provide more data but have to wait until it warms up.

i must be stupid, i dont get how gear ratio and prop pitch matter if they all equal out in the same amount of water moved. like in a jeep a 31 inch tire with a 3.21 rear end is the same as a 35 inch tire with a 3.73 rear end. same engine rpm gives you the same speed.

should i switch mine? why would saber have used that ratio when the boat was made?

To answer your last question most engine and drive manufacturers pair them based on HP and weight etc. Think of it differently than the tire gear ration thing. Look at it more like a 10 speed bicycle. When you use first gear turning that large 27" wheel is simple, tougher in 10th.
This prop calculator is one of my favorites. Put in your own information and you should get pretty accurate information to include your slip numbers. I hope that and the calculator help.

Propeller Calculator / Prop Calculator

Probably whatever they could get the best deal on lol.
That being said, when these boats were built the selection of props was way more limited than today, and once you ran out of pitch/diameter the only remedy was to spin them faster.

did you get a chance to try those lower units yet?

Not yet, just moved, am building a warehouse, and mostly we need some water my way. They have been repairing a Damn and it is too low to boat! A couple weeks. I will post results.

that would be great! i'm having mr. gadgets on here rebuild and beef up my bravos. just dont know if i will rebuild the lowers or replace them with short imco's. if they work for you i'll probably try them. please keep me informed!

They finally closed the damn where we are and the water is quickly rising to summer pool levels. Hopefully soon. I will definitely keep you posted.

get the bottom of that boat wet yet?

I splashed it once for a shakedown run, 30 minutes. All I can say so far is a little cavitation getting on plane, livable. Not sure if any performance gains yet. Had a couple other bugs to sort out as I also had a motor out over the winter to repair a Drive Guardian.
It might get wet tomorrow and definitely by the weekend. More to come thanks for asking.

Second time out with Imco"s and -2 shorties. I don't love the cavitation when getting on plane, can live with it though. Picked up 3 MPH and 300 to 400 RPM with less trim with a full tank. Still tweaking and adjusting but results are not bad.
Prop slip is 17.7 so thinking maybe a 5 blade should help slippage and cavitation planing.

what speed are you running now?

With a full tank and 4 adults 94, that was typically 91 last year. Better with two people and 1/2 tank. Best of 94 last year.

ordered my imco shorties. man writing that check hurt.

what props did you run with?

Bravo 32 4 blades. I feel your pain for sure.

did you try to run your three blades on the imco lowers?

I'm cavatating a 32 4 blade. Not sure what 3 blade would get on plane!

i almost could not find props. no one has the bravo one four blades. got some made with allot of begging , hill marine signatures. thought i was running those 3 blades at idle for the summer. lol

tested mine, allot of cavitation. gets on plane but i'm doing a burnout for about ten seconds till they hook up. should i try five blades?

I have found give it a bunch of throttle as soon as the nose starts to drop you can back off. If you leave it while cavitating it will continue. I probably run up to 3600 it's cavitating so really not hard on drive, and back down when it comes over, then you can get back into it. After that they rock. I also found getting on plane while turning it keeps the hull away from the front of the prop. Where I can I use that method, I also though of 5 blades but concerned for the stress on drives.

guy that built my drives calls five blades drive breakers.

thats what i found out, soon as they slip i give it more throttle and back off as the nose drops.