So bought an 89 Ranger 364V earlier this year and now that hunting season is nearly upon us she is going into the barn for a face lift and some setup tweaks. Joho5 has already asked a lot of the questions I would have had so thanks for beating me to all those. She runs an 89 Johnson GT150 set all the way down on the transom. 5" prop to pad. 24" Raker that looks like the previous owner ran through a gravel bar. No missing metal, just really ragged.

So my question is, what difference am I looking at just raising the engine to get the 3.5" prop to pad vs. a 6" jackplate with same prop to pad? I've heard the jackplates will "wake up" a 300 series hull? She seems pretty awake now. Curious how much more awake she can get? And yes I am looking for max top end speed.

Currently with 2 people 10 gallons of gas on port and 10 on starboard tanks she will run 64MPH at 5200 RPM's. I assume the beat up prop and the depth of the prop are limiting me reaching max(or at least more) RPM's.

With just me in the boat it's still a learning curve... I've moved all the weight I can to the port side. Nearly empty starboard tank with 10+ gallons on the port. I can max around 4800 RPM's at 58MPH then the chine walking starts. The walking is less now that I've moved everything to port. But I still haven't learned to counteract it with steering corrections. The splash from the hull is right about center of the seating area. Anywhere in the seating area will net driveable results. Anything aft and she starts walking. There is little to no rooster tail at all before she starts walking. There is still torque steer at this point. Not neutral like there is with 2 people in the boat. My trim gauge doesn't work so I'm trimming by feel. Would proper plate/prop setup help here or do I need to look at adding more ballast and/or just more seat time?

Oh and the 64MPH was pre carb rebuilds, decarb and new ignition coils. The coils looked to be vintage 89 and all tested out of spec.

Definitely need a jack plate on those old Comanaches. I had a 6" Rapid Jack on my 375V. I had a Merc 175 and after milling the heads and changing out the exhaust tuner I was turning a 23 Tempest at 6200. I had chine walk before the mods but when I added the new tuner I had mechanic install solid motor mounts. The mounts pretty much eliminated the walk. Trimming by feel is the way I did for years because my trim sender broke not long after I bought boat new. I had a new one installed under warranty and when it broke I said the heck with it for about 25 years before getting tired of looking at a non working gauge.

I'm thinking of replacing the trim gauge with a water pressure gauge. Figured that would be more useful.

definitely, I left trim gauge and added a new hole for PSI. I could feel the Ranger and what trim setting I needed at certain speeds. On my 22' Bay Champ the gauge is a little more useful.

Since you've replaced coils, rebuilt carbs& de carbed motor , you NEED to get a good condition prop or have THAT one worked.
Understanding what you are trying to accomplish with a jackplate. Physically moving the prop back from the hull to get it into "cleaner" water so that it takes advantage of the pitch (forward movement) & cupping(lift & bite). Cleaner means not as aerated(more dense) .
Next step: get that prop worked or another prop. You are fartin in the wind & wasting time & trying to setup only to find out you need to redo it all AGAIN ,once you get a prop that is in good condition & will bite & lift. Then you CAN actually progress thru setting it up.
Choose pitch of prop to ALLOW motor to run at or near its recommended top rpms. If the motor is designed to run 5800 ( If I recall correctly those were 5600-5800 motors)& your only getting it to 5,200 then you are, in reality,"lugging" your motor. Not good for a 2 stroke motor. Its called "pulling the guts out of it" every time you try to go top speed. You need a lower pitch prop to bring rpms up. What pitch prop is that Raker? General rule of thumb is for every pitch you go up you lose around 200-300 rpms. For each pitch down you GAIN 200-300. If you're getting 5200rpms you need to go down 1 or 2 in pitch to get motor rpms right. Its burning more fuel & not being efficient. It ALSO tells you there's more to be had out of that motor AND it WILL last longer when set up & propped out right. Then try to put it ALL together to reach 10%to 12% prop slip. If everything is right then its attainable. Then you KNOW you're getting max performance from THAT combination.
Goal: efficiency. Run at recommended rpms,correct pitch, longer motor life. When you get these all together the top speed WILL increase & handling WILL improve.
Those OMC's usually performed best & didn't have a rooster tail at all with a Raker prop. Not like a Merc Lazer or Tempest that's most efficient with a cowling high rooster tail.
Your getting the right things done(motor tunes up & ready) now get the power delivery (prop) into shape next.
Good luck , keep us updated & there AINT any dumb questions!!! It knowledge we had to LEARN, no ones born WITH it. Stay safe.

It's a 24 pitch Raker. From everything I've researched the 24 Raker is pretty much the norm for this hull and engine. I do plan on getting the prop worked before the next step is taken mechanically. Kind of my square one to maximize what I have now and work from that point.
I guess my key question is this... Is the last 600 RPM's I'm looking for the result of the damaged prop and the depth and lack of setback?
To my untrained eyes I see the prop damage hurting RPM's. I feel the jagged edges are causing it to not get a good clean bite. From what I have read about the Rakers they don't run as good deep like mine is set. And then adding a plate helps just that much more. I guess I just didn't expect an old Ranger with a 150 to run what it has run with what I know is holding it back. Made me start thinking what is this old boat really capable of putting out? If I don't get another MPH out I'm still impressed with what she has, but I have a feeling there is more to be had.

answering your question to be perfectly exact in "expected" performance will be impossible.

1)the "ragged" edges usually don't make you loose rpms.. they will be where a crack will eventually start.
2)raising the engine on the transom could gain you some rpms, and mostly likely not gain speed.. you'll just be
blowing out the prop.
3) installing a 6 inch plate and setting the height at 3.50" below pad will help with the "chine walk" and with
it's load carrying ability. and become much more consistent doing it.
4) most of those engines made their peak hp around 5500 to 5600. it was very common with those setups for guys to
run a 24p raker in the cool air and a 22p raker in the heat.

not sure if i've answered to your satisfaction.. let me know if i've missed something.

Thanks guys. Steve I'll be giving you a call this winter about a Rapid Jack for sure. What's a ballpark cost on reworking a prop?