Old 1980s Collins Mirage Gurus

[baja200merk]

We have a classic, the boats an 88 and the deck is as thin as a wet bud light box. I have been doing some research and while speaking with the most knowledgeable tunnel boat builders in the country I was informed they are notorious for "hooking" under power. Where the bottom appears strait on the trailer but it develops a hook from the load of the water limiting top speed. We are planning on testing this by re-coring and adding stringers to Beefs 88 mirage sponsons. I'm wondering if anyone else has seen this first hand and how handling or speed improved.

We are cutting up a boat that runs great to test this but the pro's that build these things for a living said its true. Im not questioning them. I was just wondering if anyone else is having issues and want to forward this info. If you need a professional to check and or repair this problem I can forward you their info.

The mutt runs ok but the boat is older then the driver so it is whats in question right now. The old boat runs great but I dont want to see anyone get hurt.:nonod:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jhK4b0TEjN0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SHFHt2Zdz5I

[toyomirage02]

oh boy, ,when do whe get to watch this,, no its just the old bottom,there not as fast as the newer ones

[toyomirage02]

center pod not the outside sponsons

[baja200merk]

oh boy, ,when do whe get to watch this,, no its just the old bottom,there not as fast as the newer ones

HMMMM maybe you should check-in with your daddy mullins..... You need to fix that diving board that you call a transom :eek:

My "old bottom" has been faster then yours for 10 yrs. Waited at the island for 8 hours but you never showed with that whooping you promised me. TRUTH HURTS..... :)

[toyomirage02]

LMAO :iagree: ,,,,better call sparky to put some more steps in ole spalding you got :leaving:

[baja200merk]

Good thing I have a go pro camera. You would never know how it rides, all u see is me sitting on the dash 1/2 way through a cold one WAITING for you...

[toyomirage02]

lmao better start a new thread i see where this one is goin,,,are you drunk again

[baja200merk]

Stop drunk posting on facebook. You dont know that girl and she has never met you.

I will have greg shut off your Private messages in 3... 2.. 1...

[toyomirage02]

well i dont wanna meet her, so there but there maybe a victim on the otherside somewhere

oh and i know gobble gobble on him

[Da Bull]

Way back in the 80`s i was frotunate to drive for Louis and Brad in Mod-VP. My time with them was with the gen 1 and then the gen 2. 1988 would have been gen 2. Both boats were fast but not super light because of the type of water we ran in. Drag boats were made much lighter. We did have hooking problems with the gen 2 but only because we were running a heavier motor. louis wanted to try the Yamaha 225 Excel. The added weight and the way the power band came in during a turn around the bouy`s cause me to hook the boat several times and rolling it twice. Louis nick named it Flipper because of this. Thinking back i remember testing the very first gen 2 on a cold winter day in January. I put it through it`s paces but we had no idea there was a hooking problem at the time. Louis just said to be carefull because he wasn`t swimming out after me. Man if i had pushed it just a little harder that day i may have gotten a very cold bath. Speed was not a problem as we had more than the Mercs at the time. The light weight Mercs turned better and also had a smoother power band compared to the peaky Yamaha. Getting technical when the power came on it would force the right rear corner down and dig in. This would create a hook. My teamate (Red Hindmind) ran a 225 Suzuki and he had the same problem. The suzuki was a slower motor but was also heavy and peaky. After the the Jap motor expierment and my job changed and prevented me from racing Red told me that the excact same boat he had the Suzuki on turnned way better with the new Merc.
Age could be a factor in ya`lls problem. Please keep us informed on the testing.

DB

[Da Bull]

Testing on that cold winter day in the gen 2

[CptAJ]

How would you tell this hull apart from the newer ones? Lots of mirage copies in my country. It would be useful to know which is which

[Da Bull]

Lot of copies here to. Just by the name i guess.

DB

[baja200merk]

I'm not talking about hooking in a hard turn. I'm talking about the older boats with no stringer in the center of the sponsons allowing the water pressure to bend the bottom creating a hook in the bottom at speed but sitting on the trailer the bottom appears strait (no load).

