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  1. #1
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    Cool Barracuda Tunnel Project

    This Fall will be the beginning of a makeover project for my 16' 1970 Barracuda Tunnel using the same 1969 1250 MERC.
    I am the original owner. I have obtained a 6" setback bracket, had the gearcase re-worked by Bob's Machine in FL to move the water pickup to the bottom of the nosecone. We are running with a foot throttle & power trim on the steering now.
    My Son owns a 16' 1972 Barracuda Tunnel that came with a 1500 MERC.
    He will be using a MERC 225 EFI V6 with racing exhaust tower & full shift/low water pickup gearcase for his project.
    Kind of a Father/Son deal.
    Will post progress updates periodically with possible pictures.

  2. #2
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    Hi O B. Welcome to S & F. I hope you'll post pictures of the projects before and after.

    I also hope that y'all are experienced enough to realize the dangers of putting today's power on a 60's/70's technology tunnel. I'm not familiar with the Baracuda, but many of the early tunnels had a lot of lift (angle of attack) in the tunnel to get max speed from the low horse engines of that time period, and putting a V6 on one can be a near Russian Rulett type excersize. Good luck with the projects, but be especially careful with the overpowered one.
    Membership upgrade options: http://www.screamandfly.com/payments.php

  3. #3
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    Question Sounds like a Mag Missle or similiar

    Guys, please reconsider your choice of power. I'm no expert but Raceman is. He's being nice and no one wants to hurt your feelings or curb your wonderful enthusiasm for this project and our sport. But he's telling you that is too much power. It could blow over and severly injure (or worse) the driver. Please do a search for Magnum Missle on this site and read some of the horror stories. Norris, please get Parker to tell his story about overpowered older tunnel hulls. Please post pics of the boat, especially the tunnel and let these guys with a lifetime of exp. and knowlege give you some good advice. Your post gives me a bad feeling. Good luck and be safe. Smitty

  4. #4
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    Cool Barracuda

    Stay away from the V-6 power on this boat!! Blowovers come easy with a lot of weight on the transom and excess power. Listen to these guys and live!!

  5. #5
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    Safety warnings

    Like I said in the project blurb, I've owned this same boat from the day it was built. A big part of this endeavor includes using a 'Tunnel Hull Program' to help take most of the guess work out of it. We plan to re-work the tunnels & sponsons quite a bit. All testing will be done using the 1250 & the 1500 MERCS. The V6 won't even be considered until we have fine-tuned the hulls, if even then. We aren't suicidal.
    The builder realized the risk of a tunnel in the hands of the average weekend boater and they designed a fair amount of "hook" into the bottom to keep the nose down.
    The year after I bought my boat, the owner of the Co. raced one using two 1250 Mercs. They named it "POPCORN" and it ran away from everything on the water that day. Not many people knew what a 'tunnel' was in those days.
    Believe me, I'm not crazy, I just want to end up with an older boat that looks real good and totally stock from the water line up but has benefitted from 36 years of technology. My wife and I really enjoy cruising along and not having to slow down for other boat wakes. People are always surprised at how smooth it rides, especially in choppier water. If I can figure out how to post some pix, I will.
    PS: This is NOT a Carlson hull.................mucho better.
    Last edited by Oregon Barracuda; 08-28-2006 at 12:41 AM.

  6. #6
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    Quote Originally Posted by Oregon Barracuda
    PS: This is NOT a Carlson hull..................
    Carlson's aren't particularly known for bad manners compared to the boats known as Magnum copies

  7. #7
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    Quote Originally Posted by Mark75H
    Carlson's aren't particularly known for bad manners compared to the boats known as Magnum copies
    There was a 15' Carlson (Conroy) tunnel race boat with a 1500 xs with an ssm at Clayton that ran quite well. It will be an every year event for the next 3 years at Clayton so be there next season Mk 75. Bob


  8. #8
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    Oregon Barracuda, The only advice I can give you is to be real careful. You can not use a 1250 or 1500 to set up a boat for the v-6. Impossible and dangerous. I would like to put a v-8 in my Austin Healey but......
    The 1500 can be made very reliable and will work much better. My 2 cents worth.....
    Never argue with an idiot. They drag you down to their level, then beat you with experience.

    3 X APBA Formula V Nat'l Champion
    APBA Formula V US-1
    It took me 29 years to become an overnight success.

  9. #9
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    I've had a few days to think about this and came up with the issue that too many people are not aware of with increasing the power on older tunnels of this type.

    The thing that causes the loss of control flips is the angle of the center deck/bottom aerodynamic wing vs the angle of the hydrodynamic running pads. These boats were designed for 135 hp or less and have aerodynamic lift/angle optimized for the 70 mph speed you can attain with that much horsepower. To safely run faster than 70 mph the aerodynamic element would have to have it's angle of attack reduced, but doing so puts the wet section at too low of an angle to be effective .... in simpler terms when you try to trim the motor for the bottom of the boat, you over trim the air lift and go over. No amount of pad hook can hold the wing from flipping when you have acheived full lift speed.

