Supercharger For 350 MAG

[surfinjoe]

Ok, so I am a gear-head and I just can't leave well-enough alone. I love my boat, but who couldn't use more power....right? So I did some thinking and am considering adding a supercharger to my 350 MAG. Procharger has a marine system for a 350 MAG that gives you 150-200 hp increase. Understanding that I would need to re-prop my boat, I am looking for some feedback on this idea.

My boat currently will run around 50 MPH. Not bad for a family boat, but not enough for me. I know that the hull was not designed to run at 80 mph, but heck, if a bass boat can then why not me. I just think it would be very cool to have a 'sleeper' of a boat like this. And it may just keep me from upgrading to something bigger. I would love to be able to out-run a jet-ski or some go-fast A-hole who is thinking about putting the hammer down and teaching me a lesson.

 

[Woody]

I thought of doing this on my 270SD. I estimated the Procharger, props and probable drive ratio changes could reach 10k. I didn't feel it was worth it especially when I took into account that I was already "cool".

 

[northern]

What would this do to the engine life and fuel consumption?

 

[dpmulvey]

I am studying the same thing but looking for the same cruise at a lower RPM and less noise. The jury is still out.

From what I have gathered so far (this from a gofast racer) is that a roots style supercharger is only effective at the top end of the RPM scale. If this is the case for the procharger, it serves me no good.

In your case, unless the procharger adds HP across the entire RPM range from just over idle to top end, you are spending a lot for an extremely limited use.

My 2 centavos.

Please keep us posted.

 

[Southpaw II]

This is going to put a bit of a strain on your outdrive. Granted, the Bravo III is rated for horsepower up to the range of the big block engines, but when you re-prop you are going to re-load the entire drivetrain with more resistance.

It certainly can be done, but get as much technical support from the supercharger supplier, including suggestions and past histories of their previous installations if possible.

 

[Woody]

I am studying the same thing but looking for the same cruise at a lower RPM and less noise. The jury is still out.

From what I have gathered so far (this from a gofast racer) is that a roots style supercharger is only effective at the top end of the RPM scale. If this is the case for the procharger, it serves me no good.

In your case, unless the procharger adds HP across the entire RPM range from just over idle to top end, you are spending a lot for an extremely limited use.

My 2 centavos.

Please keep us posted.

You may have misunderstood the go fast racer. The strong point of a roots supercharger is it's ability to produce boost at low rpm.

Here's a link to Procharger http://www.procharger.com
I liked them the best at the time I was looking. While they are a centrifugal type supercharger they do produce boost through our boats typical cruise rpm range. They're compact and an easy installation.

 

[PlayDate]

You may want to check out offshoreonly.com. I have worked on a number of supercharged boats and it comes back to what you want to accomplish. Adding 100hp is one thing....adding torque is another. A roots style supercharger is tuned by the pulleys you use and limited by a waste gate. Several companies make superchargers for marine applications. Mercruiser uses roots style superchargers on it's race engines.

That said....such installation will immediately void any warrenties you might have and materially shorten the life of your engine and drivetrain. There is always a price for going fast....

-John

 

[Great Escape]

I have a 290 Sundancer with twin 6.2 and bravo 3's, fitted with procharger superchargers. I love the way the boat runs both at low end and top. The boost is set to provide 425hp for each engine not alot but enough to push the boat at 55-58 at lake powell, elevation 4000'. Because of the B3's I can maintain a plane at a very slow speed. The boat planes very quickly even with a full load 4-5 adults couple kids and gear for each full water, gas etc. Drives have a stabilizer and drive showers. Since installed by the dealer I have accumulated 170 hours, No problems and maintenance has been minimal, just a change of supercharger oil according to schedule. I have done the cool thing next to much smaller boats that think they are fast until I pull up next to and past and of course get the wondering look of how can that be. By the way gas must be premium and at cruising speeds I believe the efficiency and gph is better than without the superchargers.
I sure don't regret the installation.
My two cents from a current owner of a hot rod 290 Sundancer.

 

[surfinjoe]

Now that's what I am talking about! I love it.

I have a 290 Sundancer with twin 6.2 and bravo 3's, fitted with procharger superchargers. I love the way the boat runs both at low end and top. The boost is set to provide 425hp for each engine not alot but enough to push the boat at 55-58 at lake powell, elevation 4000'. Because of the B3's I can maintain a plane at a very slow speed. The boat planes very quickly even with a full load 4-5 adults couple kids and gear for each full water, gas etc. Drives have a stabilizer and drive showers. Since installed by the dealer I have accumulated 170 hours, No problems and maintenance has been minimal, just a change of supercharger oil according to schedule. I have done the cool thing next to much smaller boats that think they are fast until I pull up next to and past and of course get the wondering look of how can that be. By the way gas must be premium and at cruising speeds I believe the efficiency and gph is better than without the superchargers.
I sure don't regret the installation.
My two cents from a current owner of a hot rod 290 Sundancer.

