87 28 spl having problems

[fj60johnny]

Hi, I am new to the forum and to the boat owning world. I purchased a 14' Lund with an '87 Johnson 28 SPL. This boat was my cousins and I was pretty familiar with it prior to buying. I am confident that the motor is running/tuned well. I rebuilt the carb and tested the compression which was good. So here are the questions:

1. First, he said that one of the prop blades was slightly bent. I examined it and sure enough one of them is slightly tweaked. I imagine that this is affecting the performance. My uncle has a 16' Lund with the same motor and it is significantly faster than my boat. Shouldn't a 14' be faster with than a 16' with the same motor?
2. What is the proper size prop for this motor? I believe mine has a pitch of 10" while my uncles is a 9". Could this be the reason his outperforms mine?
3. I live at 5,000ft and typically fish from 5k to 9k. Is there any special jetting that should be done for altitude?
4. Finally, I was wondering if there were any mods that I can do to get a little more power. Maybe just some tuning tips. Anything will help really.

I think that's it. I am just looking for some pretty common knowledge for a seasoned vet but please be nice to a newbie.

Cheers!

[boats.net]

You would need to check rpm's at wide open throttle to see if prop is within operating range, 4500-5500 rpm's, a lower pitch prop will turn more rpm's but is generally less top speed than a larger pitch prop. Might contact shops in your area to find what would need to done to run best at that altitude.