I/m pretty certain that anything bigger in diameter than a 14.5 inch is too
big for the alpha leg. Look at the clearance between your current prop and
the plate above it. On all the ones I've looked at a 14.5 is pretty close.
I think a 15 might fit but I'm not thinking a 16 will.

I don't know that I'd put much faith in web prop calculators. Most people
change based on what prop they have and what is wrong with it. In your case
you are overpropped and probably need to go down about 4 inches in pitch.

wrote in message
oups.com...
That's odd. The Mercruiser web site is the one that recommended the
16x14 prop after I plugged in all the specs. Are you sure it won't
fit?

I'll do some more research. I'm going to see if I can find anybody
local that can do a try before you buy toward a prop.

Well I made it to the boat last night before it got dark and changed
props.

The closest I could find locally to what I wanted was a 15.25 x 15
prop. Since it was getting dark and I'm docked an hour away in an
area I'm not familiar with I just did 2 quick test runs. I broke 4000
RPM's and not sure how much higher they would have went since they
were just short channel runs.

She gets on plane in a matter of seconds now. I notice a huge
difference, but today will be the big test. It's going to be nice all
day so my girlfriend and I are going to head over to Put-in-Bay. I
didn't get a chance to see what my fuel efficiency was so now I'll get
a chance to do so.

So much for that...

Went to Put In Bay for the weekend. 17.5 miles from my dock. We had
a hard time getting on plane and were stuck at 16mph for the first 6
miles or so. Waves were 2. When we did hit plane we maxed WOT at
28MPH and 4100 RPM's.

Maybe I am better off running the 17 pitch prop. RPM's are low, but a
350 is under power. At least like this the MPG is around 2 and top
speed 40. I may still play around with it.

Obviously others have played around with props before you on this boat. It
might also be worth taking it to a truck scale and seeing if it has "gained"
weight since it was new. It's a 1988 so it may have absorbed a fair bit of
water.

wrote in message
ups.com...
So much for that...

Went to Put In Bay for the weekend. 17.5 miles from my dock. We had
a hard time getting on plane and were stuck at 16mph for the first 6
miles or so. Waves were 2. When we did hit plane we maxed WOT at
28MPH and 4100 RPM's.

Maybe I am better off running the 17 pitch prop. RPM's are low, but a
350 is under power. At least like this the MPG is around 2 and top
speed 40. I may still play around with it.