Hey everyone! New to the forum here. I just bought a 1988 Four Winns Liberator with a 350 king cobra. The prop on it is a 17 pitch, the guy I bought the boat from gave me another prop and said its for lower speeds and coming out of the hole faster but it's a 21. Isn't the lower # for coming out of the hole? The 17 that's on it now takes quite awhile to plane the boat out, is this normal for this boat? Is it just that heavy? Any recommendations on props woud b greatly appreciated. Thanks!
Howdy,
Might be good to post which Liberator that is exactly!
I have a 1987 Four Winns 211 Liberator (My brother bought new) .
It had a 460 King Kobra installed and it was a REAL DOG out of the "hole" with a 21 pitch prop.
It was a little better with a 19, but at WOT, still had some throttle left at top speed.
If you're only turning 4100 RPM at wide open throttle, you are seriously OVER-propped UNLESS the engine is mistuned, worn out or simply underpowered.
IMHO, the 211 would be somewhat underpowered with a 350 unless you were to bore/stroke it to a 383 etc.
After I ran mine a year or so with the 460, I removed it and replaced with a 454/Bravo III and the difference was nothing short of spectacular..........not much increase in speed though (with the 460 KC, it actually ran 60mph with a 20p 3-blade[19p-cupped/repitched to 20] at 5000RPM.......but that was 400 rpm OVER max recommended for a 460)
With the Mercruiser 454, Bravo III (1.84:1) running 26p props and 4600 RPM I am running about 57mph and it comes out of the hole like a ROCKET!
Back in the 80's, OMC had timing settings for many of their engines that required 89 or higher octane. (for your engine, 8 degrees BTC [89+AKI] vs 3 degrees BTC for [86-88AKI] )
(AKI=Anti Knock Index) SEE:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Octane_rating
If you only ran 87 AKI regular, you had to retard the timing a few (or more) degrees. (
but this means less power) And your engine is only rated at 230 HP (at the upper timing advance with 89 or better octane) (the 460 was roughly 300 prop [340 crank shaft] HP at 10degrees BTC 89octane)
Since the 211 is somewhat underpowered with a 350, (after you get the right prop and WOT RPM) you'll have to run midgrade or premium gas to get max performance (and have a margin to prevent detonation)
But it'll still likley be a little "slow" out of the hole...........
Regards,
Rick