 

[ghuskin]

Joe,

If you decide to undergo this installation, let me know. I may be able to lend you a set of hands. Besides, I wouldn't mind being there for the test run! Let me know.

Gregg

 

[surfinjoe]

Thanks for the offer Gregg. Now I just have to get the bill past congress (the wife). I will keep you updated.

BTW - sorry that we didn't get together last summer. I got tied-up with a lot of work stuff and didn't really get out much. Not sure where I will be this summer but we should make a point of getting together. I am thinking about renting a slip at Paridise Cove up by Belmar near poor mans bay. How far is that from you?

Joe,

If you decide to undergo this installation, let me know. I may be able to lend you a set of hands. Besides, I wouldn't mind being there for the test run! Let me know.

Gregg

 

[ghuskin]

My brain seems to be malfunctioning, and can't picture Belmar. Is that near Beacon Cove? I'm down by Ford's cove (nine & Jefferson area). If you're talking anchorbay/salt river area, that's about 1/2 hr - 40 minutes.

I didn't get out much either. Plan on changing that this summer!!

I know what you mean about getting the budget passed. pick your battles, do a little at a time. I'm in heated storage at JBM this winter. Really nice to go there on the weekends and get stuff done! best decision, and cheaper than Beacon Cove.

 

[surfinjoe]

We gave Beacon Cove a try and didn't like it. The manager is a real B**** and they had some smoke-pole guy who kept giving our girls a hard time in the pool. My oldest is 14 (and looks 18) and they have a stupid rule that anyone under 14 must be with an adult. Now mind you that they also have a rule that no alcohol is allowed in the pool area, but they turn a blind eye if it's in a dixie cup or cuzie or bottle cover....even if the person is quite 'drunk'. Now rules are rules, but if you are going to be strict it helps to be consistant.

What really pissed me off was when the guy next to us sold his boat. He was a really nice older guy who was quiet and kind. Once he sold his boat, they gave him permission to 'rent' his slip out. So in comes this wreck of a boat....I mean floating beer can. Some 50 year old, 23' aluminum 'thing' with a cuddy cabin, no carpet, 2 lawn chairs painted gunmetal grey. The first time I saw this 'thing', it had 6" of water in the bottom of it with a case of empty beer cans floating in it. Needless to say, the owner was 'special' and loved to spend every waking moment on his new found yacht (that he purchased for $100 and a case of Natural Light). We get along with a lot of different kind of people, but this was too much for us. I got really pissed when he told me that my 'girlfriend' was hot and how he wished that he had himself one like that.....I simply replied, 'That's my daughter A**hole'.

My brain seems to be malfunctioning, and can't picture Belmar. Is that near Beacon Cove? I'm down by Ford's cove (nine & Jefferson area). If you're talking anchorbay/salt river area, that's about 1/2 hr - 40 minutes.

I didn't get out much either. Plan on changing that this summer!!

I know what you mean about getting the budget passed. pick your battles, do a little at a time. I'm in heated storage at JBM this winter. Really nice to go there on the weekends and get stuff done! best decision, and cheaper than Beacon Cove.

 

[surfinjoe]

We will check-out JBM. We live in Royal Oak so I typically try to shoot down 696 anyhow. I hope that I am out on the water ALOT this year. Last summer was cold anyhow. All this talk of summer is getting me excited. Stop!

My brain seems to be malfunctioning, and can't picture Belmar. Is that near Beacon Cove? I'm down by Ford's cove (nine & Jefferson area). If you're talking anchorbay/salt river area, that's about 1/2 hr - 40 minutes.

I didn't get out much either. Plan on changing that this summer!!

I know what you mean about getting the budget passed. pick your battles, do a little at a time. I'm in heated storage at JBM this winter. Really nice to go there on the weekends and get stuff done! best decision, and cheaper than Beacon Cove.

 

[surfinjoe]

Why would you need a drive ratio change? They make a 28P prop for the B3's and I would guess that it would be just fine for your application. I would have limited the boost to 5 or 6 psi. What was the cost of the ratio change?

I thought of doing this on my 270SD. I estimated the Procharger, props and probable drive ratio changes could reach 10k. I didn't feel it was worth it especially when I took into account that I was already "cool".

