Might as well get serious!
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Might as well get serious!
...the way you discribe things, it sounds like there is just plain too much weight at the rear of the boat. the motors, the brackets weight, the fuel tank towards the rear & the batteries/rigging, etc. it is what it is though, i get it. its only a 25 foot boat with a lot of hardware back there & no cabin. i would stay with outboard rotation, no matter the shaft length. with outboard rotation, the engine gearcases alignment would do better with the tow adjusted slightly outward. opposite of what is commonly thought of as proper. going with 20'' motors will help with cg a bit. good idea, only downside being more carefull in a following sea & slowing down more slowly. the only other negative on a twin vee-bottom twin or triple with a high x-demension or installed height on a bracket is that the reverse thrust slams up against the transom & works against you a bit at docking, working one motor against the other, etc. without wind working against you, its just something you have to get used to, throttle-wise & so on. prop testing & getting the right type props will do wonders for all your issues...
Thx Mo!
Much appreciated and as expected.
And as we weekend on the boat, on Lake Erie, where it’s always windy……., if we return to dock and I forget to put the motors down, I put on a **** show!
W/the way the bracket is built, w/the 20” motors down, they’ll be same as the 25’s when up.
As in, **** show.
I can always switch back.
As to the cabin, I built/added a galley and all the funk to fill it, so there is some weight up there.
I also added a 115 water bladder to the anchor locker to supply the sink.
Next move will be moving batteries from back seat to cabin.
I tried that on the test float/mock up, in static for only.
This is why we test.
Got a chance to sneak out today and went to the local pond.
Reversed rotation on the motors and took MO’s advice on gear case toe and set them to a 1/2” out.
Coming on plane, it still rolled to starboard and now that side prop breaks loose and spins!
Cant make this up.
I had what I think is a VRO pump caused fuel starvation issue on port motor and switched to what I thought was a good backup pump.
Wrong!
It set off the low oil alarm every 2 or 3 mins so….., I learned a little.
Picking up stainless sheet tomorrow to extend the tabs, will order a new VRO pump, and try it again.
Oh, and, prep and paint the 20” mids and finish the gear case conversions to the Lightnings.
Decided to see if I could make it pretty. I thought the gel on the deck was toast but was pleasantly surprised at what 10 hours of labor got me!
Not bad for a 37 yr old boat built in Ohio!
Before….
Turned out great.Looks new .
Nice shop too
Well it’s winter in Ohio so time to start some projects so I don’t blow my brains out!
Have all the goodies to convert the motors to 20” mids and to Lightning gear case.
The RH CASE is ready to go, the LH is waiting on the inards out of its 25” cousin.
Cleaned up the housing yesterday and will mod the intakes next for elevated running conditions.
RH carrier is pinned, LH is next.
Decided to change the color of the motors too.
Painting in the winter of Ohio…., yay!
Nice winter project. Will be interesting to see what that does to the hull.
Thanks for the heads up on this project Gary! Awesome work! Good job! I love it. I want to do the same to my 255 Sea Ray someday but the ol 454 just won’t quit in this one. I was thinking twin V8s but these 3.3s make so much easy power, two of those would prob be plenty.
-BL
And the shop is awesome too! To quote a great crew chief back in the hay-day of NASCAR, “the car is only as good as the shop it came out out of” -Jeff Hammond. Same with boats!
-BL
Bruce, the shop is different for me than a lot of guys.
I am very, very lucky and am smart enough to know it.
To those that really get it, I tell the same thing to.
My boys (hero’s) in Fla that had 1100 sq ft houses w/one car attached garages that housed moms going to work car and their project rocket was in the yard…., Fla sun, heat, humidity and they smiled every time they got the chance to work on it…., I am humbled!
Quote:
Originally Posted by BLisBack!
Lol!! OMG so true! Good for you man! Keep up the good work. I remember pulling a surprise visit on you down there in FL (kids in tow) in your 1100sqft “home”, with your full wall-sized, signed poster of Jimbo! Priceless! Those were the days.
-BL
Changes mid stream but still headway.
I gambled that the guts from my LH SEI gear case would work in my RH Lightning case and they would not.
So the stock 25” cases become stock 20’s but did get pinned for surfacing life.
Will order paint next wk.
Parts all rounded up and head to paint/prep.