Southwind Tunnels, final answer

[Mr Twister]

Hi all, I am interested to know actual MPH increases or decresses when using a droop snoot or not on these boats. I have received a bunch of conflicting info, Thanks

[77charger]

i would send BP from here on the boards a PM or e mail he has one that he races and i am sure he would know that one or he might respond to this topic.

[bp]

Mr Twister:
Hi all, I am interested to know actual MPH increases or decresses when using a droop snoot or not on these boats. I have received a bunch of conflicting info, Thanks i can't answer that because i have not run without the berk droop, nor would i run without it. i -believe- that without the droop, the boat would slow down due to raising the thrust centerline. i did drop the thrust centerline just a bit at the last race with positive results. if you raise the thrust centerline, you have more drag and the boat will slow down.
the outter sponsons should look something like this at speed.
http://www.dragboats.com/gallery/picDetail.asp?PictureID=2002936564&DriverID=-2056633953&RecommendID=8&EventID=994715217&BoatID=135280854

[Oldsquirt]

Let's make that a little easier to see.... Looks good Bob!
http://www.dragboats.com/gallery/images/03_05_IHBA_NN_8374_298.jpg

[Mr Twister]

Man that boat looks wicked. I replied on the "other" board thanks. What class does that run and how fast is it.

[GlastronGuy]

He runs in Pro Gas Jet and he runs in the 10's.

[Big Proppa]

Hey BP if you don't mind my asking - what kind of HP does it take to run a south wind tunnel in the 10's?

[bp]

Big Proppa:
Hey BP if you don't mind my asking - what kind of HP does it take to run a south wind tunnel in the 10's? i dunno big. according to bubbles omega, about 675 or 680... but, maybe that's just for texas southwinds :cool:
i turn an mpd legend b approximately 6k. the dne built engine is making "something" in excess of 800hp at that point, according to the westech dyno. the bare hull weighs -around- 700lbs (last february).
whatever, this particular pass was 10.03/104mph, to qualify 3rd in a 12 boat field this past memorial day at the red bluff nitro nats. unfortunately, a micro switch failed the next morning (unbeknownst to me), resulting in a red light. owell, that's racin! did better at chowchilla in july, taking the class.

[sdba069]

I have one that has been in storage for years.In the old days it ran in the BAJ class.The last pass it made was in 1986 at Firebird,it ran 7.87 @ 139 mph.By the way ,it does have a snoot on it.

[bp]

an older fella, towing along a younger fella, came up to my pit at redbluff. young guy says "is that a southwind"? yeah. older guy told me about how he ran a southwind in tfj, way back when. said his hull weighed 250.. :D
kinda cool when people come up with; "i got one of those", or "i remember when....". a friend of ours that now runs PGF started out with one 20 years ago. they brought out the old scrapbook at the last race.
these boats still look good, they're fun drivers, and they can still be competitive in the brackets.

[Mr Twister]

I am thrilled to have a SW TD that after all these years is still considered good for its intended use. It was bought totally by accident with no knowlege of the history or performance. I fell for the lines of the hull, condition, color, and that strange set back pump. The boat had set dormant for years in a pole barn after the previous owner blew up its 454 and got a wife, kids, mortgage, etc. I heard about it through a mutual friend and stopped by to look at it even though it was only casually for sale. Well the guy didn't want to part with it that bad and didn't take my offer. A year passed and I figured I'd try again and It worked (at 1k less) and the fun began.

[moneysucker]

Congrats on the new southwind It will be great to have annother one on the water. I started out with no droop or place diverter and I didn't change one thing at a time like you are supposed to, but there was a huge diference with the droop. I would definately recommend one. Good luck and It would be nice to see some Pix of it.

[Mr Twister]

It actually has been on the water all summer. What an awsome experience, as most of you know- JET BOATS RULE! Too bad the lake association at the lake I live on basically banned it. You know Sherriff on the dock, notes in the newsletter, Answering machine messages (thats not the kind of boat we want on this lake)etc. I just take it elsewhere an have fun. Right now some parts are being held hostage by a shop with a "2 day turnaround" for the last 2 weeks. No, I won't say who it is because I think his heart is in the right place, just couldn't get to it for various reasons so the boats dormant in the driveway awaiting their return. I'm getting a droop as soon as I can call it in. Powered by you ask, well its a dare to be different 455 Pontiac, 2 edelbrock 600's, Rewarder headers, Berkeley split bowl pump. Still looking for speed, does it ever end.