 

[adamgll]

we need pictures of your daughter before we can offer any constructive information

 

[topgun1185]

Please keep us up to date I always wanted to add these superchargers to my 350 but was worried about reliablity and longevity. My application on heavy cruiser will be intresting. If any body has any more info it's always great!!

 

[1stSeaRay]

we need pictures of your daughter before we can offer any constructive information

Not cool:smt021

 

[Woody]

Why would you need a drive ratio change? They make a 28P prop for the B3's and I would guess that it would be just fine for your application. I would have limited the boost to 5 or 6 psi. What was the cost of the ratio change?

Taking into consideration engine torque and hp curves, boat weight, approximate prop dia and pitch you will end up with a preferred drive ratio range. In my case the 270SD with typical load was about 7,000#. I don’t remember which specific model Procharger but whatever it was was going to bump my 496HO from 425 to about 650hp. The final dialing in would be working the prop(new prop) to get me WOT rpm of 5,000. I don’t know how often a ratio change might be necessary but some of the supercharger people that I talked to thought I might be a candidate if I wanted to maximize performance.

I had a Bravo 3X drive which was rated for 450hp. If the boat was driven conservatively I think it would have been OK, but if I turned that boat into a hotrod that’s probably how I would have driven it. The end result was I figured I would cost myself more money than it was worth. I also don’t think my SD was meant for 80+ mph. Once I was running in the upper 50’s and a strong gust of wind hit my wide flared bow. It raised the bow and tipped the boat to port, just a little bit more and I believe the boat would have flipped.

I can understand the "cool factor". I had a Nordic Heat 525 pull aside me as I was idling along. He was teasing me with his nice sounding exhaust and grinning(he just got the boat, only 10hrs). I opened up my Corsa exhaust, rumbled back and away we went. I could beat him out of the hole up to about 35mph with my family boat. I’m still enjoying the “coolness” of that and I didn’t have to spend anymore money.

 

[surfinjoe]

Sounds fair enough. The good news with my boat is that I only have a 350 MAG. They say that the procharger takes the motor from 350 to 490. I am betting that with a 28P prop. I will not need to change the drive ratio. It may be close, but I could always install a rev. limiter if need be (or maybe re-program the ECM).

So the other 'option' here would be to add a NOS system. I saw an article in boating magizine about it. Here are the results:

" First, we ran the boat in its stock configuration. We hit a top speed of 52.3 mph at 4500 rpm, consuming 17.4 gph. From a standing start, we accelerated to top end in about 30 seconds. Fast enough for most of us.

Then we activated the nitrous oxide and blasted up to 62.1 mph while sucking up 29.8 gph. If we had longer than one day for our test, I'm sure we could have wrung more out of the system. Maybe a steeper-pitched prop would have done the trick. On our boat, the rev limiter, which is set for 4950 rpm, kept kicking in. We also cut the time it took to get to top speed by nearly half, down to 18 seconds. This was now one bad boy bowrider.


Nitrous oxide works. We took our practical little family boat and totally jazzed it up. When you're out with the missus and kids, keep the genie in the bottle and the boat is as stock as the day you bought it. But when the time comes to have some fun, hit the switch and watch your neighbor's smile get ripped off his face as you leave him eating your wake. "

Taking into consideration engine torque and hp curves, boat weight, approximate prop dia and pitch you will end up with a preferred drive ratio range. In my case the 270SD with typical load was about 7,000#. I don’t remember which specific model Procharger but whatever it was was going to bump my 496HO from 425 to about 650hp. The final dialing in would be working the prop(new prop) to get me WOT rpm of 5,000. I don’t know how often a ratio change might be necessary but some of the supercharger people that I talked to thought I might be a candidate if I wanted to maximize performance.

I had a Bravo 3X drive which was rated for 450hp. If the boat was driven conservatively I think it would have been OK, but if I turned that boat into a hotrod that’s probably how I would have driven it. The end result was I figured I would cost myself more money than it was worth. I also don’t think my SD was meant for 80+ mph. Once I was running in the upper 50’s and a strong gust of wind hit my wide flared bow. It raised the bow and tipped the boat to port, just a little bit more and I believe the boat would have flipped.

I can understand the "cool factor". I had a Nordic Heat 525 pull aside me as I was idling along. He was teasing me with his nice sounding exhaust and grinning(he just got the boat, only 10hrs). I opened up my Corsa exhaust, rumbled back and away we went. I could beat him out of the hole up to about 35mph with my family boat. I’m still enjoying the “coolness” of that and I didn’t have to spend anymore money.