BBC Rail Kit

[Clayton]

Does anyone have a rail kit for sale ?

[396_WAYS_TO_SPIT]

Duane at hi-techperformance.com has them....

[Clayton]

Guess I should be more specific, I was looking for a used kit, may sound dumb. Also, the kit you mentioned is not polished, which not a big deal to me but I heard it is a rough cut and requires quite alot of modification. Have you heard this ?

[atxwrangler]

it polishes easy with a bench buffer.i've bought two!not bad,but,if ya want to run a mechanical fuel pump,you have to cut out for it!

[Duane HTP]

They are a fairly rough cut. That is to keep the price down like so many people want. Polishing is $150.00 extra. They are a pretty universal kit that can be used in most any boat with a little triming off of the bottom sides of the plates for proper fit. If you need a fuel pump hole in the front plate, let us know and we will put it in for you. Hope this is not spam?? Just trying to help.

[LGCDEVIL]

I have mounts for sale. It's not a rail kit, though. they are stationary mounts similar to something you would find in a circle boat. Very solid system.

[Clayton]

No, not spam. Currently having the 1976 18' Eliminator hull redone after pulling a stringer loose with a stock 454, of course coming up on those 5ft wakeboard boat waves (with no one boarding) didn't help either. I currently have a four point mount system that is need of a new front mount, so I thought I would look into other options.

[bp]

Hope this is not spam?? Just trying to help.
of course it is, but so what? half the people posting are looking for one thing or another, so i say; spam on dude! :cool:
i would guess that if sergeant spamblocker doesn't like it, he'll tell ya. should be ok if it's not houses, bridges, or oceanside property...

[lilrick]

No, not spam. Currently having the 1976 18' Eliminator hull redone after pulling a stringer loose with a stock 454, of course coming up on those 5ft wakeboard boat waves (with no one boarding) didn't help either. I currently have a four point mount system that is need of a new front mount, so I thought I would look into other options.
I would definitely use a rail kit! Material isn't cheap and sure saves alot of time to buy a pre made kit as well!

[Clayton]

I understand it would put less stress on the stringers, engine removal would be easier, plus's and minus's, the cost is more, minimum $475 for premade plus hardware. I am still thinking about modifying my current 4 point so it can mount on rails. Anyone done this ? FYI, the 454 motor is a stock 330 hp with a tunnel and 2 650cfm carbs and have no plans to go for more, 67mph is fast enough, well maybe 70, cause I'm a big girl.

[FASTRAT]

there have been several threads listed on the forums on how to build ur own rail kit...very informative...search for the threads & make ur own...they are very easy to make...just my .02 cents
fastrat

[Clayton]

Thanks, understand everything said.

[wsuwrhr]

There are a few people here to make you whatever you desire too.
Rails for sure. Once you set one up you will never go back.
Brian

[ruggs]

Do you have the equipment to build your own plates? Chances are not. My 2cents worth is buy the plates at Hi-Tech. Don't worry about polishing and just powder coat them with Super Chrome, serious low maintenance and great looks. Gonna get what ya pay for............... :rolleyes:

[atxwrangler]

Do you have the equipment to build your own plates? Chances are not. My 2cents worth is buy the plates at Hi-Tech. Don't worry about polishing and just powder coat them with Super Chrome, serious low maintenance and great looks. Gonna get what ya pay for............... :rolleyes:
Aint that the truth! good advise!

[Clayton]

Powder coating was what I was thinking, thanks. Looks like HTP might be the way I go.
What do you mean by SPAM ??? asking for services ??? or to buy products ??? thats my take and why ???

[shaun]

