F-2 Speedy

Boeing Pilot, what do you did you fly, good friend of mine flew F4's in the Marine Corps, then 727 Co Pilot when Braniff was in business.....not to hijack your thread

Diamond Dave

32 Fever is a very underrated boat in my opinion. I owned one for many years. Sinking or too low in the back all a bunch of nonsense. I know there are examples of it yes, I've read all those threads too (as there are of many brands models doing those things) but don't let it scare you from this model.

If you are a fat guy and work on your own stuff do what Wildman said and move the trim pumps, lose weight or pay someone. I worked on mine without issue, pulled engines, rerig the whole 9.

As with anything, get a survey pay special attention for structural water intrusion (transom, exhaust tips, bilge stringers, forward bulkhead and for step hull models the step bilge area (accessed under the cabin step) and cabin floor (all known points on any Fountain).

If you want to get fancy and can find unicorns look for a newer 33 not many out there and only came with 496's mid-low 80's out of the box, OEM 496 reliability and have the newest style cabin and cockpit seating which is very very nice.

Wildman is spot on they are amazing boats and they handle incredible. I would pass on the 29's with twins or a single 29. 32's will do everything better and have a way better cabin. I would own one again.

As far as Fountains go, you can't beat the lines/ proportions/ stance of the 32's always got compliments on it.

BoeingPilot

F4, that was an animal of a machine. Have flown a bit of everything, am on an Airbus 320 now.

BoeingPilot

Great response, thank you. Am thinking a 32 is probably the right direction to go.

Couple questions:
1. Seems some hulls have steps some don’t? Which years had which hull, which is more desirable and what is the value difference between one with and one without step?

2. My FasTech as 502 Mags. Not the fastest out there but have been virtually nothing but oil, impeller and plugs/caps/rotors -rebuild free for last 11 years. Which engine options are common to the 32? My preference is low maintenance.

105Fountain

Pretty sure 1997 1st year step hull in 29' & 32'

Wildman_grafix

95 ish was first small step.
99 ish large step. With fountains there never seems to be a set start point.

Most came with 502 mags, or HP500, HP500efi.

There are a few with 525sc, 575, and a couple later ones with the 383 mag?

Think thats what the small blocks were.

The difference between a 502 mag and HP500 is a few mph on top but the big place you notice is in the mid range. The blue motors are strong.

Mine has HP500EFI, top ends done around 320 hours. Just under 800 now. Been a great low maintenance motor.

With the CMI e-tops it takes me about 30 min a motor for plug changes, maybe 1 hour each for sea water pump.

BoeingPilot

Wildman,

Can tell you are very dialed in on this model. Can I assume the larger step version of the 32 is preferable?

Regarding engine options, had be a bit under the impression that the blue engines required more opening up and maintenance, but perhaps that was inaccurate. Is there a large consideration here regarding the engines in the way of reliability, parts support, HP/drive wear?

Did these come with one type or more than one type of drives?

F-2 Speedy

The 502 mag mpi is 415 hp.....the HP 500, 500 EFI will be closer to the 520 range, regardless of maintenance the blue engines are more desirable and better resale.

Wildman_grafix

What F2 said on the engines, 525 EFI's really gave blue motors a bad rap because of the headers and horrible valve springs. The springs do need changed on the blues but once done they are a good motor, I mean 500HP (Mine dyno at 515) out of 500 cubic in is not a very stressed motor.

On which step 32 is more desirable, IDK.

If you spend time on the inner web everyone will say get a 35 and that keeps the 32's down in price. I would say which ever one is the cleanest, but remember at this point all of these things are getting really old and will need stuff done.

Full disclosure,,,,, mine had the bad exhaust seals and I had to redo transom, stringers and a little bit of the bulkhead. But it allowed me to fix a lot of the "production" rigging also.

Had a friend that his 32 was one Hull ID number from mine and it was solid as a rock.

Diamond Dave

1995 was first year of the step. Mine was a 95 but had no step oddly enough. They also came with 454MPI's. The 502MPI's are very reliable and can actually be built to make a good amount of power pretty darn cheap using damn near all of the same parts. I followed some threads I found here when one of my OEM risers decided to leak and took down one of my engines. It made a world of difference performance wise and I did not need blue motors to exceed what those boats do out of the box with them already.

Most I've seen have it from the factory, but make sure you get one that has the hydraulic add on steering at least and even better if someone has converted to full hydraulic like I did. Best thing I did for that boat actually.

As Wildman said I too learned about soggy wood. Mine had poor sealing around the cabin drain tubes that protrude into the bilge through the forward bulkhead. The boats sit nose down on the trailer when level so any water that was in the bilge IF not drained out fully will collect there and behind the bulkhead under the tank and cockpit floor if it's a fair amount. I cannot speak to how step hulls or any that are not on Myco trailers as mine had sit on their respective trailers however they may not have this issue or are designed differently. In my case, the previous "open checkbook" owner let water sit there and it was wicked up and into the center stringer, two others and bulkhead. I would look for one that has had structural repairs that way that's one less thing you need to worry about haha.