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2800SX Outboard Restoration Begins!!!

DropTop5.0 said:
Very cool JP. From a cost perspective, I’ve been considering the same setup. Seems like the old EFI’s are pretty bullet proof but also quite thirsty.

What do you think it would take to get your slip numbers down to around 12%?
Click to expand...

Going to a 4 blade prop with more diameter and pitch is going to be the ticket. It's may a few different props trials to get it right but I think some Bravo One 28's would probably do the trick. I think the 30's will be too big but I'm going to try them anyway.
 
'Bravo One 28's'

Steve, I loved my 28 Bravos (w- vent holes) on my 30' OB. They hooked up great, handled like on rails, carried the bow nice in the chop, and were only a few mph off a set of worked choppers!

Cheers-
 
I remember Ramifications getting some props from BBlades (lease / loan program) and they looked like choppers but were 4 blades. I do not know anything about prop dynamics but it seems like over the hub would have more blade to cut through the water than a though hub. Might be something to try someday.

It seems like the IO boats love the Bravos so this will be a nice test. If you can't spin them 30's, you'll just have to add more power. :D
 
JUPITER PULSARE said:
Going to a 4 blade prop with more diameter and pitch is going to be the ticket. It's may a few different props trials to get it right but I think some Bravo One 28's would probably do the trick. I think the 30's will be too big but I'm going to try them anyway.
Click to expand...

I tried 26" Bravo 1's on my Fla Sonic, after reading the raves about them.
What a PIA.
Started w/a great deal on a pair of virgin wheels but didnt realize they had no vent holes. Boat would barely plane!

Added holes and cured that.

Then took full up trim to carry the bow and it hopped while doing so.

Cut 70% of the lip at rear of hub and cured 90% of that.

They were still several off a pair of stock 26" Rakers (similar to Mirages) and were way too much everywhere else.
Was told the Bravos are bigger than advertised.
Would have liked to try a pair of 24's.

I just played w/your #'s in the prop calculator and agree with droptop.

Using your #'s (erroring to the good), @ 5800 and changing nothing but your slip to 9% you p/u 7 - 8 MPH, or 74 MPH and 77 @ 6K!

My Fla Sonic never ran like my Ohio Sonic, dont know why but the Ohio boat was my benchmark.
Of all the boats Ive re-rigged, repowered, none ran like that boat.

W/26" Choppers @ 6400 and 9% ship, that boat ran 80 GPS and 78/79 w/26" Rakers.
I called Hoss propeller to order a set of their Hyperdrive (Chopper) wheels.
They asked my #'s and could hear them working a calculator on their side.

Got back on phone and said thanks for thinking of them but had nothing to improve what I already had.

!0% slip has always been my target and thats harder to hit than most know.

Everything I tried after the fact, slowed it down.
So that was the one and only boat that I nailed from the start.

I experimented w/set back, height, prop rotation, nose cones, toe in/out tons of props etc.
Nothing improved the orig #'s.
Also proved 90% of legend, wrong.

Not knowing your set up, Id look at engine height.
A mistake I see a lot of people making on heavier boats is raising the motors too high.
Just read a great article describing that.
Heavier the rig, deeper the wheels must be to get bite to carry the weight.

We tested that on the Ohio Sonic. Had a buddy crew for me and we went up 1/2" at a time on its manual plates.
First 1" did nothing. Third 1/2" raised RPM's w/no change to speed, thereby increasing slip.
Raised them a fourth 1/2" and the RPMs raised again, this time scrubbing speed.
Also went from neutral trim carrying the bow to requiring full up trim.
1/2 a day at the ramp poved we were there when we go there.

Your boat should fly w/Choppers.
 
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Jup, if you find that the Bravo 1 30s are too much pitch, I may consider taking them off your hands if you decide to sell. I'm easily hitting the rev limiters at 6400/6500rpm with the Bravo one 27s with the 1.75:1 gear case 350 Vrods at 82GPS. I didn't get enough seat time last year to try other props yet but anxious to do so with anything above the 27Ps.
Ramifications has a set of 28P choppers I'm also gonna try which gets him to 82GPS with his setup. I have a few months of wishful thinking before the weather turns.:)
 
DropTop5.0 said:
I remember Ramifications getting some props from BBlades (lease / loan program) and they looked like choppers but were 4 blades. I do not know anything about prop dynamics but it seems like over the hub would have more blade to cut through the water than a though hub. Might be something to try someday.

It seems like the IO boats love the Bravos so this will be a nice test. If you can't spin them 30's, you'll just have to add more power. :D
Click to expand...

