I never looked at it that way, but now that you mention it…
Go black you always come back….. it’s all good
This is my one and only Merc. I will definitely be returning to the land of Japanese egg beaters!!
Par for the course at this point, but thank you
He had all the right answers when I spoke to him and came pretty well recommenced in a local facebook boating group. Oem parts only, dial indicators to check shaft tolerances on the blocks, etc, etc, etc. I don’t know how to build I drive so I hope he’s good. Supposedly he’s built bravos for some of the local go fast guys.
DO IT!!!
DO IT!!!
You're gonna love it. I took 5 of my buddies over to Rock Hall last season. All of them weight 280 lbs or more. I had a full water tank, full HWH, quarter full holding tank, 2 decent sized coolers, and about 55 gallons of fuel. After we all got on board one of them said, "You're never gonna get this thing on plane.". My reply was, "If it does with no problem, you gonna pay for everything I do today?". The fool said yes. I had the best day with the guys in Rock Hall ever.
I feel your pain on the repair bills brother. I've got $9500 invested in major repairs this year. My engine is sitting in the mechanic's shop until he reopens in March. Nothing wrong with it, but it had to come out so my transom assembly could be replaced. I started taking on water last year to the point where I wrapped up the season a couple of weeks early. Mine's 2 years older than yours, so the transom needed another overhaul of everything. I would have just let the mechanic repair all of the individual items, but back in 2015 I broke one of the ears on the inner transom plate that the 2 big bolts that hold the steering actuator go through. I fixed it "temporarily" with a piece of 1/4" flat steel that I shaped with an angle grinder to make a patch plate to hold the broken off piece in place. I drilled and tapped into what remained on the transom plate and bolted the broken off piece back on. I've checked it regularly and it was always tight and working well, but it's finally time for me to pay the stupid tax on that one. PSA for anyone reading this that may not know better. If you remove the steering actuator be very careful to make sure that everything is aligned properly while tightening the 2 large bolts holding it in place. It takes shocking little force to snap the ear that the bolt passes through off if the actuator is not aligned properly while you are tightening it. Sorry to make that red, but it is something that I had wished I read somewhere before I did it. I hope it saves somebody else someday. Someone outside of the boat distracted me. At any rate. If you do get the 8.1 package, you'll need the etxra expensive "HP" transom assembly in lieu of the regularly expensive "HP" transom assembly. I checked with lots of parts people. Not a single one could explain what was mechanically different, but all could explain that it's $600 different. The mechanic has my engine sitting in the shop for the first time since I've owned the boat, so no sense putting it back in without doing some of the essentials. I've got 2 complete exhaust manifold kits ($1700), new spark plugs and wires, 5 gallons of new coolant so he can drain and flush it before he puts it back in. Then there's a new HWH ($325) since it's easy to replace while the engine is out, the quiet motor upgrade kit for the Vacuflush system with 4 new duck bills ($301), and I'm waiting for a new Cool Fuel module housing ($630) to arrive so that I can swap the parts from the old housing over. That one was leaking at the water line connections. The only saving grace is that the boat, as well as all of the above is paid for. I gave the mechanic $6k in December to buy the transom assembly and cover the engine removal and wrapping the boat. I'm starting off with him owing me money and parts. But at least I should be down to the small stuff for a bit.
Ya know... After seeing all of the other work you've done... I'm gonna be your Sam Kinison style guardian angel. Imagine this in his voice... Come on.... you know you want to... you just gotta know what the hell is making that noise... you know that this thread is totally worthless without pictures of the guts of that outdrive splayed all over your workbench... you know you gotta tear that sucker apart and see what's making that noise... it still operates fine... might be only one or two bad parts... you're gonna lose sleep over it for the next 5 years... what if it was a cheap repair... you're gonna have to get a new one anyway... you might even get some new tools while your at it... what do you have to lose... you might even save some money... well... just kidding... scratch that last part.... hehehe...
Unfortunately, the pictures seem to have gotten destroyed in the website hack a few months back. I got a new phone in February 2023, so I do not have any of the originals to repost.
I really like the idea of 35 to 3600 RPMs at 27 or 28. What I’ve noticed is this hull seems to be really happy at 32 but I don’t like pushing the 6.2 that hard.I've got the 425HP version. Drive ratio is 2.2:1 and I have 26p props.
Looking at your 1st picture, at 27MPH, I'd be at about 3450-3500 RPM and in the range of 14.3 - 14.6 GPH. Not too different.
The second pic... I only run mine once or twice a year to it's red line, which is 5000 RPM. When I have done so, I have never held it there long enough for the boat to stop accelerating and settle in at a top speed. I have seen 45 MPH (and still pulling) at 26+ GPH but I have no idea what the actual top speed is. I suspect that it would be on the north side of 50 MPH. Every once in a while, some joker in a little speedy boat will start messing around showing off and they seem to get a bit nonplussed as they realize that they are watching the stern of a cruiser pulling away. Must be tough to explain that one to the girlfriend as she slaps you and says, "You mean to tell me we could have gone fast, had a place to sleep, AND a head that flushes all at the same time?".
Quite frankly, a 260DA does not handle all that well at more than 40 MPH and I'm really not comfortable driving it at that speed for very long. It is impressive, though. The real benefit is just being able to throw whatever you can fit on the boat and having no concerns at all about getting it up on plane.
