Strick is actually the originator of that comment, following the first sea trial of his 25! Pretty accurate description though, so I wasn't shy about repeating it!

Wow, what a score!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! My Mom grew up in Cherry Hill.
I think I can speak for everyone saying "We're all jealous!"

Hope you make your dream come true with that one. I'd have nabbed that in a heartbeat. That 25 is sooooooooooo sexy, in a nerdy hot girl with glasses kind of way!

Ombudsman check?

Big, how did you get jacks under her to switch trailers. She looked to be in the weeds.
Swing low...

after looking at the motor pic again , unless the didtributor cap is just sitting on the front of the motor it aint a 350, if the dist is on the front as pictured, that is a ford, prob a 888 mercruiser 351ci. with a 2barrel holly, only rated at 188hp at the prop
or a 228 if it has a 4 barrel holly

The trailer took some effort to loosen up. It had 4 flat tires and brakes on the front 2 were tight. The boat/trailer were on a bit of a slope (away from his house) and the bunks were termite condos. I put a giant strap around the boat and prayed it wouldn't flop over. My dad dug out the tires with a shovel. I put the jeep in 4 wheel drive low and dragged it to level ground (away from the house). 3 floor jacks and 2 Jack stands and we had it onto the new trailer.

http://www.wellcraftv20.com/gallery/...0052_Small.jpg
http://www.wellcraftv20.com/gallery/...0046_Small.jpg

Bilge. You're right . . . it's an 351. This is my first I/O, so I've got no clue what I'm looking at. I'll post a pic of the Gimbal Housing . . . maybe I am wrong there too ;).

Do you think this will be enough power? The plan is to yank it and go through it.

If its a two barrel, pretty minimal power. You would need to prop it for 20 knots cruise, maybe less. With a 4 barrel its closer to reasonable, but no speed demon. One good thing, torque is more important that HP, and I think, at cruising rpm, a 350 is a 350.

The boat is very sensitive to adding weight. Load it heavy, vacuum at cruise goes way down and I don't think the 2 barrel will work. For sure, get a vacuum gauge, or you are likely to eat the engine up.

My 350 is about 285 hp, with a duoprop and is near perfect for the boat if not loaded heavy. If I was going to load it down all the time, I'd need to reprop or go to a bigger engine.

Congrats, Tim, on a great find, at a great price!

Connor is right. If you can get about 18-20kt cruise, I think you will be happy with that. Being at the low end of power options for the boat, I plane at about 15-16kts and top out at 27-28kts. I find that operating the boat above 20kts is more work and tend to keep it around 17-18, so as said above, I think you will be satisfied if you can get similar performance as ours. Ours is a 327 chev with a II drive. Honestly, I don't actually know the HP. I had always been told 288 or 290, however, that is what Connor is pushing and his is much faster. If ours is, in fact 290HP, than I assume our stern drive is geared differently. Nevertheless, I have always been happy with the performance.

Looking forward to your progress. When I first became a member, there was virtually no info on 25's. Now, thanks to guys like Dave, Connor and Strick, there is tons on here. I assume your thread will become one of my fav's as well.

Brandon

Come on Big, just pull out all tha old cast iron and build a couple of those black motors you like so much. Twin 2.5 280's on a bracket would be enough power...I think its been mentioned a few times that the 25 loves speed.

It's a 4 barrel Holly carb. 99% sure a TRS gimbal based on pics. There appears to be some sort of electric shifter mechanism . . . big clunky thing that mounts at an angle.

Looks just like this one STERN DRIVE MC II-TR

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Used-Mercrui...item19d6e64615