Over the hub does not have more blade. You have to remember that the diameter of the gear case blocks water flow from reaching the part of the prop close to the hub at high speeds. Over the hub will help with out of the hole acceleration. The biggest influence on props is blade shape, cup, pitch and diameter. The choppers are very light and therefore spool up quickly but don't have great efficiency on heavier boats.
 
I have a feeling the 30 pitch Bravos will be a lot of wheel for the setup to spin efficiently. Once I got the height setup dialed in for my boat with little trim needed to carry the bow, I could spin my 26 choppers easily to the limiters but the 26 Bravo 1’s not so easily. I had my 26 bravos labbed and tweaked to 27’s and can get still get them to the raised limiters (6900 rpm with modified 300 Vrods 1.85 lowers) with a lighter load. The best speed performing props I have run are the 28 labbed choppers and like chuck said, I had a best of 82 with 4 adults, 2 children and 60ish gallons of gas on the limiters. I think I will try 30 choppers this year and hope for 86-89. Although I have no real experience with your particular setup, I would try to find a set of 26-27 bravo’s to get a baseline from and would think they will be right were you need to be. Good luck!
 
Ramifications said:
I have a feeling the 30 pitch Bravos will be a lot of wheel for the setup to spin efficiently. Once I got the height setup dialed in for my boat with little trim needed to carry the bow, I could spin my 26 choppers easily to the limiters but the 26 Bravo 1’s not so easily. I had my 26 bravos labbed and tweaked to 27’s and can get still get them to the raised limiters (6900 rpm with modified 300 Vrods 1.85 lowers) with a lighter load. The best speed performing props I have run are the 28 labbed choppers and like chuck said, I had a best of 82 with 4 adults, 2 children and 60ish gallons of gas on the limiters. I think I will try 30 choppers this year and hope for 86-89. Although I have no real experience with your particular setup, I would try to find a set of 26-27 bravo’s to get a baseline from and would think they will be right were you need to be. Good luck!
Click to expand...

I tried the Bravo 30's once but that was with the carb motors (no low water pickups) when I had the motors mounted to high. Never got to ring them out because I was losing water pressure but I had no problem jumping on plane and running up to 70ish before backing out...
 
ChuckB said:
Jup, if you find that the Bravo 1 30s are too much pitch, I may consider taking them off your hands if you decide to sell. I'm easily hitting the rev limiters at 6400/6500rpm with the Bravo one 27s with the 1.75:1 gear case 350 Vrods at 82GPS. I didn't get enough seat time last year to try other props yet but anxious to do so with anything above the 27Ps.
Ramifications has a set of 28P choppers I'm also gonna try which gets him to 82GPS with his setup. I have a few months of wishful thinking before the weather turns.:)
Click to expand...

Chuck, do your 27's have the PVS vents? I may be interested in them if you need bigger wheels!!
 
Well, after searching for weeks for a used pair of Mercury Bravo One FS 28's, I finally pulled the trigger on a pair of new ones with hubs & tax for $1479.00 shipped to my door!!!!!! Today I check my prop search on S&F only to find out some guy has a pair (no hubs) for $1000.00 1.5 hours south of me..OUCH! lol
 
New Speed Record!!

Yesterday was the 1st full day running my Mercury 250 EFIs with my new Bravo One FS 28's props. The motors are beasts and had no problems spinning the 28's to 6000 rpm reflected on my tachs.:thumb: (the motors are rated for 5800 rpm so I'm thinking the computers could've been reflashed) I removed all the PVS vents on the props so they'll spool up faster. The motors bog for just a few seconds before the prop bite and hit hard like someone lit the afterburners!!! We ran the ocean from Jupiter Inlet to St Lucie Inlet in 1-2' chop with a 3' swell thrown in for good measure to keep me on my toes. Mid throttle response was amazing (much better than the chopper 26's) and every time we caught some air the props were barking!:) Had a great lunch at Pirates Cove where we hooked up with Tim in his Enchanter. On the way home I snuck in a few full throttle passes and saw 75mph flash on my GPS. I then recorded one quick run but pulled out for safety reasons; it was hard to maintain due to many boat wakes and boat traffic. That run showed 74.1 which is the fastest recorded speed I've had the boat since ownership (and that was with my full cabin and 75 gallons of gas!). Here's a quick acceleration video my wife shot:

https://youtu.be/_Eaa2rgzlxk
 

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JT Patroni said:
Glad to see positive results after the expense of new props. :cheers:

Your are making it hard for the northeast boys when you show us your videos.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I'd say from 26 pitch choppers @ 67mph to 28 pitch Bravo Ones @ 75mph is a bit of an improvement!!:bigthumb: I never realized how inefficient the choppers were...they were a blast out of the hole but obviously had a lot of slip.
 
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