Merc Laser 220 Cowling mods?

[gmacrae]

Howdy people. I'm going to strip and repaint the cowling on my Laser 220, and was just wondering if there is any mods that are worth doing to it (im thinking along the lines of air intake holes etc) before i finish it or is there anther cowling i can fit to this motor to make her look or perform better? I just dont want to spend hours making it look good and have someone say "ahh you shoulda replaced it with a *** cowling, or cut some vents here and here"

What do you guys think?

Cheers

Gene

[pyro]

From what I understand, it's NOT the lack of "air holes" that holds this engine back, it's the lack of a clear path for the air to flow once it gets under the cowl. The cowl's design lets air in, and keeps water out. You can add louver plates in front of the logo area if it doesn't already have them.

Removing the VST, pump, etc, and putting the pump and filter in the boat with the regulator on the fuel rail and a fuel return line back to the tank like a high-performance EFI, will clear up the airspace under the cowl and let it breathe better. This should net you a couple hundred RPM alone.

[T-REX]

:iagree::iagree:

[gmacrae]

Cheers lads... remove vst eh? so have no fuel vapor recirc at all? I'm not sure i want to go that far, though im sure you are right Pyro - its damn cramped in there with that stuff in place. I'm getting rid of the oil injection stuff so that alone should make a small difference. I might remove the foam lining the cowling too, this should free up some air.

Louver plates on the front of the cowling tho... this is something i could manage. Is there a type of louver you guys use for this? Something of another older merc or something?

[pyro]

The only reason it has a VST is to allow the motor to connect using a USCG-standard fuel fitting, with no return line. In effect, the VST is a little "slosh tank" to feed the pump a steady flow of fuel, and to receive return flow from the other side of the fuel rail.

You're not likely to gain anything (besides more noise) by removing the foam and adding a louver set without doing anything else. Removing oil injection is a step in the right direction for reliability.

If you replace the heavy factory cowling set with a lightweight race cowl, you'll shave off about 20+ lbs of dead weight, and THAT will likely net you more gains than louvers and foam removal. It will also be a little louder with a thin plastic cowl. :D The bad part is, race cowlings have very high resale value. :eek:

[wrechin2]

This should net you a couple hundred RPM alone.

Has anyone every done this and noted the gains??? Just curious.:cheers:

[pyro]

See T-REX's post above, and ask him to elaborate... :D

[T-REX]

Has anyone every done this and noted the gains??? Just curious.


I Have!!....

I removed the recirculating tank, and moved the fuel filter to the boat, and I opened the vents on my cowl(a 1991 Mariner drop on fish'in cowl)...I picked up 400 rpm by doing this on my mota!!...I have removed the tank and filter, without opening cowl(few cowls have the vents the 91 cowl had) and only seen approx 150-200 rpm gain...

The easy way to git an ideer on the gain opening the cowl will give kan be achieved by runn'in tha engine without the cowl!!...Remove'in the cowl on my mota resulted in a 500 rpm gain, but with the open vents, and cowl back on, it only yielded 200 or so!!...But, together with the relocation ov the filter and fuel pump, tha gain wuz a solid 400rpm....More noise, but tha gain wuz worth tha noise!!

If ya wanna know what dun what, juss do one thang at a time, then ya know zakkly what made a gain, and how much...

[gmacrae]

Great replies guys, thanks, i'll stick to the good advice. Probably wont touch the fuel system though, yet.

T-REX - do you have a pic of the vents you put in your cowl?

[wrechin2]

That is great. I had heard that, just never would have thought it would have been that much. I was wondering what the gains were. Thanks!!!!

[pyro]

OK, so the man says the cowl mods help. So, add the louvers then, it sure can't hurt!

[wrechin2]

Plus it lets some sound out!! LOL!!!

[gmacrae]

hate to say it, but im kinda trying to keep the noise down :o

I know a comment like that round here is likely go get me banned :D

[T-REX]

I tried to find a pic, but when my puter crashed lass yeer, it took all my pics...I'm still look'in tho...

My cown had factory vents on it, but were blocked off...I turn'd them around, open'd them, and made sum baffels on the inside ov tha cowl to direct the air into the butterflies...

Heres a pic ov the cowl, with the vents turned around....I later drill'd sum holes in the rear to help unload sum trapp's air and heet
http://i50.tinypic.com/ekkhh5.jpg

[shooter1]

On my last 220 Lazer I used a drop on off of a early '90s fishing motor I wonder if you could put spacers between the VST and the plenum and move it out and the same on the water seperation filter and maybe add an intake spacer. Makes you wonder and ask questions.

Shooter1

[T-REX]

I used my 10pakk under this same cowl, which had 1" spacers between the box base and manifold, and had a 2" spacer in the air box...I had to open the front ov the cowl, because the front butterflies wuz too close to the cowl...But, wit std airbox configgeration, U kan safely space the airbox forward 3"s...

I don't thank U kan space out tha tank and filter enuff to do any good tho...Juss not much room on tha:thumbsup: sides, between mota and cowl...JMO

[T-REX]

I used my 10pakk under this same cowl, which had 1" spacers between the box base and manifold, and had a 2" spacer in the air box...I had to open the front ov the cowl, because the front butterflies wuz too close to the cowl...But, wit std airbox configgeration, U kan safely space the airbox forward 3"s...

I don't thank U kan space out tha tank and filter enuff to do any good tho...Juss not much room on tha:thumbsup: sides, between mota and cowl...JMO

[T-REX]

I used my 10pakk under this same cowl, which had 1" spacers between the box base and manifold, and had a 2" spacer in the air box...I had to open the front ov the cowl, because the front butterflies wuz too close to the cowl...But, wit std airbox configgeration, U kan safely space the airbox forward 3"s...

I don't thank U kan space out tha tank and filter enuff to do any good tho...Juss not much room on tha:thumbsup: sides, between mota and cowl...JMO

[gmacrae]

On my last 220 Lazer I used a drop on off of a early '90s fishing motor I wonder if you could put spacers between the VST and the plenum and move it out and the same on the water seperation filter and maybe add an intake spacer. Makes you wonder and ask questions.

Shooter1

Any idea what motor it was off - 2.5 carbie? I'd like a one piece cowl if i can find one that'll fit. Was there much involved in making it fit?