First-time Mastercraft owner (with questions)…

[butter]

Hi, I hope I don’t come across too over-enthusiastic and/or naive, but after spending 20+ years behind various runabouts and i/o’s, I finally pulled the trigger and recently bought a ’92 PS205, and I love it! It’s in rougher shape than some, but the price was right. I am so stoked about this website. I’ve really enjoyed looking at pictures of the sharp-looking early 205’s some of you have out there (and all the other beautiful mc’s, new and old, as well). I would like to gradually bring mine back to its former glory. I will post some pics of it when I can. I have spent the past couple of weeks searching and reading thru many old posts and threads and have learned a great deal. However, for every question that’s been answered, comes one or two new questions. I decided the time has come to post one of them here. (I apologize if this has been covered before).

My boat has the powerslot (1.52:1) transmission (behind a 351W w/ GT40 heads and 4010 Holley carb). Can anyone enlighten me what the advantage (or disadvantage) of the powerslot transmission is? It seems to me that any gear reduction advantage would be offset by the steeper pitch of the propeller.

Thanks in advance! I am anxious to learn a little more about these boats.

[rodltg2]

you can enjoy the " butter " more with the powerslot...

[sanjuan23]

Welcome to the board. There are several of us running around in the "older" 205's. Myself included. One of the really smart guys should be along shortly to explain the difference. I was under the impression that the powerslot was not available with the 351 HO option. But none the less still learning as well. Congrats! :steering:

[mitch]

Welcome butter, you'll love the 205! Good luck and fire away w/ any questons, lots of knowledgable folks on the board. Cya!

[PendO]

It seems to me that any gear reduction advantage would be offset by the steeper pitch of the propeller.

Thanks in advance! I am anxious to learn a little more about these boats.

you have more torque when pulling the skier out of the water as you are turning the prop 1 revolution for every 1.52 "revolutions" of the engine... your engine will still top out at the same RPM's ...and likely depending on the prop you will see no speed difference between a boat with slot and a boat without it, provided they both have props that will let them hit the max rpm's at Wide Open Throttle.

do a serch for the term "powerslot" ... you will enjoy the feature ... some of us have different engine combo's and different gear reductions, for example you can get a 197 with 1.26:1 with the MCX and a 15 pitch prop, but if you have the 197 with the 1.52:1 and LQ9, you get a 17 pitch prop, to make up for the different gear reduction ratio you increase the pitch.

[east tx skier]

The powerslot is a fine option to have. It's purpose is to spin the larger 14x16 (I think) prop. Better hole shot and nice hold through the slalom course. It was available with the 285 hp 351 HO.

Since you mentioned the 4010 carb, I'd expect you've done some reading on that here recently. :o Hope it's not related to the one I had.

[Upper Michigan Prostar190]

Butter, Welcome! :toast: my story is very similar to yours. I skied behind junk for 20 years, then realized my dream and bought a 91 prostar 190 with a powerslot. I have never skied behind a MC without a powerslot, so I cant compare. But I upgraded to a ACME 4 blade prop and that really cooks that boat along now. I highely recommend you get a CNC made prop for your boat. Look into OJ props, or ACME. They make CNC props and you will notice a huge difference in power, handling, and vibration. Nothing but improvement in all catagories. FWIW, with the powerslot and the prop, my boat can run circles around my buddies boat(a competitor ski boat, no names being mentiond) his has 335 HP Fuel injected eng, similar prop, and my ol carbed 351 240HP powerslot shames it all day long. :D (oh wait, sorry. I am bragging :o ;) )

Please post some pictures of your boat! we wanna see it!

your gonna love it here! this place is awesome!

[88 PS190]

The powerslot option was initially introduced due to the big heavy skiers and the old school slalom styles encountered with skiers such as the Kris and Bob Lapoint.

In slalom the speed of the boat through the course is checked by using the length of the course distance/time = miles per hour of the boat. The boats where having issues keeping times through the course and so the determined method of improving the boat's speed holding was to use a gear reduction transmission so that the trans would swing a larger prop. In the case of Mastercraft the option was known as the powerslot trans and was ~1.5:1 gear reduction.

Since then Nautiques have introduced their version of the gear reduction, and the mastercraft gear reduction has become more like a 1.3:1, although i forget the exact it could be 1.26:1 or similar.

For most skiers it isn't that important to have a powerslot, but for people on ski sites w/ a short set up before the course where getting the skier up and to speed quickly, then holding speed through the course it can be desireable.

Welcome the Mastercrafting.

[butter]

Thanks everyone for the welcome!

sanjuan23, your statement about the 351 HO option not being available with the powerslot transmission is interesting to me, in that I have reason to suspect that the heads and maybe the carb are not original. Are the heads and carb the only difference between the standard and HO 351? I understand the 4th position in the HIN# identifies the engine/trans combo. The 4th letter in my HIN# is a “Z”, but I’m not sure what combination that corresponds to. (I just saw east tx skier’s comment that the HO was available with the powerslot, so maybe it is all original?)

Thanks for the input on the powerslot. I think I understand the concept of more torque at the shaft by gear reduction, but I was thinking that the steeper pitch prop would negate that effect. Don’t get me wrong- I’m not questioning whether it makes a difference or not, I’m just trying to understand the reasons why. It seems from the comments above that it does, in practice, improve holeshot.

