Re: z300 owner
 

I learned today that the guy I bought the boat from, just picked it up at auction for $13,200.00. I think I got a great deal, he made off good in only 5 days.

Re: z300 owner
 

Youd be surprised with 550-650 hp will do in a 30' boat if setup right. Maybe not 70+, but high 60's none the less.

I just got rid of a 28' sleekcraft open bow/mid cuddy that did 72 on gps with no planes. 650hp Teague 475cu tall block / Bravo 1................ All motor.

My buds 30' conquest (Open bow/Mid cuddy) with a pro-charged bull dog HP500 (2lbs of boost) will pull 68 with 6 guys in it. 10 miles across the lake and your down 20 gallons of fuel though.

My brother in laws 28' Donzi ZX with a 8.1 Mag, bravo 1 and long planes will do 74 with 4 guys in it.

Im gonna put a plan together and what ever it ends up, thats what it will do. If Im not happy, Ill sell it and build something else that will.

I like building/rebuilding boats.....as much fun as driving them.

Re: z300 owner
 

I'd just be a little cautious. A hull is designed to support up to a certain speed and HP rating. The maximum HP the Z302 hull is rated to is 490. Anything above that, and the boat will start slowly destroying itself.

These are awesome boats, but they aren't speed demons because they're built heavy and for luxury. Take a close look at the hull of the Mariah and compare it to a Baja, Fountain, Cigarette, Scarab, Donzi, etc. You'll see quite a difference. Those are performance hulls, the Mariah is not. It's only meant to hit a top speed in the low 60's. The interior isn't built sturdy enough to handle those speeds either, everything will need to be reinforced.

I'm with Boatcrazy, I've looked into it too, and I've heard nothing but negatives about the 7.4L MPI Procharger Kit. The motor internals aren't up to it. If you want to read some more info about that, hit offshoreonly.com

You've got a beautiful boat, and it's definitely the envy of many on the board here. Unfortunately it's just not a speedboat, it's probably not capable of the speeds you're looking for. If you've got the "Need for Speed", you might not be satisfied with this boat. Otherwise, I'd just be happy with the boat you've got, and just keep the max speed where it is... Take some of the $10k your wife is allowing you, invest it in a good stereo, a flat panel TV for the cabin, some good cleaning supplies, and save the rest for dockage, fuel for boat & tow vehicle, and enjoy all the time you have on it. :wink_thumbup:

Re: z300 owner
 

WoW! $13,200? Where do I sign up? Keep us updated on your progress.

Re: z300 owner
 

Very nice! Congrats on the purchase.

Boatcrazy is going to be you best resource for big boat go-fast information on these boards, as far as I know. That's who came to mind when you mentioned speed.

Here's his build and rebuild threads for some merit:
http://www.mariahownersclub.com/foru...1999-z302.html
http://www.mariahownersclub.com/foru...094-again.html

Re: z300 owner
 

does anyone have any detailed pics of the engine compartment of the z302 ? where does the inverter mount ?

Re: z300 owner
 

Did you have a look thru our Gallery of photos? There are a number of Z302 pics there.

Re: z300 owner
 

I have tons of pictures of the Z302/Z300 on my HDD at home and will look for any showing where someone has mounted an inverter. I would think you could mount it in the engine compartment up on the backside of the bench seat or even possibly up under the microwave area as there is a lot of room in there and access is easy if you remove the sink.

I have pretty much taken apart all of my Z302 during my rebuild and have even unscrewed the hull from the top deck so I can properly bond and seal the two together with 3M 5200. If there is an area that could be modified I pretty much am doing it during the process.

Pictures will be updated soon on my "At it again" post on what I have done up to this date and I am pretty happy with the outcome. The new dash looks amazing and the interior is about 95% done with lots of new redesign improvements made to the original design.

Re: z300 owner
 

I like your new boat!

As a matter of interest what speed do you get from her as is?

Re: z300 owner
 

The speedo is malfunctioning right now and won't go above 30. I've only had it out the initial test 30 minute ride and the 2 hr ride on lake Shasta on our way home from LA. Yesterday was the first real ride. None of us brought a gps phone that displays speed.