I used duanes kit, boy what a frustrating weekend that was... First time installing a rail kit, first time attempting to cut thick pieces of aluminum straight, allot of firsts that weekend... It's a good kit though and i would use it again... Some tips from my install...
1. The kits universal so be prepared to cut the bottom and sides off the plates.
2. I used a jigsaw with wood blades, i found that having somebody standing in front of you while your doing the cuts (holding a police riot shield) spraying a constant stream of WD40 made the cuts go alot faster, alot cleaner, and alot smoother. It also kept the blades from dieing. I used a new blade for just about every long cut i did. (the cutting oil i bought didn't seam to work as good as the wd40)
3. The bottom of the plates are not square, they are cut at a angle so on each end that connects to the rail you will need to notch it to make it sit flat.
4. Don't rely on the stringers to be equal distances from the pump and centered in the boat, on my boat one stringer was about a 1" further out from the pump than the other one was but you couldn't see it by the eye. Measure the distance between the pump shaft and the stringer.
5. I spent too much time trying to align the motor before i ever had my rails mounted, i got a ruff height moved the rails up about a extra inch and mounted them. I was lucky because this ended up being perfect and i only needed to notch out about 1/4 of the bottom to make the motor sit where it was perfectly lined up.
6. When aligning things make a mark with a marker where the plates are sitting on the rails. You will be surprised how much the motor will drop or raise based on the motor sitting forward or backwards 1/4".
7. When cutting use a straight edge clamped to the plate so you make a straight cut, in my case i used the angled pump brace piece that came with duanes kit, worked great!
8. When you line up and drill the holes for the triangle mount pieces, mark which corner they went on. This is very IMPORTANT, they are all not the same size and i didn't do this. I then spent a hour moving them around trying to figure out wtf happened.
That's all i can think of right now, be prepared to spend some time doing this, i cant even count the number of times i wanted to say F**k it. I'm not expert at this, hell i may have done it wrong or backwards or whatever but i though i would just share my experience.
If you want to see some pics of my install check out http://reitanfamily.com/gallery/v/shaun-bryan-reitan/boat01/RailKitInstall/
I don't really have any finish pics in there yet really, mainly because I'm not fully done, still need to cut the access metal off the plates so they are not so bulky looking, figure out if I'm going to be able to use the pump brace and get the stuff polished.

[wsuwrhr]

There are people who know people, who can help with this sort of frustration.
Brian
I used duanes kit, boy what a frustrating weekend that was... First time installing a rail kit, first time attempting to cut thick pieces of aluminum straight, allot of firsts that weekend... It's a good kit though and i would use it again... Some tips from my install...
1. The kits universal so be prepared to cut the bottom and sides off the plates.
2. I used a jigsaw with wood blades, i found that having somebody standing in front of you while your doing the cuts (holding a police riot shield) spraying a constant stream of WD40 made the cuts go alot faster, alot cleaner, and alot smoother. It also kept the blades from dieing. I used a new blade for just about every long cut i did. (the cutting oil i bought didn't seam to work as good as the wd40)
3. The bottom of the plates are not square, they are cut at a angle so on each end that connects to the rail you will need to notch it to make it sit flat.
4. Don't rely on the stringers to be equal distances from the pump and centered in the boat, on my boat one stringer was about a 1" further out from the pump than the other one was but you couldn't see it by the eye. Measure the distance between the pump shaft and the stringer.
5. I spent too much time trying to align the motor before i ever had my rails mounted, i got a ruff height moved the rails up about a extra inch and mounted them. I was lucky because this ended up being perfect and i only needed to notch out about 1/4 of the bottom to make the motor sit where it was perfectly lined up.
6. When aligning things make a mark with a marker where the plates are sitting on the rails. You will be surprised how much the motor will drop or raise based on the motor sitting forward or backwards 1/4".
7. When cutting use a straight edge clamped to the plate so you make a straight cut, in my case i used the angled pump brace piece that came with duanes kit, worked great!
8. When you line up and drill the holes for the triangle mount pieces, mark which corner they went on. This is very IMPORTANT, they are all not the same size and i didn't do this. I then spent a hour moving them around trying to figure out wtf happened.
That's all i can think of right now, be prepared to spend some time doing this, i cant even count the number of times i wanted to say F**k it. I'm not expert at this, hell i may have done it wrong or backwards or whatever but i though i would just share my experience.
If you want to see some pics of my install check out http://reitanfamily.com/gallery/v/shaun-bryan-reitan/boat01/RailKitInstall/
I don't really have any finish pics in there yet really, mainly because I'm not fully done, still need to cut the access metal off the plates so they are not so bulky looking, figure out if I'm going to be able to use the pump brace and get the stuff polished.

[fleetimus]

I used the kit from HTP. Duane will assist you with the install.
http://www.hotboatpics.com/pics/data/3150/4155plate1-med.jpg
http://www.hotboatpics.com/pics/data/3150/4155HPIM0456-med.JPG
http://www.hotboatpics.com/pics/data/3150/4155plate-med.jpg
It is sure nice to take out four bolts and disconnect hardware and pull the engine!!!

[Clayton]

First off I would like to thank everyone for there input. Some of you I met either from work I've been doing or at Big River.
My 3 reasons for possibly using a rail kit, I'm really leaning this way even though I figured out why my 4 point mount system failed.
1. Less work to remove the motor.
2. The load on the stringers is distributed better.
3. My front mount needs to be replaced, approx $164, for a new one.
Thanks again !!!