Regardless, I am thrilled with the way this boat performs. It rips my arms from their sockets almost, and seems to run flawlessly. It came with a 4 blade 14x18 stainless prop, made by Cutter, I think. The only thing is, I don’t seem able to get full WOT. I am at 4500’ altitude, and am getting about 4000RPM. As soon as I scrape some more dough together, I am planning to pick up a nibral ACME CNC prop. I am debating between the 381 (13.5x17.5) or the 537 (13.5x16). Perhaps I should consider OJ as well? The guy at ACME was very helpful on the phone.

Yes, I did read a number of threads regarding the 4010 carb. Thankfully, I have experienced none of the related problems (yet). I have put about 10 hours on the boat so far. I’ll see how things go when the weather really heats up.

I think one of the next things I’d like to tackle, is to check the shaft alignment. Thanks to the numerous threads on this topic, I think I can do it. It seems like it could run a little smoother, but maybe a CNC prop would help that too.

Sorry for the long posts. Can you tell how excited I am about this boat? Thanks again everyone! (I’ll work on pics this weekend)

[PendO]

Thanks for the input on the powerslot. I think I understand the concept of more torque at the shaft by gear reduction, but I was thinking that the steeper pitch prop would negate that effect. Don’t get me wrong- I’m not questioning whether it makes a difference or not, I’m just trying to understand the reasons why. It seems from the comments above that it does, in practice, improve holeshot.

like 88 said, it also helps in tracking when big skiers are making turns ... helps to keep the boat running in a straight line and not allow deviation from the course ... as for not being able to get as many rpms at WOT as you think, I'd guess altitude of 4500' has a lot to do with it, a smaller pitched prop would get you more rpm's ... be carefull with the stainless steel, if you hit something you may wish you had a Nibral prop, when/if you switch from SS to Nibral you will see a reduction in mph for simmilarly sized props, people have suggested that SS may add 1-3 mph

[jeverett]

Like everyone else I say welcome, I have gotten great info from this sight and I have had MC's for about 15 years and they are hands down the finest boats on the water. I two am at higher altitude (3800ft) and am only getting about 4000rpm and 46mph give or take but I am running a 13 x 13 NIBRAL prop. The GT 40 heads are great and yes they are aftermarket, however you could get the 1.5:1 trans in the 205 when they first came out so that is a bonus. When pulling the key is Torque and more torque, hense the gear reduction and the bigger prop!

Hope that helps fire away with ?'s

[TMCNo1]

Welcome Butter, East Texas Skier has a post in the "Frequently Asked Questions" thread that breaks down the "HIN"#.

[butter]

Yes, I saw that in the FAQ section, but the "Z" in the 4th position didn't seem to jive with anything listed there. It seemed to apply more to the newer power packages. I'll have to go back and double check... maybe I'm misinterpreting something.

Also, yes, I would like to go with the nibral prop, and maybe keep the stainless as a spare. I don't mind losing a few mph off the top end. I rarely run a boat all out.

Thanks for the info on the benefits of the powerslot in the course. I don't think I ski well enough or hard enough to realize those benefits, but it's very cool to know more about it.

Thanks again... you all are great!

[shepherd]

Welcome to the board Butters.

[butter]

I tightened the pylon last night, and snapped some pics to share. I'll get some better shots next time I have it out of its confined parking area...

[butter]

View from the rear...

[butter]

Hope I'm not boring you...

[butter]

Tightened the pylon. Now it feels solid.

[butter]

A look under the engine cover...

[BradD]

A fellow 1992 205 a somewhat rough condition owner, welcome.
This site is amazing, especially when you have an older boat with some "issues". You can find answers in mere minutes to things you could spends hours trying to figure out on your own.
Enjoy your new boat.

[jraben8]

I suppose that you and I have different definitions of 'rough'. It looks great to me from the pictures.

[east tx skier]

Butter, not to be redundant, but since you brought it up again, the 285 hp option with powerslot was an available option combination in the early 90s. I have seen one on a 93 S&S. Just depends how the boat was ordered. If you have the dual feed 4010, I'd say 99.9% certain you have the 285 hp 351 HO. I can't imagine someone retrofitting that carb on a regular 351 (which came stock with the 4160 in 1992).

[butter]

If you have the dual feed 4010, I'd say 99.9% certain you have the 285 hp 351 HO.
Thanks for the info. It sounds more and more like this is the original setup.

[blackbeauty02]

hey if you don't mind me asking what you paid for and what all came with the boat. I have the same year but have been having bad luck with mine. just spent $1000 rebuilding the tranny. then the first day i have it out with the new tranny it stops. spent another $200 for the ignition module and coil. get the ignition module tomorrow and hopefully that will figure everything out. but yea what do you mean by "rough"...looks pretty clean to me.

[butter]

I guess "rough" is a subjective term, but I think the pictures have some of you fooled a bit. The interior is only a year old, so I think that tends to stand out (even thought it's defintitely not OEM quality). The boat has 900 hours (550 on rebuild engine). The gel coat is very oxidized. There are a couple broken fiberglass spots, above the rubrail. The carpet is very thin and/or stained, in places. The trailer is pretty beat up. And, as I learned last night, I have a bent strut, and other propeller shaft related problems. The good news is that the thing performs great, and I can take my time and tackle most of the cosmetic issues over the next year or two.

hey if you don't mind me asking what you paid for and what all came with the boat.
$9K. Came with an extended pylon and a couple fat sacks and pump. Not much else. Good luck with your '92. I am loving mine, in spite of its "issues".

[blackbeauty02]

i paid $11500. came with tower, racks, speakers, two fat sacs, a broken pump (not known at the time). still not to bad of a deal but pisses me off that i bought it at the beginning of summer and it's halfway through the summer and still haven't used it.