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I have a 1985 Super Sport 17' with a 90 Johnson of the same vintage. Just purchased it. The previous owner had installed a hydrofoil, which as you know bolts on to the anti-cav plate.

Yesterday I took out the boat in flat water and tested it with and without the hydrofoil. Without the hydrofoil I still got a virtually instantaneous hole shot and my top end was about 1 knot higher. The only difference was that without the hydrofoil, to keep the bow from kicking way up when going quickly on to a plane, the motor had to be trimmed down all the way. That's no problem, I just trim it back up to make the helm neutral as soon as I am on a plane.

So I decided to leave the hydrofoil off. Now there are 4 holes in my anti-cav plate.

Is it worth it to fill in those holes with some JB Weld or something similar, or do they just not matter?

Thanks in advance,

Jay

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Jay -- At this point, the holes are merely a cosmetic distraction. There is no practical reason for filling them, though you could easily do so.

The reason you suffer some bow rise on acceleration is that your motor is mounted all the way down on the transom. Back in 1985 this was perfectly typical. Today, we know better and use much better propellers.

The hydrofoil was an attempt to treat the symptom of a motor mounted to low instead of solving that problem.

I suggest you raise the motor either 1-1/2" of 2-1/4" and install a good stainless steel propeller. You will have to fill the two lower holes in the transom and drill two new ones for the lower bolts, an easy task of an hour or two.

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thanks Tom! What stainless prop would you recommend with this boat and motor combo? The tach does not work, by the way.

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I recommend the 13-1/4" x15" Stiletto Advantage 4.25

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I would suggest replacing or getting the tach to work as soon as possible.