boating noob that wants to go fast here

Hi everyone,

I bought my first boat last year its a 1984 16' Edison sport fire gt with a 88 Johnson 150 on it. the boat seems to have good floors and transom. I spent most of this year fixing the motor. I rebuild the carbs (I had to buy new bowls and jets), ran new fuel lines, resealed the lower and put a fresh water pump on it. Its run pretty OK. I think I tried to flood it when starting it. After a while of running like crap it got happy ran and idled well. I need to re-adjust the shift rod as after testing reverse it no longer goes in forward. I would love suggestions of what to look out for with a motor this huge. I would love to get this boat going 60mph. I know I will need to figure out a prop for that. I am also thinking of swapping the motor for something either fuel or direct injected. Maybe get a mercury and see how it compares to the omc. any thoughts and suggestions welcome.

I would expect it to go 60 now... that's a lot of steam for a 16' boat?

Raker 24 will get you close. Or you could try a merc prop with flo torque hub and adapt. Need to speak with a prop shop to get that sorted out. The merc props are plentiful and many options vs omc where there isn’t a lot of choices. There’s also the omc SST props that work pretty dang well for what they are. Raker is the most aggressive through hub prop omc made and they run strong. Probably the easiest and best bet to find one of those. If you buy one and slap it on and the performance suits you you’re all set. If you don’t like the handling or the performance is not quite where you want it you can play with engine height. The higher you mount the engine on the transom the faster it will go but too high and you lose water pressure and eat your motor so if you want to start messing with motor height a water pressure gauge is pretty much mandatory. Also if you lift the motor too high it will suffer getting out of the hole and can slip excessively. It can be a fair bit of work to find the sweet spot with regards to engine height. Be careful with speed in old hulls especially ones without a pad they can get pretty hairy at 60. Just ease into it a little at a time until your confident. A foot throttle and steering wheel trim goes a long way to helping you control your rig running wide open. You can keep both hands on the wheel and lift off the throttle quickly if need be. Have fun, be safe, wear life vest when going for speed runs

Welcome to the site. Get your safety gear in order is the most important. You would love a DFI Mercury but if you really want to go fast get a hull suited for it. I have no idea what an Edison is but at 16' it could be a handful. Good luck and be careful.

Rock

My only suggestions are to have good safety gear (lifeline vest), make and record small adjustments, and ask a ton of questions here. There's some pretty smart people on her to help. There's a video on a 22 Talon here, you should watch it. Pics of your boat would also be appreciated. Welcome in.

Thanks for the info, I plan on slowly working my way up to top speed so I can learn how this boat handles and what it needs. I can't find really any info on my boat, but I bought it because it looks like a fast bowrider with a huge motor. I had plans of wearing a life jacket when doing runs but I will look into getting a lifeline.

Here is a picture of my boat.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/PPM5BcnT76csmwY98

Please post a picture of the back of the bottom.

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Originally Posted by Swanton1337

…but I bought it because it looks like a fast bowrider with a huge motor….

Here is a picture of my boat.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/PPM5BcnT76csmwY98

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Good choice. Fast bow riders are rare as hen’s teeth, IME.

Attachment 535539

Our 18 footer with 2.4/200

-Peter

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Originally Posted by David

Please post a picture of the back of the bottom.

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From the looks of that back roller on the trailer, there either doesn't look to be a pad, or a very small one. Neighbor way back when had a Forester 18' (I think), and hung a 2.4 Bridgeport on it. It was a +/- 75 mph setup. Squirrelly as a 2WD pickup on an icy road. China wok'd like a man with different length legs at last call, until the steering wheel and hul somehow wobbled into a harmonic balance.:D

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Originally Posted by David

Please post a picture of the back of the bottom.

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Here you go. I added more pics of the boat in the link as this site won't let me upload multiple on my phone.

Attachment 535542Attachment 535543
https://photos.app.goo.gl/YjmoSq2RGiHJoF718https://photos.app.goo.gl/YjmoSq2RGiHJoF718

It's not a real pad bottom boat, which will make it harder to drive over 60 mph. The faster V bottoms have a flat section, aka pad, at the bottom instead of a sharp V. I agree with the 24 Raker suggestion. A Raker will cost less then an equivalent Merc prop. A 4 blade Renegade (OMC) or Trophy (Merc) might be a bit easier to drive. It should be a fun boat. I wonder if those were built in Canada. I used to see them around sometimes.

Attachment 535545

Also, since nobody else said it yet, if you’re going to drive a fast squirrelly boat, the legends here, (of which I am not one), might tell you in the name of safety, to go with hydraulic steering, if you haven’t already. Do you at least have dual cable steering as-is?

-Peter

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Originally Posted by David

It's not a real pad bottom boat, which will make it harder to drive over 60 mph. The faster V bottoms have a flat section, aka pad, at the bottom instead of a sharp V. I agree with the 24 Raker suggestion. A Raker will cost less then an equivalent Merc prop. A 4 blade Renegade (OMC) or Trophy (Merc) might be a bit easier to drive. It should be a fun boat. I wonder if those were built in Canada. I used to see them around sometimes.

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Good to know, I will just have some fun with this thing, fix what needs to still be fixed on it and move it on. I will just need to figure out another boat to keep an eye out for (any suggestions for a bow rider I can go stupidity fast in? like 90mph for cheapish I know of the hydrostream voyager but what else is there?). I won't push this thing super hard. I think it might be Canadian because when looking for specs I can only find other sale ads which are in Canada. But funny enough so far I have found another one with a 150hp on it so I am guessing that's the max hp you can/should put on it.

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Originally Posted by pcrussell50

Also, since nobody else said it yet, if you’re going to drive a fast squirrelly boat, the legends here, (of which I am not one), might tell you in the name of safety, to go with hydraulic steering, if you haven’t already. Do you at least have dual cable steering as-is?

-Peter

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Its just a single cable but, not going to push this thing as a speed boat. But thank you for the knowledge I do want to get hydraulic steering but not for this boat I think.

90MPH will never be cheap. Bowriders that do 90 are very rare. Even this Voyager with a 200 supposedly does 50MPH 1988 Hydrostream Voyager 21 trades?? - boats - by owner - marine sale - craigslist It would need a lot more power to do 90.

This one might get close, but i wouldn't call it cheap. 2008 Hydrostream Voyager - boats - by owner - marine sale - craigslist

Hydrostream voyagers would be a perfect selection, if you can find one that isn't rotten. Another great option would be checkmate. If you have the skills, bringing one back from the dead is would be a great project. Money wise, finding someone that suffered through it, and buying it turnkey will probably be cheaper in the end. Not toention, not having fiberglass itch PTSD the rest of your life.:D