[LakesOnly]

**** you guys! All of you! I want a Southwind Tunnel Dragster! I want a Southwind Tunnel Dragster! I want a Southwind Tunnel Dragster! I want a Southwind Tunnel Dragster! I want a Southwind Tunnel Dragster! I want a Southwind Tunnel Dragster!
cry Waaaaahaaahaaahaaaahaaahaaaaaaa cry
I want one for myself, goddammit!
LO
:D :D :D
[ August 19, 2003, 07:55 PM: Message edited by: LakesOnly ]

[LakesOnly]

D/P
[ August 19, 2003, 07:43 PM: Message edited by: LakesOnly ]

[Tolly]

Mr Twister said... Powered by you ask, well its a dare to be different 455 Pontiac, 2 edelbrock 600's, Rewarder headers Hey Twister, I am and always have been a Pontiac enthusiast, and I have always wanted to put one in a jet boat. I would love to see how you plumbed the water throught the engine, did you find a marine plate for a Pontiac to go where the waterpump was, or did you do something different? I have always thought that a Pontiac would be the ultimate motor for a lake or river racer jet. I have a couple of 4-bolt 455s and a set of round port Super Duty heads as well as some Mickey Thompson aluminum rods that are just itching to go into a jet boat engine. Also let me know if you ever need any hard to find parts for a Pontiac, I have a whole shop full of the good stuff!! Please show us some pictures!!!

[bp]

LakesOnly:
**** you guys! All of you! I want a Southwind Tunnel Dragster! I want a Southwind Tunnel Dragster! I want a Southwind Tunnel Dragster! I want a Southwind Tunnel Dragster! I want a Southwind Tunnel Dragster! I want a Southwind Tunnel Dragster!
cry Waaaaahaaahaaahaaaahaaahaaaaaaa cry
I want one for myself, goddammit!
LO
:D :D :D well then, just go get one. 565 said there was a spare in santa maria... so, whats your holdup? don't talk.. just do it. :p

[Jake W]

Bob if it were just that easy.Hey any one have a Southwind TD sitting in a barn hear in good ole KC Mo ?Yea that is what I thought.
Jake wink

[Mr Twister]

Tolly, I found the glenwood front mount at Bergeron Marine in AZ via intenet, water pump and timing cover removed, used a glenwood olds/pontiac bell housing for the 4 point mount setup. Water comes from the pump through the oil cooler (glenwood) to a "T" then to holes I drilled in the front mount at the same spot as the big holes in the front of the block through the block out the t-stat housing. From there, 1 line overboard and one to a spring "t" valve for the water injected headers. This set up was figured out by looking at all the other jet boats I could find and just doing it. It will maintain eng temp at 140-160 by throttling inlet water with a valve.When you put a pontiac in a boat you are kind of the lone ranger.I have seen other pontiac marine stuff for sale. This guy on ebay had some Rewarder round port headers, new, I don't think they sold, but If you have deep pockets Jim at Rewarder will make new ones for around 800.00. I have some spare d port logs for risers or ot pipes. I have late SD rods with arp bolts in the motor and my block is a SR 71 HO 4 bolt. I drove 300 miles some years ago to get it for 2 bills. It was standard bore. I was saving it for something special and a maring application seemed like the obvious choice.

[004 southwind]

I just happened across this thread. I guess know I will motivated to go to the garage and begin sorting thins to see if I could get the boat together. The wife would acually support this movement seeing that she has never seen the boat in the water.

[comin' unscrewed]

004 southwind:
I just happened across this thread. I guess know I will motivated to go to the garage and begin sorting thins to see if I could get the boat together. The wife would acually support this movement seeing that she has never seen the boat in the water. You got a tunnel too?

[004 southwind]

Yes I have a tunnel. The last time the boat was wet was 92. The boat ran the sdba.
[ August 30, 2003, 08:47 AM: Message edited by: 004 southwind ]

[Mr Twister]

I got an Agressor (berkeley style) long droop snoot locally for 189.00. I ran the boat on the river Sunday and it felt like a different boat. I really don't know how to explain it-More lively and light I guess. Tomorrow I'm going to GPS it and tweak the ride plate and wedge set up. Right now with 7.5 degrees built into the snoot it wants to porpise a little cruising unless I run the diverter almost all the way down. Before the droop it had 6 degress up an never porpised. I am going to take out 2 degrees then one and see what is best. Oh, BTW-some guy with a checkmate wanted to run them out and he got an excellent view of the roostertail....