Reply With QuoteJ4, I'm going thru the exact thing. Go over to banderlog.com and go to the tech forum and you will find some info for that.
steve
I'm replacing my stock berk pump intake with an Agressor 5* low profile intake in a Southwind Tunnel Dragster. I'm in the stage where I'm mocking it up to get all my measurements correct before I "stick it." As it was explained to me, the front of the intake is to be installed as flush as possible to the rounded keel. Make sure the intake is level to the hull (side to side) then to set the rear height of the intake you measure off of the pump mounting flange 5*. Also make sure that the intake is centered in the hull side to side.
1. The question I have is, to set the front of the intake to the proper height in my hull, it is sitting on the floor of the boat as in the picture. I noticed that the stock intake was up off the floor about 1/2 inch to an inch. With this new intake basically sitting on the floor for the front height, will I have issues with getting it to seal with the 'poxy putty? I can't raise it much off the floor because the entrance of the pump wont line up.
2. The other question I have is, the 5* that I set the angle of the intake to, that is refrenced off of the bottom of the keel? When I set the boat to level, I use the bottom of the keel (riding surface) as the refrence for level (0*)? The reason why I ask is because I tried to level the boat by putting the level on the stringers and checked the angle on the keel bottom and it was off by a degree or so.
http://www.***boat.com/image_center/...50DSC02964.JPG
http://www.***boat.com/image_center/...50DSC02965.JPG
http://www.***boat.com/image_center/...50DSC02967.JPG
Thanks guys,
Jay
J4, I'm going thru the exact thing. Go over to banderlog.com and go to the tech forum and you will find some info for that.
steve
This is not something that I would recommend for just anyone to try. I will make a short explanation and let you take it from there. I recommend having the installation done by someone with experience. If the front of the intake doesn't sit deep enough to make a smooth entry from the keel, you may have to do a little grinding in the bottom of the boat to get it deep enough. Once you have that done, you need to set your intake angle. I use a digital angle finder with an alternate "0" setting. I use the flat on the bottom of the hull next to the intake as the point from which I reference my intake angle. Just lay your angle finder on the bottom side of the hull along side the intake cut out, hit the alternate "0" button, then set the angle finder on the pump flange on the intake, then adjust the depth of the intake at the rear to acheive your desired intake angle. Make sure the intake is centered and sitting square side to side. There is considerable more detail to this operation, but this should be just enough rope to get the hanging started.
Here's a little curve ball...assuming that intake is cut for a shoe, you need to make sure you check where the shoe is relative to the keel. You can always lower the shoe with shims, but if you set the intake too low, then you won't have room to raise the shoe if need be.
Just a thought.
Here's a little curve ball...assuming that intake is cut for a shoe, you need to make sure you check where the shoe is relative to the keel. You can always lower the shoe with shims, but if you set the intake too low, then you won't have room to raise the shoe if need be.
Just a thought.
I was getting to that as my next question. Yes, the intake is machined for a tapered shoe / rideplate setup with tons of shims to bring it down if I need to. How far in should the leading edge of the shoe be up from the keel with no shims installed as a good starting point?
sdba069, thanks for the info. If the hanging rope gets too tight, I may have to take a road trip from New Orleans to Kopperl to get you to help me out....lol. I've got a good understanding of the right way to do it. By my nature, I ask and reask before I do anything "permanant" if you know what I mean...lol. I have an angle finder like the one you describe. What you explained about setting the angle makes more sense than what I was trying to do, thanks again for the info. :smile:
Jay
Set it to where you have some adjustability both up and down. Who knows where your biting edge will end up.
I dont see why its so important to get it at the 5 degrees.. Id rather see that the intake is set correctly for the boat/hardware your dealing with..In other words,I wouldnt adjust my setting in the boat just to see 5 on the angle finder.
CS
from oldrigger
What nobody's mentioning is how or what you level the intake too. No matter what degree you decide to set the intake (every hull is different so I wouldn't even begin to suggest a number) you need to level the mounting flange of the intake, the part that the pump bolts to, to the lifting strakes. So after you set the intake where you want it with the front and rear set, you now have to go back and level it to the hull. Some, mistakenly will pull measurements from the inside and go from there. This is the wrong way to do it because no two boats outa the same mold are the same on the inside. You need to set them to the strakes. The two center ones will do just fine.
If you're going to let the putty kick over night with only the four leveling bolts in the intake, you need to place some dead weight on the intake to keep it from moving, make absolutly sure there will be no movement until it kicks. It's not a bad idea to install at least two of the mounting bolts to help keep the thing in place. Just tighten the nuts finger tight. The reason behind not installing the bolts at the same time you're instaling the intake is to prevent pulling a hook in the bottom by overtightening the bolts. It's not really necesssary to do it this way, but if you've never done one before, it might be the way to go.
After youve mixed the putty and put the stuff around the edge of the intake hole, you can drop the intake in and work the putty smooth. Have a little can of water handy and dip your fingers in it and then rub the putty, making sure there are no voids anywhere. Pull the tape that you layed down before hand and clean up any little globs of putty with a rag with some acetone on it.
Go back and check the putty every 20 minutes or so until it kicks, it has a habit of sagging a little, so with your little can of water you can get your fingers wet again (and I mean really wet. Not just dip your fingers and go. Let them soak and get really moist, the putty will stick to any part of your skin that's not wet, so get them nice and dripping) and work the putty back in shape, gently rub the putty. Too much pressure and you can squeeze it out of place. After an hour or so, the putty will be firm enough for you to go have a beer and pat yourself on the back.
In the morning you can coat the heads of the counter sunk bolts and install them in the holes that you already drilled and counter sunk. Finish them off with some putty, covering them completly, again using your wet finger, smoothing out the putty.
You can choose to do the bottom of the intake when you set it, or the next day when you're under there doing the bolts. Just make sure if you do it the next day, you've removed any dripping putty that squeezed through when you plopped the intake in place.
This was by far my favorite part of rigging a jet boat. You can make or break a high performance set up by screwing up the intake. All the horsepower in the world won't make up for a poor setting. After I look at a boat's bottom, the intake instalation is the next thing I check out. You can tell everything about the boat and who rigged it by this alone.
Cas, I've read that post from oldrigger before. To me it seems, he is talking about level of the intake from port to starboard in that post. His point of leveling the intake to reference points outside of the hull on the strakes was what I was using to level the intake from side to side. The question I had in particular was leveling it fore and aft in the hull. I'm guessing it may be better after all to take the measurement to get the boat level (fore and aft)off of the outside of the keel on the center sponson, then set the intake pump mounting flange 5* from that. I know if I set the boat to level going from the inside of the hull, when I double check the level on the outside it will be off by a degree or two. So, the correct way would be to take all intake measurements from the outside of the hull since the insides of the hulls can vary from boat to boat (such as mine) like oldrigger says?
Thanks
Jay
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