New to me 1985 Glastron ssv-176

[Glastrontizz]

A few months ago my girl and I found a 1985 Glastron ssv-176 with a Evinrude v4 140. We made a good deal on it and have had it out about ten times. It needs some upholstery work but overall a good running boat. I took it out fishing today for no luck but was able to take some laps and got it up to 41mph. This was the first time I had flat water and not many boats on my local lake. The lake is small and you can only open it up in a buoyed area in the middle. My question is does 41mph sound like a normal top speed for this setup?
Thanks in advance, I have gained a ton of info from this site.

 

[QC]

Re: New to me 1985 Glastron ssv-176

Welcome aboard tizz!! I am thinking a maybe little slow, but not that far off. There are many factors that go into top speed. Let's start with how are you getting your speed. Boat speedo? GPS? Boat speedos can be off and we really only trust GPS (or Radar) numbers here.

Other stuff we will need to continue this discussion. RPM at wide open throttle (WOT)? Trim (using it properly)? Bottom condition. Hydrofoil on anti-ventilation plate? Foam flotation possibly soaked. Maintenance. Load: people, stuff, beer, ice, tools, fuel, beer? All of this matters.

 

[Glastrontizz]

Re: New to me 1985 Glastron ssv-176

That speed was off my speedo. As for my RPM it read around 5500 but I don't if its accurate. Some days it seems to work and other days it doesn't move. That is on my laundry list. I played with the trim and got a few more MPH out of it. Probably should have played with it more since the conditions were so nice. Bottom of the boat is in ok condition. Its 25 years old and been used. Does have a keel shield that I installed. Load was light today just me and my fishing gear. Didn't even bring a cooler today. I was pretty happy with the speed since the fastest I have had it was 32mph with four people in the boat. Thanks

 

[QC]

Re: New to me 1985 Glastron ssv-176

I missed Propeller info and condition. Pitch? RPM sounds right, and that's the high end of the recommended range of 4500 - 5500 . . . which is good for a light load.

For high speed runs trim out until you get no more speed or the prop starts to blow out (rev up) or she starts to porpoise.

If you can't make her porpoise, move some weight aft. If she porpoises too easily, move some weight forward.

 

[Glastrontizz]

Re: New to me 1985 Glastron ssv-176

The prop is a 13 3/4 - 15 o believe. It is pretty beat up. The boat came with another that has mire pitch just don't have the right size socket to get the old one off. Do you know what size the nut is? Thanks

 

[QC]

Re: New to me 1985 Glastron ssv-176

It is pretty beat up.

That has to be right too.

Post the prop nut question in the prop section.

 

[haulnazz15]

Re: New to me 1985 Glastron ssv-176

Just buy a prop wrench, it will come in handy.

 

[83Evinrude]

Re: New to me 1985 Glastron ssv-176

I bought the same boat and outboard new in 1983, and just sold it this July.

Ours had a Stainless 19" prop on it when we bought it, there were no gps's in '83 but it ran 48-49mph on the speedo at around 5000rpm. This was trimmed out just below sucking air, two in the boat and light gear.

Within the first couple of years I borrowed a 17" prop from a friend and liked the better low end it provided. I traded for a Stainless 17" OMC prop and from then until the day I sold it the top end was 44-45mph on the speedo at 5500rpm (same load as above).

We ran it for many years on vacation with four adults and four kids (none big) and it always had plenty of power with the 17" prop. I have a video where we pulled either 5 or 6 double skiers behind it. This was with a ski pylon I installed just ahead of the rear seats. The double skiers ranged in age from a skinny 18 year old boy to my daughter who was about 10 at the time. We also pulled three tubes quite a bit.

If your motor still has good compression, I would think it should easily go over 5500rpm on a 15" prop with a light load and trimmed out. I believe 5500 is the max recommended rpm for that motor. The last year I had mine it was down on hole shot and a mechanic ended up finding a broken ring. He honed the cylinders and replaced the rings and it seemed as good as new when we sold it.

Hope this helps, I would be happy to answer any other questions I can.

 

[Glastrontizz]

Re: New to me 1985 Glastron ssv-176

Thanks for all the replys I will definetly being hitting some of you up for more info. I was thinking about running some seafoam through it. Do you think that's a good idea?

 

[83Evinrude]

Re: New to me 1985 Glastron ssv-176

I was thinking about running some seafoam through it.

I shouldn't hurt and might help, with the age of the boat the carbs might also be in need of a rebuild, but I would test compression first.

If your '85 is like my '83 was there is no real fuel filter at all, just a screen on the fuel pump. Many years ago I mounted a large water separating filter in the splash well of our boat after getting some bad gas at a marina while on vacation.

Does yours idle pretty well?
I never thought mine was a very good idler, others people I knew with 85's and 115's did much better. That was the highest HP for that block so maybe the tuning for the 140's hurt it. The dealer never made mine idle as well as I thought it should even when new.

 

[Glastrontizz]

Re: New to me 1985 Glastron ssv-176

Once it us warm it idles ok. Sometimes it will die at the dock waiting for the trailer.