www.iFourWinns.com

Had the liberator out for the first time this week man what a cool boat.
First I would like to say a very big thanks to Rick for all the great advise he has givin me about this boat. This is also my first time with an i/o deal i have had v-drives in the past and didnt relize the maintainence envolved and Rick you walked me through it Thanks Again. I did the engine alignment and the impellers the bellows looked new so I left them for next time filled the out drives 108 0z just like you said everything went smooth and no problems. Rick the waves were 3' wind 10 to 20 we left from Grand Haven and went to Muskeegon we got it up to 56 mph on the gps and it seemed like we had 10' of air below us still had lots of throttle left but it was getting a little violent out there so we shut it down and cruised at 20 mph the rest of the way there and back no problems at all the boat performed perfict until the Sherrif gave me a fix and repair ticket for 94.4 decibels I have to get them below 90 any thoughts about mufflers or silencers anyway closing for now and thanks for this great forum and the people on board. Gregg

Pics Please

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2008 Four Winns 210 5.7 GI/SX
2007 GMC Sierra 2500 Crew
1966 Fed-Up Wife

+1 on the pics

I've never seen a twin engine Liberator...whats the length of the boat??

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2007 Four Winns 220SS (Sold!!)
2006 Toyota Tacoma

Will work on pics may have to go to a friends house to do so dial up not only twins but twin 340 hp 460 cobras, thats 680 total the boat is 26 ft loa and 8 ft width and loves gas 261 Liberator Gregg

Yeah the 460 does love gas!! And I only had one of them!!


Glad you got it running Gregg!

I had the thru hull exhaust also (with Capts Call) and when I swapped out the OMC for the Bravo I didn't reconnect the thru hull.

Your best option might be to put Y-pipes on it and put thru prop exhaust on it. I have one of them if you're interested. You could probably find another on ebay. I noticed that thru hull exhaust didn't improve the performance at all. Since I had a switch everybody in the boat would scream at me to turn it off when ever I went thru-hull!

The downside of switching to Y-pipes is you'd have to pull both engines to install them.....it's not really hard but it would be a major job. A great project for a heated shop in winter!!

The 261 is a BIG boat!

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1987 Four Winns Liberator 211, formerly OMC 460 King Kobra powered, replaced in 2006 by a 1997 Mercruiser 454/Bravo III

So thats twin-screw 680hp combined . . . Whoowee thats an angry beast. Thirsty? Yes. Go like he!!? Oh yeah, and then some. Very cool. Love it.

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2008 Four Winns 210 5.7 GI/SX
2007 GMC Sierra 2500 Crew
1966 Fed-Up Wife

MAN that's a beauty!!!! Even your trailer is gorgeous!

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Mike
2005 Four Winns 230/240
VP 5.7GXi/DP
1998 F-150 XLT
Boat Pic

I LOVE that thing!

Reminds me of the '70s and '80s on Cass Lake and Orchard Lake (in Michigan).....

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Gordon Arnold
New Hampshire

2003 268 Vista ..................................................................Prior: 97 245 Sundowner

That is a VERY cool looking boat!!! I can see why you wanted it!!

My brother told me that he would have liked to have gotten a 261 (his wife said NO!)
So he got the 211 Liberator (which I have now!)

It would probably be a pretty good idea to find yourself a spare drive for it. Those King Cobra drives are fairly scarce.

I'm glad you got it running. I would love to know how the muffler tips do and if they quiet it down much. If they do good I might put my Capts Call back on!!

Here's what mine looks like! I have the same swim step too. I just didn't have it on in this pic yet!

The Liberator is a COOL boat! (and the 261 is the coolest!!)

I would love to see a video of your 261 running!

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1987 Four Winns Liberator 211, formerly OMC 460 King Kobra powered, replaced in 2006 by a 1997 Mercruiser 454/Bravo III

Did you put the Bravo three on?

How does it perform? Speeds? etc..?

ken

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Boating is not an expense, it's a lifestyle!!

261's are really cool boats! One of my favorites!!!

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Boating is not an expense, it's a lifestyle!!

That boat is killer...would hate to fill it up though

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2007 Four Winns 220SS (Sold!!)
2006 Toyota Tacoma

Do you have any interior pix? How about pix of the motors?

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2001 Horizon 260 - 7.4 Volvo GSI DP

Hi Ken,

My brother bought this boat new (1987) I got it in 2005 and put the 454/Bravo III in during winter of 2006.

He told me that the Liberator with the 460/Cobra did about 60mph at 5000 rpm. (20p prop) and It was always fairly doggy out of the hole.

After I installed the stock 454 B3 he came up and drove the boat. He said it comes out of the hole and accelerates at any speed more than twice as fast as it EVER did even when new. Now it just ROCKETS out of the hole!

The best speed I have measured is 57 (GPS) mph at 4600 rpm (rev limit is 4700) with the 1.81:1 B3 and 26p SS props.

I would say that the HP with the 454 is about the same as the OMC 460 was.

In 1987, OMC rated the 460 at 340hp (crankshaft)
Mercruiser rates the 1997 7.4L Bravo III at 300hp (propshaft)

I was told that the Bravo I would have been a better choice since the top speed would have been a little faster (3-5mph) over a Bravo III.

I'll trade 3-5 mph any day for the incredible acceleration and hole shot of the Bravo III. It also handles FAR better at idling speeds.... forward and reverse.

I'd love to put a mildly built up 502 in it. With 30p props and 5500 rpm (8% slip) it would probably do about 80 then
http://www.go-fast.com/Prop_Slip_Calculator.htm

I did the whole swap myself in my shop out back. (actually it's a hanger)


Regards,

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1987 Four Winns Liberator 211, formerly OMC 460 King Kobra powered, replaced in 2006 by a 1997 Mercruiser 454/Bravo III