Battleship 25

[DangerNewb]

Hope I'm not stepping on any toes. Randy is putting together a 25 Liberator with 300R's for me. Thought I'd post some pics along the way. I'll post color choices on gel coat, paint, seadek, seats etc for reference for other folks to use as points of reference.

Planning to do a marble stripe outlined with black and a thinner red stripe on the side and on top of sponsons/gunnels. The gel coat color is "Tin Man". The sample looked a little darker than how the boat came out. I was aiming for a little darker gray but am happy with this color. The seats are Carbon Fiber Quick Silver. Sort of wish I had gone with something with a little more contrast to the hull color but I had to pick the upholstery several months back before seeing the hull.

I had a red one with 300XS's for about a year and sold it this past summer. Looking forward to experiencing the 300R's and hoping for better acceleration as folks say. I love running the small boats but weekend lake traffic makes them difficult to enjoy. I thought the 25 was a great compromise between trailerability, performance, nice ride etc. Looking forward to it.

[JPEROG]

Randy can get you the upgraded PPI interior that he does and you can sell your existing one easily. I would have him do the splash well delete on it now before he starts to rig it.

Joe

[DangerNewb]

Thanks Joe, I chose to skip the splashwell delete and front fiberglass work. It's a several thousand dollar upgrade that wasn't worth it for my purposes. I'm just looking for a solid performance package that deals with crowded weekend lake traffic. Same on the PPI interior. I'm not a fan of the high back seats sticking out of the top of the boat. Really messes up the look IMHO. I guess they may offer some not so tall. But again, the cost differential wasn't worth it to me. I think the seats I have will look fine once there's more color on the boat. The bolsters will have some black and red and I'll probably use some color for accent on the seadek.

[GaryConn]

I like it. I'm sure when Randy gets done with it it will look awesome!

[Beak Boater]

Watching your build, they are always fun to see them progress. I own the orange and white 25 that Randy did. Love the boat. Are you planing on spinning the props in or out? Good luck with your build.

[DangerNewb]

Thanks Beak Boater, your boat looks great. My last one had 32 bblades blaster 4 blades turning in. They were on it when I bought the boat and I didn't really experiment other than tried a set of merc 3 blade clevers which had a lot of slip in the 60 to 85 range so I kept running the blasters. Randy says he's had or at at least spoken with someone who's had good results with turning out so I'm gonna try that to start. He told me Hill has come out with a 5 blade thru hub clever that gets on plane without cavitating as much as the over hubs so I plan to try those. May be a couple miles an hour slower on top but I'm not overly concerned with absolute top speed.

How about you? Are you running Hill or real deal Merc 5 blades? In or out?

[Beak Boater]

Running the boat the way Randy set it up. Props spinning out. I think the Green 25 and mine are both spinning out. My son had a 28 Skater with 300 Promax's that we switch from spinning out to in. Picked up 3-5 mph but the boat seemed looser and the bow moved a lot. Was thinking about switching mine just to try it...have heard varying things about what you have to do. You cant just switch the gear cases from side to side I was told.
As far as props, I am running Hill 5 Blade over hub 36X15 1/4 I am interested in the the new thru hubs too. Randy said they are only making the through hubs in one pitch so far to small for what I want. The Hills chatter a little getting on plane, I try to be easy on them taking off. Randy said hydraulic jack plates help that a lot bury them taking off and raise them once running.
Interested in watchin the progress. Its going to be a nice boat .......but you know that, you already owned one.

[DangerNewb]

I see. When I tried the Merc 3 blade clevers on mine, the boat felt loose and light on the rear. Mine were turning in. I only ran them one time. Regardless, the mid range slip was enough reason to go back to the bblades that were on it.

With 36's are your cases 1.75? Mine will be 1.60 so 32 pitch shouid be ok.

The guy who bought mine added 4 batteries, 5 amps and 18 speakers. Even installed speakers on top of the dash pointing straight up. Crazy. I bet he cut 5mph from it.

[KIRCHNER]

i just have to but in, why cant you switch lowers, to change turning in, to turning out & vice/versa? i cant see why not? im missing something?

[DangerNewb]

i just have to but in, why cant you switch lowers, to change turning in, to turning out & vice/versa? i cant see why not? im missing something?

Yeah, I would guess changing the lowers from one side to the other would work, but I don't earn my living working on boats.

Maybe there's more to it than that.

[Beak Boater]

You may be able too....thats what I am saying. Havent got a solid answer. Was told if its DTS it has to be reprogramed if you change the gearcases from side to side. Not sure with the cable shift and throttle if its just a matter of switching the gearcases. If anyone knows feel free to chime in.

[DangerNewb]

I'm sure Randy would know. Maybe he'll comment on switching the lowers being all you need to do. Seems with mechanical cables it would be.

Anyhow, I decided to splurge on the rub rail delete on front and back. Randy is hoping to start work on it full time this week.

[HydroSkreamin]

DTS outboard engines don’t need any reprogramming for gearcase rotation swap. Bravos (sterndrive) do.

[JPEROG]

DTS is the whip :thumbsup:.

Joe

[Chaz]

Not sure with the cable shift and throttle if its just a matter of switching the gearcases. If anyone knows feel free to chime in.

The throttle(s) stays with the same motor .. so take it out of the picture.

Now put one side in gear .. note which direction the shift slide goes. When that lower unit is put on the other side .. the slide needs to go in the same direction. Same applies to the other motor.

Tell us what you learn .. :thumbsup:

[Fish On]

now all it needs is some 007 gadgets