1999 Vindicator 273.

[JeffA]

i'm looking at a 99 stratos vindicator 273, it has a 138 hours on a 150 Rude, just wanted to get some thoughts on this boat before i make an offer, what should i see for speed with it, etc..etc..
thanks.

[fastman151]

Hey Jeff....I have a 98 273 Stratos with a 150 Johnson Faststrike. I'm getting mid to upper 60s with a best of 71.9 gps.

It really is a fun boat to drive, handles well and for me has plenty of storage for a 17' boat. Any more questions just ask. Ed

[JeffA]

IM sent.

[fastman151]

Here's a pic of mine.

[Darth VMAX]

Stratos' Lil' Hotrod!

[ep72]

Ive got the Javelin hull thats the same as yours. Owned it for the last 6 yrs, awesome little boat for its size,mid 60's speed. My only complaint I have is that rod storage is a little cramped, but hey it is what it is though.

All in all its a great little boat. Good on fuel and easy to tow.

[MBragg8]

Buddy of mine has a 273... Good little boat, but Ditto on the rod storage issues. I have a 03' 185 and you can lay down in my rod lockers. Seems as if on those late 90's 17 footers, Stratos wasn't thinking when the made the lockers. Way too small. Personally, I'd hold out for a little more room, but as earlier stated, it is what it is.

[Tom B]

Looks like a Ficht....i would find another boat

[JeffA]

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Tom B &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Looks like a Ficht....i would find another boat </TD></TR></TABLE>
i think it is, whats wrong with that motor? it has 138 hours.

[Tom B]

google 1999 Ficht...you'll find plenty of reading

They had a big problem with blowing up

[Lockjaw]

They blow up. That's the short version.

You need to know if the motor has had the upgrades done to it also. Even then, you are taking a big chance. If it is a BRP 150, then its a different story.

[fastman151]

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by MBragg8 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Buddy of mine has a 273... Good little boat, but Ditto on the rod storage issues. I have a 03' 185 and you can lay down in my rod lockers. Seems as if on those late 90's 17 footers, Stratos wasn't thinking when the made the lockers. Way too small. Personally, I'd hold out for a little more room, but as earlier stated, it is what it is.</TD></TR></TABLE>

On my 273 the center of the front deck is a rod locker that will hold 9-10 rods and reels to 7 1/2' with no problem.

Granted they're not as wide as the 185, but they sure do run and handle like a sports car. Alot of fun to drive!!

[JeffA]

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Tom B &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Looks like a Ficht....i would find another boat </TD></TR></TABLE>
it says its a Engine
1999 Evinrude E150FPLEEA

[JR19]

The 273 hull is a screamer with a 150 on the back. It will flat out fly in clean water and will hold its own with most 19-20 ft 200 hp boats. The only draw back is it can not run upper 60s in water that is very rough. I have seen one run 70.9 in perfect air and water temperature with a light ripple on the water. That is smokin for a 150 but you must have a good set up and know how to drive a boat that chinewalks. A jackplate does help but it still needs a lot of driver input.

Now about the 150 Ficht... it is no secret that the 98 and early 99 small block Fichts were troublesome motors. Actually in 99 they changed the design mid year...in essence there is actually two different 99 motors.

Find out if it has the updated power head. One way to tell is buy looking at the cylinder head. Looking at the spark plugs the hole will not be a perfect circle. There will be an offset in the hole with a small deflector pin in the hole. There were also updates in the EEM computer. You can only tell if the updates are there buy taking it to a dealer and letting him hook it up to a computer.

In person I have only seen the hood off of two different 99 models. One was an early production motor that was sent back and had updated power head. On the power head was a sticker that had all the information about the updates done to the motor.

The other motor I saw is mine...it is one of the latter model 99s that came out of the factory with the updates. I have no big issues with my power head.

Thankfully I am friends with a mechanic that was a certified Evinrude tech until he retired three years ago. He explained a lot of the issues and told me some precautions to take with my motor to hold it together.

Due to cylinder head design these motors would have huge amounts of carbon build up and fail within a few hours. They must have all the updates. I was told to run nothing but 100% synthetic oil and if my memory is correct only Champion XC12PEPB spark plugs. The plugs must be indexed 15-22lbs so the gap faces the injector. Always let the motor warn up to operating temperature before dropping the hammer.


When my motor was new my mechanic put it on the computer for the 10 hour check up and told me things looked fine. He was also honest and told me keep saying the Ficht prayer until I reached 100hrs. He claims if you do what I say and it last over 100hrs it will make if for many more hours/years to come. When the motor was 4-5 years old I had some trim issues. When he looked at it I had him to hook it to the computer and see how many hours it had. If my memory is correct it had 322. I no longer say the Ficht prayer. It should have well over 5-600 on her buy know. I have been lucky...would I recommend a 98 or 99 small block Ficht no

[JeffA]

i contacted the dealer today, he said is has all the upgraded software and powerhead, just i still pass on this rig?

[Darth VMAX]

If you really want the boat and are unsure of the motor see if he has another 150 Johnson/Rude he could rig.

The 273 is one of my favs

[JeffA]

i think i'm going to pull the trigger, hows the room on this boat, like 2 guys with tourney gear?

[ep72]

Doable, as long as your fishing partner doesnt bring a tackle bag the size of Texas with him.

[JeffA]

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by ep72 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Doable, as long as your fishing partner doesnt bring a tackle bag the size of Texas with him.

</TD></TR></TABLE>I guess i better keep looking then....

[JeffA]

thanks, going to check it out tomorrow, is there anything i should really look for on there boats?