    The only way to correct this would be to saw off the bottoms of the running surfaces and redo them with angle of attack suitable for more power .... much easier and safer to just buy a newer boat made for a V-6.

    Use Jim Russell's software and you will see that the changes needed to run that deck/wing over 70 mph are going to call for more work to the pads than is practical. I agree with Jeff, no amount of testing with lower power will predict what is going to happen with excessive power and speed.
    Last edited by Mark75H; 08-30-2006 at 08:33 AM.

  10. #10
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    Quote Originally Posted by Mark75H
    I've had a few days to think about this and came up with the issue that too many people are not aware of with increasing the power on older tunnels of this type.

    The thing that causes the loss of control flips is the angle of the center deck/bottom aerodynamic wing vs the angle of the hydrodynamic running pads. These boats were designed for 135 hp or less and have aerodynamic lift/angle optimized for the 70 mph speed you can attain with that much horsepower. To safely run faster than 70 mph the aerodynamic element would have to have it's angle of attack reduced, but doing so puts the wet section at too low of an angle to be effective .... in simpler terms when you try to trim the motor for the bottom of the boat, you over trim the air lift and go over. No amount of pad hook can hold the wing from flipping when you have acheived full lift speed.

    The only way to correct this would be to saw off the bottoms of the running surfaces and redo them with angle of attack suitable for more power .... much easier and safer to just buy a newer boat made for a V-6.

    Use Jim Russell's software and you will see that the changes needed to run that deck/wing over 70 mph are going to call for more work to the pads than is practical. No amount of testing with lower power will predict what is going to happen with excessive power.
    Or...........you could simply use part throttle and be careful. The temptation to push "just a little more"...can be fatal , however. I suggest you put a max speed on your hull...say 70-75...or whatever was the competitive speed of the day...and stay under that limit. In that regard be sure you use a GPS since water pressure speedos were known to slow....as the hull rose out of the water........

    T2x........ in this case the pot calling the kettle black
    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails my pictures 158.jpg  
    20 Foot Switzer Wing 2 X S3000 (Dust'n the Wind II)
    !6 foot Wood Eltro Vee (2X Merc 1500's) (Dust'n the Wind IV)
    15 foot Powercat 15C (2 X Merc 1500) (Dust'n the Wind III)
    (Single engine boats are lacking something)
    15’ Wooden Switzer Shooting Star...
    16 foot Lee Craft Merc S 3000-(Gold Dust II)
    (The exception proves the rule)
    Obsolete and Proud of it

  11. #11
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    Thanks for the feedback. You are right, you can't use the inline 6 setup for the V6.
    That boat is my son's. He said he most likely will be using the V6 on a new boat in the future, designed to handle it.
    He has been racing hydros for years, 25XS, 25SS, C-stock, 400 OSY, APBA

  12. #12
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    Thank you for the feedback and sage advice. I just loaded Jim Russel's program and will most likely come to the same conclusion. I'm glad I registered on this site, it seems there is a wealth of knowledge out there.
    Realistically speaking, do you see a problem with removing the "hook" that was built into the running surface of the sponsons ? The builder told me years ago that it would be hard to get into trouble running a 1250. I would llke to improve the hull to the point I don't have to run as much 'up trim' to overcome the 'hook'. Does Jim's program have the ability to calculate the 'hook' factor.
    Thanks again for your reply.

  13. #13
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    Thank you for the feedback.
    Point taken. I will continue to use my 1250, only I would like to run with less 'hook' in the running surface so I can use less up-trim and hopefully get a flatter attitude.
    How much would I benefit from adding "steps" in the running surface. Seems like a good way to reduce the "wetted surface".

  14. #14
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    Hey Oregon, welcome to S&F. There is a wealth of extremely knowledgeable folks here. I think many people would be surprised if they really knew who some of the people on this site are behind the screen names.

    I saw above you are having some problems with posting pics, if you would like to email them to me I will post them for you.

    Both boats sound like great projects and nothing beats a good father son experience. I look forward to seeing the project as it develops.

    BTW, here is the magnum missile pic mentioned above.
    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails magnum (Small).jpg  
    Last edited by Fish; 08-31-2006 at 05:51 AM.

    96' STV Euro

    Smarta$$ of the
    Sunshine Syndicate,

    How to upload pics (click here)


    Quote Originally Posted by jphii View Post
    Well then, give her a $50 bottle of booze and don't let her know about the hookers, or what you spend on them
    Quote Originally Posted by 1BadAction View Post
    oh no. i just realized I am the voice of reason on a thread. i am so done, RIP 1Bad.

  15. #15
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    Yea, me too, I guess. (Obsolete & proud of it)
    I'm 64, a Grandfather, and still love my old boat. One thing is for sure, no one else has one like mine. It gets quite a few comments.

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