New to me Pantera III…questions about a motor for it

grybrd, Glad you got your fixer upper. It will be a nice boat when you are finished with it. In my opinion, if you go with the 150 HP you might be making an expensive mistake. I dont know your background so its possible that you will be happy with that choice but I would try to get as much information as possible about the horsepower needed to enjoy that PIII. Typically the small block 200 HP was not enough power to run this boat to its potential. If you can possibly swing it, then consider the 3 liter 200 HP motor for your PIII. Im sure others will comment on this as well so just consider all of the feedback you receive and try to understand that this boat has been around for a long time and there is a lot of experienced operators who have owned the PIII and listen to their stories of what engine would work best for your boat. Good luck with your project. Everyone should believe in something. I believe Ill just go fishing!

I will second or third opinion to put a 200 HP on a P3. I have a 200 HP 3.1L Yammie, and it pushes my 2003 dual console P3 very well. You do, however, still notice when the live wells and fuel tanks are full. I had a 150 on an old P2, and it too ran well as long as the fuel and live wells werent full. The P3 is an awesome boat, albeit rear heavy. BCB has said before on the forum that P3s ran much better with the 3.0L and up blocks. Be mindful of the block size when looking at 200 HP mercs. I dont know specifics, but until some time in the early 2000s the 200 EFIs were 2.5L, the 3.0L came on later. I think all optis were/are 3.0L.

Grybrd, I owned a 99 P III w/ a 2.5L 200 Opti for ten years. I think that the hole shot on the P III suffers most with a 2.5 L block. Once you got it on plane the boat ran well and I could break 70 with a light load, 66 – 68 with full load. That being said, I would agree with the above posts that the P III would really benefit from the extra torque that the 3.0 L provides especially in regards to the hole shot. The Fury prop wasnt available when I had my P III, but I would certainly consider it for your P III. That prop combined with the 3.0 L block should get the P III out of the hole a lot quicker than with a 2.5 L block. I couldnt even imagine what the hole shot would have been like with a 150 on the back! Hope your restoration goes well. Good Fishing.john gorka

I should mention that the new 200 Pro XS requires carefull planning for installation. Routing of cables etc through the hull is quite tricky. It took my dealer 3 different setups before he found a suitable solution. The main issue is that the front of new optis sit father forward than the EFIs and it is a short run to the hull opening which can cause problems with turning as well as with trimming up too high.