2005 Nitro 288 Sport - Motor Shaft Length?

[Kat_Rich]

I am restoring a completely gutted Nitro 288 I found on Craigslist. And for the life of me I cannot find an answer to this question on the interwebz. The boat is not stored nearby so I can’t run out for measurements at the moment and was hoping someone knows what the shaft length is for the future motor on this particular boat. 20” or 25”?

 

[Thomas Teller]

I have a2003 Nitro 288 that I re-powered with a 225 Evinrude Ficht with a 25" shaft. It works but I had to add a jack plate to hike it up. SO you should use a 20" motor if you have a choice. I'm unsure if the added height will affect the ski pilon yet as I have only had her on the water a few times for trials. Mine has taken 3-1/2 years so far with normal breaks for seasons and other life events and she even survived a car crash last year on my way to her speed trial at seasons' end! Prior to that, she turned 62 mph in the trial I took her out on. Back on land, I raised the prop height using the full jack plate adjustment to max out the height. Supposedly, she'll do a bit faster performance, I'm looking forward to the trial run upcoming soon! SO the bottom line is the rig was designed for a 20" shaft. My anti-ventilation plate is 1" higher than the keel and an approximate 3-3/4" between the c/l of prop and Pad of boat hull bottom. I hope this helps you out so that you don't struggle through like me, let me know if you need anything else.

 

[Thomas Teller]

I have a2003 Nitro 288 that I re-powered with a 225 Evinrude Ficht with a 25" shaft. It works but I had to add a jack plate to hike it up. SO you should use a 20" motor if you have a choice. I'm unsure if the added height will affect the ski pilon yet as I have only had her on the water a few times for trials. Mine has taken 3-1/2 years so far with normal breaks for seasons and other life events and she even survived a car crash last year on my way to her speed trial at seasons' end! Prior to that, she turned 62 mph in the trial I took her out on. Back on land, I raised the prop height using the full jack plate adjustment to max out the height. Supposedly, she'll do a bit faster performance, I'm looking forward to the trial run upcoming soon! SO the bottom line is the rig was designed for a 20" shaft. My anti-ventilation plate is 1" higher than the keel and an approximate 3-3/4" between the c/l of prop and Pad of boat hull bottom. I hope this helps you out so that you don't struggle through like me, let me know if you need anything else.

 

[Thomas Teller]

So as you can see, a real pretty combination that works well. Of course if you add a large motor, you'll need the hydraulic steering to harness all those horses! Hey, does anybody know of a better fitment for the steering hose transitions. I made it up with compression adapters and some copper tubing, perhaps there is some manufactured fitting or hose adapter that I am unaware of?