Re: What to buy?? Please help me decide
 

If I'm not making any sense I can take a video or post some photos

Re: What to buy?? Please help me decide
 

You definitely bought the better boat. My 22 talari gets the best speed at about a quarter up. If you watch the speedo you will find where it works best. I have been playing with props and the whale tail on and off and the 19 by 141/2 seems to be the best overall the whale tail I'm not sure yet whether I like it on or off

Re: What to buy?? Please help me decide
 

I ditched the tail for smart tabs and had great success. Planes at 14 MPH GPS. Top speed went up 2 mph to 49 with a 14 x 17 SS 4 blade. You made a great choice

Re: What to buy?? Please help me decide
 

Congrats on your new (to you) Mariah... Hope you have many happy times on the water... Had a feeling you were leaning towards the Mariah.
You'll get used to the trim up/down thing and being "on plane"... Don't sweat it....


1998 202 Shabah 5.0L Alpha 1

Re: What to buy?? Please help me decide
 

You picked the right boat no doubt about that. If your 92 hull is very much similar to my final build 2001 of the Diablo at 18'3" it should plane very quickly at under 20 mph with the 4.3 unless it has the wrong prop. It depends on the final drive ratio also but I think mine is 2:1 and I usually use a 19 pitch prop. I've also got and run a 21 (worked out I got both at a steal) if just my wife and I go out to cruise around. And mine is just the 3.0 4 cylinder.

As Firestone said above Smart tabs are excellent for this boat. It will plane quicker and at lower speed, reduce wander at idle speed and reduce most of the bouncing at running speed when trimmed up. I never trim more than about 1/3 the way up on my meter after installing the tabs maybe not even that far. I used to trim to about 1/2 way for cruising but just play with it. You know 1/2 on the meter is really much less than 1/2 also. And all down is best to get up on plane but with the tabs it will still plane quickly if I forget.

Hope you love it. It's more of a grown up boat for relaxing than a thrill machine like a jet or wakeboard boat, but we tossed a lot of young kids around on tubes for years with ours and yet still enjoy that it suits us now that we are more grown up and often just cruise or relax in a cove. And with the 3.0, $20 in gas is good for a long afternoon on the lake.

Re: What to buy?? Please help me decide
 

Took the ball back out on the water today, ran great for about great for about two hours. I think I jarred something loose, get the RPM up around 3000 and it bogs back down between 2000 and 3000 anything over that and it dies, I limped to the dock at about 1500 rpm. All gauges appear to be working motor sounded great, all of a sudden it seems like a serious vacuum leak or its starving for fuel. Any ideas?

Re: What to buy?? Please help me decide
 

Might as well start with the easy stuff first. Do you know when the fuel filter(s) were last changed? If not start there.
Is your motor carburated or fuel injected? Do you have access to a suitable fuel pressure gauge?

Re: What to buy?? Please help me decide
 

This is what I know about the motor.
MerCruiser Alpha One 4.3
262 CID

According to the previous owner everything was gone through. I'm wondering if I knocked something loose. Stupid question but can I start this boat on my trailer or does it need to have water running to it? Kind of hoping it's like a car motor and I can have it running while I troubleshoot/Screw up!!!

Re: What to buy?? Please help me decide
 

You need to hook it up to a hose when you run it on the trailer or you will melt the impeller in your water pump. You can buy a pair of muffs at any marine store.

Re: What to buy?? Please help me decide
 

You can run it on the trailer but you need a motor muff. $13 on amazon. You hook a garden hose to it to keep the engine at the correct temp. If you run it without you will overheat and damage it, like a car with no antifreeze in the radiator.