1998 prowler
 

was 98 a good year for the prowler model any pros and cons on this year what problem iteams to look for
also how do the run with a 502 415 hp
what kind of speeds can i hope for and what are some inexpence up grades to gain more speed

I sold a few 98's and 99's back in the day. They were great boats. Those are the Jay Ross days, good quality. Some of the paint was a little marginal would be the only con I can think of. I think they would run 64-66 if I remember right.

what up grades can be done to get in the low 70s or do i need a bigger motor

Great boats. 1998 was the first year, and Jay built those boats solid as granite. They are heavy though. I bet my 1999 HP500EFI with a B1 drive and single ram Imco hydraulic steering was pushing 5500 lbs. It was 7280lbs. on the trailer full of fuel, tools, gear, anchor, etc. etc. It would run 69mph almost anyday. It would run 72mph with some air under it. If you want a consistent 70+ MPH boat, I bet you are going to need 600 reliable HP, a well built Bravo XR drive; AND hydraulic steering.

I was the third owner of mine, and it's now on it's 4th. The only thing that was an issue on mine was the bow light leaked water into the speaker "pyramid" forward of the v-berth. Also, most of these boats were built with Bennett tabs. These are marginal for this heavy of a boat. I came down hard on a tab that was dropped a little bit and blew out a ferrell nut on one of the lines in the engine compartment. You wanna talk about an ugly mess; imagine the whole engine compartment splatter painted with red ATF. At least I was corrosion protected.

Lastly, the 26' Sonic is really only a 25' boat; due to it's integrated swim platform. It's actually a tad bit shorter with a tape measure; as these boats had a notched transom. The notch was designed to put the prop in cleaner water; especially with a little chop. However, the negative is that the notch has a tendency to create a bit of a porpoise on flat water. This has been discussed many times by myself and others here on OSO in the past. My suggestion is swap out the tabs to 280 K-planes (if not on there already), or at least swap out the Bennett tabs from ST-12s to ST-16s. (16" long vs. 12" long) Dropping the tab just a little bit so the trailing edge met the plane of the running surface was just enough to knock out my porpoise in flat water.

When the going got rough, the boat runs like a freight train. It will outrun anything else of similar size and power in that vintage in 2-4 footers as the boat crushes waves and you can stay on the stick.

would a procharger on a 502 get me into the 70s

It should. I have a buddy with a 272 baja with a 502 procharger and he runs 84mph.

My 98 has a 525SC...With a 5 blade hydro, I can see mid 70's, 4 blade Bravo is worth a couple more mph, but the 5 blade is the ticket.

I also have the K-planes...they definitely make the ride much better (controlling the porpoising under 50).

Currently the motor is out & getting a make-over...a few more ponies will be nice. :drink: