What gauges should i add?
 

I've had this boat for three years now and twice have dropped valves seals from detonation. I think I have that problem fixed, but want to insure myself from more repairs. Currently I have the usual set of guages, Tach, water temp, oil temp, oil pressure, and fuel pressure on the carbs. My plan now it to add knock meters and water pressure and wonder what others are really worth it.

Any Advice?
Thanks
Pat

Wideband O2 would be your best envestment

Could you please elaborate?

O2 sensors are put in your exhaust to monitor combustion gases, in a nutshell it will tell you if your air/fuel mixture is correct across the RPM band, and most importantly tell you if you get to lean.
I think flo-scan would be a great addition, I have been thinking about putting it on my boat, if I could find a deal on it.

Hi Eric,
What did you decide to do about increased power? Thanks for your input on o2. Can you tell me more about the Flo-scan? I sold my motor home and putting what little i got out of that into my boat in hope to stay running more then just a day or two this season.

Need to increase income before I increase power lol. Flo-Scan is a fuel flow sensor you place in your fuel lines, it has a dash display that tells you gallons used so you dont have to rely on your inaccurate fuel gauges, also gives you instant gallons per hour, and tied to a gps gives you miles per gallon. That way you can cruise at best mpg by looking at the gauge, and always know how much fuel you have burned and how much left.

How are things coming on your engine, who are you using for the work? Hopefully things work out better for you this season, maybe last season you used up all your bad luck for a while. Knock sensors will be a great addition if you have been having problems with detonation. Where do you nomally get fuel, maybe you are getting some bad stuff.

I think I will be doing some minor work to the boat this year instead of messing with the engines. Some detail work, new carpet, maybe a rub rail if I get real ambitious, and a windscreen if I get a good idea for one.

I didn't know thats what they were callled but I know that my gps has that capability and I am goin to look into it. I have the engine pulled out and mostly dissambled. Car quest on Bay in Saginaw will do the machine work then Mike, Rob (a guy who works with Mike) will do the rebuild. There are only a few places that I can get into and have 93. Meijers on wilder, BP in Linwood, and the truck stop on 81 and 75. Any suggestions?
Have you ever stood in my boat, Wicked Won or Glifford? Last season I took Doug's Idea and put 1" of neoprine under my carpet. Maybe something for ya to think about.
Thanks for all your advice.

Sunoco on 81 and 75 has 94 octane and 104 octane race gas if you want to splash in a few gallons to freshen your tank.

For a wide band O2 you need to weld a bung into your exhaust manifold, not a good job unless you are an expert welder and dont want leaks.

A knock sensor goes in the block and may be easier to install, though I have not done one myself. If you really want a lot of gauges you could install drive temp gauges

Thanks for the input. I went by the sunoco today looking to see if I could get to the 104 pump, and Didn't find it. I know sunoco on euclid in bay city has it and could use a few cans if needed, but I'd rather pull up to it.

I like the idea of O2 sensor, but drilling into my headers would be tuff. Any idea how close to the head it could be installed, there is only about a 1/2 inch between the head and waterjacket.

i'm not trying to fill my dash, just want to prevent my past bad luck from happening again.

The race gas used to be on the Northeast corner of the island, its possible they dont have it there anymore. Birch Run Sunoco used to have it also, but since I got rid of my Grand National I stopped paying attention to who sold race gas anymore lol.

A wideband O2 has to be bunged in somewhere where it can get exhaust from all four cylinders with no water fouling it up. I wish I could help more but like I said I have not done one in a marine engine and would hate to see you get a ruined manifold.