Help me make my Glen L Stiletto Wooden boat FASTER!! (Advice needed)

[frank jackson]

A water pressure gauge is good , you wont need it at the height you are going , but nice for reference . Move the motor as high as the motor can go on the transom as is that will be about 1 or 1.5 inch [ cav. above bottom of boat ] . move the ends of the trim tabs up at the ends to lift them out of the water , guesstamit 1/4 to 1/2 inch , you need to experiment with heights ....They will work to stop the hop but not force the boat down creating drag ...... run the prop you have to get a reference rpm . I do not know what the operating range [rpm] of that motor is , but you want to reach the upper end of it . Eg. 5200-5800 you want to reach the 57-5800 rpm . The Chopper prop in my opinion on this boat is not the way to go , a thru hub prop like a raker omc prop will be better in my opinion . I would do the transom reinforcement sooner than later . The boat is running well for what it is . A prop and set up time will get you a little more ......

[80's old school]

A water pressure gauge is good , you wont need it at the height you are going , but nice for reference . Move the motor as high as the motor can go on the transom as is that will be about 1 or 1.5 inch [ cav. above bottom of boat ] . move the ends of the trim tabs up at the ends to lift them out of the water , guesstamit 1/4 to 1/2 inch , you need to experiment with heights ....They will work to stop the hop but not force the boat down creating drag ...... run the prop you have to get a reference rpm . I do not know what the operating range [rpm] of that motor is , but you want to reach the upper end of it . Eg. 5200-5800 you want to reach the 57-5800 rpm . The Chopper prop in my opinion on this boat is not the way to go , a thru hub prop like a raker omc prop will be better in my opinion . I would do the transom reinforcement sooner than later . The boat is running well for what it is . A prop and set up time will get you a little more ......

Sounds great and I am excited about making some changes to my boat.

My boat already has the Glen L recommended transom reinforcement done when the boat was built. I wonder if there is any improvement I can make... Almost 20 years of running the boat it shows no stress cracks or any indication of weakness.

I am am starting to lean away from doing the jack plate unless I can assure the boat can handle the stress.

How (i.e.) do I measure my motor length? I wonder if there is a motor lower unit /mid section that is shorter. That may be a future option if available for a reasonable price.

With my prop shaft centerline being 8.75" below the bottom of boat, it has a long way to go to be ideal!!

I thank you all so much for the info and suggestions. I learning more about outboard motor boating than I ever imagined.

[300x Stoker]

Not exactly the same as yours but we had the 15' Rebel. Had 2, 6 gallon tanks under the motor well and the battery was back there too. Also had 12 gal. tank under the back to back bench seats. If you remove the fin I don't think you'll like the skidding in turns. After we wore out the 110 Merc we repowered with a Johnson 235 and we never came close to 70 but all we cared about was having a good running ski boat. Pic of the boat is in my gallery. Your boat is a beauty!

[frank jackson]

The motor only has 2 lengths 20, or 25 . Yours will be 20 .. The measurement is from the hook that is over your transom to the cavitation plate ..

[frank jackson]

Your height will not need to go that much higher the type of boat and the power you have you will not need that much more . With the plate 1 inch below the bottom raising it to max will only be 1 inch above the boat bottom moving it up another inch you may gain 1 or 2 mph going more than that will take your skiing and weight carrying ability away . Remember you are not dealing with a 80 or 90 or more mph rig .

[whipper]

i dont know if you can install a low water pickups on that motor but if you can i would raise that motors prop shaft up to were your cavititaion plate is in pic 3 of post #30. if leaving the lower unit as is your water pressure gage is your friend. Raise it as high as you can trimmed with less than 5psi then lower it until you have at least 10 or more. Keep an eye on your temps also. Once you start getting near the surface with your motor height youll need a semi surface type prop like a chopper style designed to run half in half out of the water. This will greatly increase your rpm so you might be able to pitch up to a 21 3 blade. On a flat bottom you want those tabs. They wont scrub speed hardly at all but will greatly reduce porpoising. Almost all flat bottoms run tabs. Very sweet looking hull!! As was mentioned i wouldnt get to carried away trying to get 70 pluss with a 16ft wood boat. Just not designed to handle super fast. if ya have the speed bug buy an Allison XR2002 or a STV euro with a 260 those will fix the speed bug for anyone at 120++ haha

[80's old school]

Not exactly the same as yours but we had the 15' Rebel. Had 2, 6 gallon tanks under the motor well and the battery was back there too. Also had 12 gal. tank under the back to back bench seats. If you remove the fin I don't think you'll like the skidding in turns. After we wore out the 110 Merc we repowered with a Johnson 235 and we never came close to 70 but all we cared about was having a good running ski boat. Pic of the boat is in my gallery. Your boat is a beauty!

I bet bet that was a sight to see having a 235 on the back of that little 15' Rebel!

Did the boat handle that engine OK? Seems like the old 235's would be heavy!!

[300x Stoker]

The sight was the fabrication and metalwork hanging on the back to make a 20" transom. All polished aluminum. Boat handled awesome. It's all about the transom angle. Would porpoise at top speed though.

I bet bet that was a sight to see having a 235 on the back of that little 15' Rebel!

Did the boat handle that engine OK? Seems like the old 235's would be heavy!!

[80's old school]

The sight was the fabrication and metalwork hanging on the back to make a 20" transom. All polished aluminum. Boat handled awesome. It's all about the transom angle. Would porpoise at top speed though.

Do you have any pictures of the metal fabrication you did on the boat? Sounds cool!

[300x Stoker]

I have some old pictures I could scan. It was a very unique boat. The weight handling was assisted by trim/cavitation plates and about 7degree wedges for the extra tuck under. Very powerful ski boat with tiny wake.

[80's old school]

Sounds great. I would love to see the pictures.

[peter1708]

Man I love this boat! I've been a been a fan of the Stiletto (and the Outrage) for a long time. Good luck with your set up, that 115 should really make her fly when you figure out the set up.

Pete

[80's old school]

Man I love this boat! I've been a been a fan of the Stiletto (and the Outrage) for a long time. Good luck with your set up, that 115 should really make her fly when you figure out the set up.

Pete

thank you for the kind words!

[80's old school]

OK, so I installed a water pressure gage and raised the engine from the lowest position to the highest position.

Now the AV plate is about 1.5 to 1.75 inches above the bottom of the boat vs. being below the boat before.

Tomorrow I will head to the lake and see if I notice any changes..

Here are a few pictures after raising engine...

Hope to have some results and pictures tomorrow..

[Jimboat]

Now the AV plate is about 1.5 to 1.75 inches above the bottom of the boat vs. being below the boat before.

So where does that put the CL of the torpedo? Interested to hear how the test goes with the new setup. You could gain as much as 4+mph for that change. You've still got lot's of room to raise the engine....transom mod might be best bet.