Left Behind!!

Oh nooooo! The guilt and shame of not going to Dale Hollow is starting to set in!! :(

Sleekster! Send me your Rumble award, I deserve it more than you! I just got off the water, I finally had time to test the latest mods to the Lund. Here's what I did;

1.) Raised the tabs up 1.5"
2.) Stripped nearly 200lbs out of the boat (most of which was towards the bow or at the bow!) I found 25 lbs of solid lead (down rigger weights) that the previous owner had stashed all the way up in the farthest tip of the bow!
3.) Disconnected the 3 batteries (36 volt) for the trolling motor and moved them as far back as possible just to see what if.

The weight difference was noticable just putting the boat on the hitch! It had a tongue weight of 360lbs before, now it probably around 200 because I can at least lift the tongue!

No difference in speed on the water! Stuck at 40mph. Can't believe it made no diff in speed! The 2.6 can't even get into its power band, it stops right at 4700 w/ the 19" SS prop.

Maybe its just a damn slow hull? I think I'm going to give the 5.5" jack plate a try this weekend. I know I'm selling the boat, but I have to know whats holding this thing back.

-bll

[racer]

Maybe the engine is not making power and is stuck at 4700. Have run similar boats with smaller engines and gone faster. Verify the engine is right via dyno or at least a test wheel.

....the thought had entered my mind.

But the V4 that the 2.6 replaced had the same problem. Could not get into it's power band. And that ran like a scalded dog on my 16' boat, right up to 6k like nothin. It just seems that whatever you clamp on the back of this Lund has a hard time.

I did notice the water breaking about 2 feet further back on the hull at 40mph with the xtra weight out. Thats a good sign but still no speed increase. Differential corrected GPS speed as well!

I like the idea of a test wheel just to see if the motor can rev. Maybe the prop off the V4 since its a 17". Would that work? Might get a little exhaust over the hub, but is the spline the same? I'll check that one.

Thanks racer! :)

-bll

[racer]

The v4 prop will not fit, different shaft size as well as the hub. Does the 2.6 still have that partly burnt piston in it? if so that rounded corner will be hurting power.

yup, it sure does (rounded dome on #4). I have since gone to a Holley red pump and upped the jets to #71. The plugs have a nice tan color to them now and the piston domes are damp a 1/4 inch in from the outside like you said they should be. Except for #4. It seems to be more wet and the plug looks a little cooler (darker). I was expecting #4 to carbon up more now but it seems actually cleaner but noticably more wet and cooler. Probably from the loss in compression?

Could it be that as I raise the bow by removing weight, the lower unit is getting lower in the water and increasing drag? Thus causing no net gain in speed?

At 40mph, I tried stepping back in the boat (while holding on to the wheel as much as possible) to simulate even more weigh shifted to the rear, no benefit there.

The V4 I had on there http://briefcase.yahoo.com/bllkmlmarine is probably making 120 hp at the prop. I got only 30-32mph with it. This 2.6 is about 200-225 at the prop (given the bad #4) and I get 40mph (with or without the xtra weight). Thats sounds proportionaly correct. So I don't think the 2.6 is very far off on power. It runs really good (starting, acceleration, smoothness etc.). Sounds good as well. The Holley pump made such a huge difference, those stock pumps must be shot.

Maybe all the rivets, keels (5), baitwell pick up, depth meter transducer and a few epoxy patches are becoming a factor as the speed increases? Its not the smoothest bottom by any means! hehehe!

-bll

[racer]

What year is your 2.6 as they had different carbs, the 85 had 70c stock. Make sure you still have the c series jets. What is your timing set at? it should be set with the engine running a minimum of 5000rpm. Did you remove the stock fuel system when you installed the holley pump? The burn on 4 is because the edge is rounded and this does hurt performance. The rivets will generally help as they put small bubbles of air into the water, now the patches may be a different story. Yes you may need to raise your engine up.

It's an '84 2.6 XP. It has 69C in there to start. I moved up to 71C. The stock pumps are still in there but disconnected and capped on both sides. The Holley pump sucks through a Merc spin on water separator and then pushes directly to the carbs with no fittings or joints in between (except the big Tee at the carbs).

Havn't checked the timing yet. Prev owner said it was set to stock (26-28), But I need to double check it for sure. I also intend to index the flywheel and check each cyl., as you also said to do (I don't take your advice half-heartily, and greatly appreciate your comments) :)

Thats good to know about the rivets. Always wondered about that.

Is it ok to check that timing at 5k without a load (neutral)? I usualy disconnect the linkage and move the timing base with the motor around 2k rpm.

You wouldn't happen to have another piston (STD) for this thing would you? They're Pro-??? (I keep thinking Speed-Pro but thats not right, from my 4cycle days). I'll slap it in along with some plastic reeds one afternoon.

The Jack plate is now installed! Pretty good I must say while having to move the console back and watch my two boys all day at the same time (9months an 2years)!! So I can raise the motor up now. The tongue weight on the trailer has gone from 360lbs to about 80lbs!!! Thats a serious change in setup.

-bll

[racer]

No more than 26 degrees on 92 octane and you can not set timing at 2k even with linkage advanced it will continue to increase with rpm. I would recommend a requlator even with the red holley, set a 5 to 6 psi.

Have any of these pistons laying around (pro power)? I remember you saying "the way to get the crossflow to make serious power is to make it think it's a looper". I figured I was on my way by almost burning that dome off! hehehe ;)

Thanks Al!

-bll

[Rickracer]

I can get you the Pro Power pistons. I'm at home, so I don't have my price sheet handy, but I believe they're about $70.00 each, and include wristpins, circlips, and rings.

[B.Leonard]

I've now taken so much weight out of the boat that I had to move the transom hold down strap to the bow just to keep the boat from falling off the back of the trailer! And this was just fishing apps (bait well, storage etc.) Unbelievable!

-bll

[Sleekster]

bll, you don't trailer far I hope. Can you move the front winch
bracket forward? Or does that mess-up the bunk/roller
placement?

I'll check your 700 lb reduction post now.......