Spectra Speed

[baysidejim]

Hi everybody. I’m considering buying a mid 70s 20 foot spectra with a 260 V-8 outdrive set up. Supposedly the motor is stock. What kind of speed could I expect to get out of a boat like this? Thank you very much!

 

[Riverbottom]

River Dave owned a boat like this. I hoped he would respond. They are great boats ( I have a Howard, same bottom ) They are not the fastest, as they run flat on the keel. Mine is just a 330 H.P. Merc. It runs 65 M.P.H. with a 22 pitch 4 blade Bravo Prop. I would guess 55 M.P.H. would be reasonable with a 260 and an Alpha. Old Rigger has a similar set up, maybe he will comment .

 

[old rigger]

River Dave owned a boat like this. I hoped he would respond. They are great boats ( I have a Howard, same bottom ) They are not the fastest, as they run flat on the keel. Mine is just a 330 H.P. Merc. It runs 65 M.P.H. with a 22 pitch 4 blade Bravo Prop. I would guess 55 M.P.H. would be reasonable with a 260 and an Alpha. Old Rigger has a similar set up, maybe he will comment .

You're right on the money. I know it's not GPS but our old, tired 40 year old 350 (that's never been apart) runs about 53 on the Nordskog speedo. I remember seeing the then new test results for Spectra 20s, BBC jets ran 52 and the 260 I/O ran 56 mph, give or take.

 

[Pacifica41]

You're right on the money. I know it's not GPS but our old, tired 40 year old 350 (that's never been apart) runs about 53 on the Nordskog speedo. I remember seeing the then new test results for Spectra 20s, BBC jets ran 52 and the 260 I/O ran 56 mph, give or take.

Hey Old Rigger, I have the same boat I picked up a few months back and completely redid. You can see my posts on the Spectra page. I finally got it up to Parker a few weeks back and the boat ran 52-53 on the gps with the stock Merc260 and a old Alpha SEI outdrive and a 21 pitch 3 blade stainless prop. Unfortunately on the second day I sucked a plastic bag in the water intake of the drive and blew the motor. The boat is up in Parker but I’m unsure of letting Tim at Dirty Deeds do a motor swap or bring the boat back down to Dirty Dave’s Marine in Perris. Any suggestions would help. Just wanna go back to stock. For sure run thru hull exhaust and an upgraded manifold and carb. Joe