Lean condition making more HP which melted a piston?
Maybe the tach is off?

Not doubting.......... I have a fine running Evinrude Etec 200 HO on my 96' V21, and it pushes to just over 49 with 3/4 tank......50 light on fuel. But that's at 5,600 rpm, tabs up, motor fully trimmed out on dead flat rippled water. Motor is said to produce 218 hp at the prop.
Some V guys reporting considerably faster which is amazing.

Again this is all off of a 15 year old GPS that was already in the boat. Not sure how accurate it is. Once I get her rebuilt or repowered I will get a more accurate reading.

Do you have a good Merc guy? Luckily I have a great one who loves older Mercs. He is in Gloucester down by Farm Fresh, off 17 a bit(I can give you his name and number). My 2.4 200 had low comp on 1 cylinder when I bought it. I didn't run it, took it directly to him to rebuild. Around $1500 later she was done and has been running her *** off for what 6 years now(7 maybe, I cant remember). This past Sat (best day of the soggy weekend) I was loaded with 3 kids, me, wife, cooler and 3/4 tank fuel turning 6000K on the way in the creek (racing a new-ish 24 Regulator) I got him, but just as I grabbed the throttle to bring her down....spun the prop. No biggie, just glad it happened where it did after I shook the rope at him!

Long story short, these old Vs love those old lightweight 2 stroke Mercs, maybe worth a rebuild?

my 200hp merc will turn 48-4900 rpms with a 19pitch prop the fastest i have seen on the gps is 43. With my normal load of people and gear i get 38-39.

mines also a 81 so its not making 200 at the prop, boat also has bottom paint

Yea my guy loves the old Mercs too. Talked to him yesterday and he said it'd be $1300-1500 assuming the cylinder doesn't need sleeved. Said if that's the case it'd be cheaper to find another block. Me and the wifey been talking it over and between this boat and my Striper I'm just about over dumping thousands in old motors. Really thinking about getting a new 150 Merc. I live 1/8 mile down the road from Swords Marine, he's our Merc dealer, so it'd be nice to have that for any future work needed.

Gonna pull the head off again and see how bad the carnage is and we may go from there. My guy is extremely busy and has a newborn so I don't know when he'd get around to rebuild it if we went that route so I may get that guys contact info from you.

10-4, just let me know. Swords does great work also I hear

That is not the range your motor should be in at WOT. 5200 to 5800 rpm is what I have been told all my life.

The OLD V200 2.4 L Merc would turn 6100 as they didn't have limiters back when.

Motors never run stronger than right before they pop.
Lean run 2 strokes run real well. Ever notices what happens when a chainsaw starts to run outta fuel.. She definitely picks up some rpm right before she dies.
The piston got hot due to predetonation caused by a lean run condition. That is why she wouldn't turn over hot, the piston was all swelled up and melting. Once cooled down, that piston will often shrink and the starter can turn the crank again. The melting piston leaves deposits of aluminum on the cylinder walls which then gets cleaned off by the piston rings. Stick a ring and well, game over. I still love 2-strokes but the technology is helping to make the 4-strokes lighter all the time. Fuel infection and all, I am coming around to the technology because it works..it ain't cheap, says Captain Obvious..
Best of luck 3 Squids. Been there and done that with Johnrude and a Merc or three...

[QUOTE=jamesbalog;228171]my 200hp merc will turn 48-4900 rpms with a 19pitch prop the fastest i have seen on the gps is 43. With my normal load of people and gear i get 38-39.

mines also a 81 so its not making 200 at the prop, boat also has bottom paint[/QUOTE

Yours likely too much prop...........you need 5,500 rpm and will likely get 45-48 mph while the motor will work less hard too.

I agree with Ridge and BGreen. Light boat, just me I turn 6300 WOT, she likes it, I don't keep it there long. At 6300 I am around 53-55 mph. I load her down and she still turns around 6K WOT. You should see better top end. Try some different props