It is a common problem with older boats jack and Mullins both recommend putting stringers in them to fix them.

[Da Bull]

Gotcha. I agree. Sounds like a stringer would do the trick.

[RNM018]

Kevin , You shouldn't need to mess with the outboard sponsons. just a stringer and core , down the center should do the trick .

Rich Martin 018

[gary slagle]

several years ago, a dark blue Mirage with a 280 had a hook problem ,you could always tell when that boat was out on the lake by the sound, it hopped pretty bad at speed. i dont know if it was ever fixed, but i would think Mullins would have the cure.stringers & core wont be a problem for you & Beef .:thumbsup:

[baja200merk]

10-4 we are going to dig into it after the keys run this weekend. The whole boat is thin and he already stuffed it and busted a bulkhead through the deck once so.... :eek:

[Da Bull]

Is it the 1st gen or 2nd?

[baja200merk]

Its a 1988 I'm not sure if its 1st or 2nd gen? I'm a little suspicious of this bottom because it almost rides too good. Zero hop whatsoever, I have never seen a mirage (or tunnel boat) that doesnt hop a bit at one point or another. The bottom of the thing looks like a swimming pool on a windy day especially the tops of the tunnels (very wavy), mine is strait as an arrow and hops bad (different bottom though).

Heres the best pic I could find of his of his bottom

http://i408.photobucket.com/albums/pp163/hondacr8288/17F3B82F-AB47-4332-952C-93C8BDE070DF-947-000001657783636F_zps35b29536.jpg (http://s408.photobucket.com/user/hondacr8288/media/17F3B82F-AB47-4332-952C-93C8BDE070DF-947-000001657783636F_zps35b29536.jpg.html)

[Da Bull]

Thats the 2nd gen.

[baja200merk]

Boat drives awesome, the previous owner said it was a 515lb boat ~8-10 yrs ago. Its had a new transom and floor put in by someone. Either his scales are off or the scale we used is off cause the 2 were 400 lbs off, then we removed 100lbs of lead from the winch post on the trailer :eek: so call it 300lbs difference.

[baja200merk]

Pulled floor up center stringer is wet mush the last 8 ft of the center pod. It moves a lot when you push on it. Going to pull a couple test plugs of the core next.

http://i408.photobucket.com/albums/pp163/hondacr8288/16836552-74B3-4549-8B5D-2DB84E320F45_zpsexlts2fs.jpg (http://s408.photobucket.com/user/hondacr8288/media/16836552-74B3-4549-8B5D-2DB84E320F45_zpsexlts2fs.jpg.html)

[TahitiDave]

297914Not the best pic but all I have, this is a 1987 Mirage built by Lee Boats. From what I have read and been told this is 1 of the first 15 made. I can get a better pic of the bottom but you can see an obvious difference in the transom. This boat is still relatively original. It has 4 bulkheads in each outer sponson to support a very thin deck. Was told by previous owner he could never get below 1500lbs in race trim w/a merc 280. I have run a best of 108 w/a 225 promax and have not noticed any hull flex or hook! Maybe some of this info helps. Dave

[Da Bull]

All 1st gen`s were made at Lee Boats in northern Alabama. First shop for 2nd gen`s was in Krum, Tx.

DB

[baja200merk]

We didnt notice any hook cause its strait on the trailer. Boat drove awesome, I have been 108+ at 6000 rpm in it and I could not believe how nice it drove (next pass went 6500 but GPS died so no proof no MPH :rolleyes: ) and it got de-rigged.

We couldnt figure out why it went 101 with a 1989 200 85psi compression then built a ported 3.3 it went 104 put a sporty on it with 1.62 it went 104. Oh and it has broke almost every single prop we ran on it with 3 different gear cases, 4 different engines, 4 different mids, 3 differnent jack plates with 14 million different engine heights.

I thought the boat felt strange in this video like there was a perfect swell in the LAKE.... After watching that bottom flex while I pushed on it earlier, I wonder if thats what I'm seeing/ feeling.......

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ekAvA0kgSPM

[toyomirage02]

no gary that dark blue wasnt a mirage it was a q shot