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Last week I installed a new stainless stiletto triad prop with a 12" pitch and was able to finally test this engine setup. To recap, this engine is 1999 40 HP two stroke that I recently purchased and converted to tiller steer to be installed on my 17 foot boat. The engine appears to be in pretty good shape, starts easy and idles very well...However the compression is 106-106-97 and sometimes I "think" I can hear the engine ticking.

The engine is mounted all the way up and the cavitation plate is almost 2 inch above the bottom of the keel as pictured in my personal page. Overall I was very pleased with this setup...The boat was quick to plane and was a joy to handle. I noticed with the engine trimmed out that it would begin to suck air in very tight quick turns but otherwise remained planted during the entire test. the last picture on my personal page shows the cavitation plate at WOT.

The maximum RPM for this engine is 5500. I was able to get a WOT 5100 RPM without trimming the motor and saw 31 MPH on the GPS. The boat cruised well at 3950 RPM and 25 MPH.

I would like to thank everyone for the help!