1987 Chris Craft 197 Limited

[adam4by4]

I just got my first boat, a 1987 197 Limited with the 230 horse v8. Does anyone have any info on this boat? Good things bad things??? Its in great shape with the exceptions of a small weak are of floor under the rear seat. Only paid about $2000 for it. Everything runs/drives great. I was wondering about speed? seems like it would go pretty good having the larger v8 in it, What do you all think?

 

[marcus.adelman]

Re: 1987 Chris Craft 197 Limited

I don't know the hull differences between our boats but mine is 16'11" and has a 185 horse 4.3l Mercury V6 with an alpha 1 sterndrive. Right now it is set up basically for lots of holeshot. I am only getting about 4200 RPMs out of it at WOT but it runs great and for being my first boat seems very fast. It also throws a great wake for tubing and wakeboarding.

 

[marcus.adelman]

Re: 1987 Chris Craft 197 Limited

As far as speed goes that is based on a lot of things. From what I have read prop is the most important thing when it comes to speed. I am in the process of researching which prop I want to get for my boat. I have an aluminum 3 bladed prop. No idea on the pitch. I want to move to a 4 bladed Stainless Steel blade. I want it set up for holeshot but I also want it to utilize my engines recommended RPM range which is from 4400-4600. If I can get it closer to 4600 with the right prop my hole shot should get even better and I should get more top end speed as well as the handling advantages of a cupped SS blade. I am also considering trim tabs because as this is a small boat weight distribution is key. Tabs would help that out a lot and also pretty much guarantee I always plane quickly. I am looking into the hydraulic and electric adjustable tabs. Lots of research and not much help from other people. Hope some of this helps you out.

 

[gcboat]

Re: 1987 Chris Craft 197 Limited

Hey guys - hope you don't mine if I jump into this thread. Here's a link to some really sweet tabs. Have them on my Pursuit and they are wonderful.
http://lencomarine.com/trimtabs.html
I would like to add that your prop pitch is very important on selecting what you use. You need to stay within the engines' operating rpm's. Too much or too little will burn out an engine really quick. Just figure that your prop is the final tuning stage for your engine. With everything else at 100%, tune up, etc. then you prop for speed and rpm's.