Xb03 175 faststrike questions

[Joel]

So I bought a 1997 xb03 with a 98my 175 faststrike at the beginning of this summer and have been trying to get it figured out, when I bought it it had the stock gearcase and I changed it out to a lightning case(l1) off a 225ho ficht I believe and that made it handle somewhat better, I also tried to distribute weight around the boat as best I could to make it stable and I'm running high 60's quite easily (I've seen as high as 69 but 67 is pretty common) I'm turning a 25p renegade bass at about 5600-5800, keep in mind this is with the trolling motor and all three batteries and all the other stuff I keep in the boat(life jackets, anchor, tacklebox...).
I believe the motor is a little tired by now being 18 years old but I'm just wondering if that seems like a reasonable speed or if I should be going faster, also I'm planning to build a 225 ocean runner into a bit of a race motor(porting, planing the heads, possibly build a 16" midsection...).

Thanks in advance for any tips.

 

[hirk]

Mine would run 78-79 solo with a 150 mariner, 26 hoss hyperdrive and a coned lower. Tm, 3 batteries, gas and gear. For the prop your running and that gearcase 69 is good, a coned lower you can run higher and a 27 srx prop would gain you a few more mph

 

[Joel]

Mine would run 78-79 solo with a 150 mariner, 26 hoss hyperdrive and a coned lower. Tm, 3 batteries, gas and gear. For the prop your running and that gearcase 69 is good, a coned lower you can run higher and a 27 srx prop would gain you a few more mph

Ok that's good to know, I have plans to fix some gelcoat chips on the bottom this winter, hopefully, along with a new motor and I was planning on keeping that gearcase. How much faster would I expect to see with a nose cone and how do they affect handling. Also I noticed the back two inches of the centre pad on the boat seems to have a hook built into it, has anybody ever tried to flatten it out.

 

[dubmoney]

I have a 27SRX I will sell you for 300.00

 

[GotMyAlly]

How high can you run your motor now before you run out of water pressure (with the lightning case)?

 

[Joel]

I have a 27SRX I will sell you for 300.00

Thanks but I'm probably only gonna use it 1-2 more times this year and next year I should have different motor, and I think I may have tried an srx already or something similar in a 26p and I didn't like it, only got about 60mph and I don't like the way they slip out of the hole.

 

[Joel]

How high can you run your motor now before you run out of water pressure (with the lightning case)?

I'd have to take a measurement and see where it is right now, I know it's not much higher than it was before but it trims out much further so I can actually get the nose up... I didn't use it much before changing the case but I don't think the previous owner really knew what he was doing(not that I know everything either) he even had the tilt pin in hole number 6 so it wouldn't go below 1/4 trim, made for terrible hole shots. I also ground some bigger groves into the case leading up to the water intakes to help the water follow the lines in, that helped quite a bit.

 

[GotMyAlly]

If it's stuck a couple inches below the pad, it's holding you back. Low water pickup to allow you to run up near 1/2" below the pad would free it up a lot. Will also improve handling, too.

 

[Lakeman (Allison)]

So I bought a 1997 xb03 with a 98my 175 faststrike at the beginning of this summer and have been trying to get it figured out, when I bought it it had the stock gearcase and I changed it out to a lightning case(l1) off a 225ho ficht I believe and that made it handle somewhat better, I also tried to distribute weight around the boat as best I could to make it stable and I'm running high 60's quite easily (I've seen as high as 69 but 67 is pretty common) I'm turning a 25p renegade bass at about 5600-5800, keep in mind this is with the trolling motor and all three batteries and all the other stuff I keep in the boat(life jackets, anchor, tacklebox...).
I believe the motor is a little tired by now being 18 years old but I'm just wondering if that seems like a reasonable speed or if I should be going faster, also I'm planning to build a 225 ocean runner into a bit of a race motor(porting, planing the heads, possibly build a 16" midsection...).

Thanks in advance for any tips.

Well I bought my 97 2003 I had a 175 Johnson FasTrak never been touched the lower unit had a comb on it I ran 80 - 82 miles per hour with I work 28 Ranker solo with my fishing gear tank of gas 3 batteries trolling motor.

 

[Joel]

Thanks for the advice guys I think I'll try and cone the case for next summer, I'm really excited to see how fast j can get this thing with a good motor and after fixing some of the previous owners damage, is there any other upgrades or modifications I should do to try and increase performance, I don't have a skid planer as of yet but I'd like to build one this winter aswell, any thoughts on how well they work...