Re: Simple question for Fountain owners with twins.
 

Will do. I had some finnish rigging to do in the engine bay. A week or two before pics. I'll measure it and let you know. Keep at it. Winter will be enough of a break, then hit the water!

Good luck.

Re: Simple question for Fountain owners with twins.
 

Zanie,

Mine is at 4" from the bottom. 7" from the notch on aprrox. 34" centerline.

Good luck.

Re: Simple question for Fountain owners with twins.
 

Dan... 4" from the bottom sounds about right. I've got 1" but then again I've got boxes that put the prop another foot back.........Frank

Re: Simple question for Fountain owners with twins.
 

Hey 10x - it's that time of year to start screwing my boat up again, and I'd like to know more about what extension boxes do to a 10-meter's handling characteristics. Did you own the boat before the boxes were installed?

Also, with your propshaft at 1" below the running surface, was this accomplished by raising the motors? Shorter drives? Both? You're running SSM 5's, right?

Just looking at my options. The Konrad folks have 8", and 12" boxes, and can probably build any length I need. I have to move my motors anyway, so up wouldn't be that much more difficult.

Thanks in advance,
Brian

Re: Simple question for Fountain owners with twins.
 

Hi Brian, long time no talk. This was the way the boat was when I bought it. From what I understand from Reggie, they made several changes to the bottom (5-6) back in 89 to this particular boat.
I have prop shafts 1" below the bottom of the boat with 12" boxes, and 1" spacers in the drives. I asked Reggie if I would go faster if I removed the spacers and had the shafts even with the bottom. He said he did'nt think so, leave em alone. I ruled out trying it cause the boats a handfull to get on plane now the way it is, especially full of fuel and 8-9 passengers on board.
Reggie told me at the factory they raised the engines 2-3", he was'nt sure exactly how much, but they also moved the engines forward about 10-11" too. I very seldom run any tab, unless they're 3-4 ftr's out there. Does'nt run nose high either.
Currently I have the boat (engine compartment and transom) totally apart. Broke a few stringers last summer and started to flex the bottom and transom. Lotta stuff started movin around. What a project this is gonna be this winter. :rolleyes: Also, on the Sept 3rd COPS run this summer, I collapsed a fram oil filter and hurt one engine. Luckily not very serious though, just started knockin from a loss of oil pressure. No major dammage. :D
Was hopin I'd see you on the pond this summer. If there is any info I can give ya on the drive stuff etc. just send me an e-mail, or give me a call.
Frank

Re: Simple question for Fountain owners with twins.
 

OK here' what I'm thinking:
My Excalibur has the same bottom as the 1980 Executioner.
Same pad and notch
My "X dimension from the factory is 18.5" X 34.5"
With the TRS my prop depth was about 5.25" or so.
Running worked 330s (probably 400 HP) thru the merc II transmissions I could eek out an honest 70 MPH GPS.
This was turning Mirage 25 three blades the nose was pinned (I believe this was because my pad is so flat).
Planing was never "easy"

My plan:
Bravo drives with the engines in the standard bravo position (this moves the engines about 8 inches back).
Set the "X" dimension at 34.5" X 19" (up 1/2 inch)
IMCO 12 inch neutral extension boxes
This should put my prop height around 3.5" or 4" below the bottom.

Balance shouldn't be too badly affected because:
1. The drives are lighter.
2. Loosing the weight of the transmissions.
3. Changing exhaust from cast iron to SSM Aluminum.
4. Moving batteries from rear of bilge to the front.

Any thoughts?
Thanks,
Dan

Also, Frank I sent you an email!

Re: Simple question for Fountain owners with twins.
 

Thanks Frank. Couple of more questions... With the engines 10-11" forward, how close does this put them to the forward engine compartment bulkhead? With the 5's, I assume your're running trannies, so it this the distance they had to move forward? Or are they even further forward and you're running a shaft extension to make up the distance? And which trannies? 72's (10-18's)? Ok, that was a few questions.

I'm running some pretty whimpy 10-17's that have been beefed up by Huber to help them live, but racing has been hard on them. So I have a number of options, all of which involve moving my motors. 10-18's will require the motors to go forward 15/16". Extension boxes will require them to go up some, plus forward for the trannies. Konrad has some tricks coming up that would eliminate the tranny, but I don't know what moving the motors backwards a foot would do to the balance of the boat. Then add ext boxes to that setup, and it's back and up for the motors.

What impresses me most about your 10-Meter is that you push it well past the 100-mark, and I guessing that you're comfortable "crusing" in the high 90's. Takes a stable platform to accomplish that. I can live with the planing issues, I just want it to fly with the correct attitude. Sounds like you're already there, so I thought I'd pick your brain.

Thanks,
Brian

Re: Simple question for Fountain owners with twins.
 

Dan, I like the idea of propshaft height at 3 1/2 to 4" from the running surface with a 12" ext box. The only thing that I question is the Bravo choice. If your plan is to stay with the 454's making 400hp or so, you'll be fine. But what about next winter when you get the itch to juice up power once you have it flying right. Once you're committed to a Bravo setup with your engine locations, you're pretty much stuck. Changing to a different drive type would require that you do this exercise all over again.

There are better chioces for drives for durability. For obvious reasons, Konrad would be my first choice, but SSM 3A's or the shorter 5's are also much srtonger than the Bravos. Each still require a tranny, but Konrad has a shiftable drive that will be released soon. Unfortunately, it might not make your timing for your project this winter. If I choose to go that route, I will be running prototypes from them.

Just food for thought. Sounds like we're both trying to accomplish similar setups. Keep in touch!

Thanks,
Brian

Re: Simple question for Fountain owners with twins.
 

P.S. Frank... any ideas about the 5-6 changes Fountain made to your hull? Did they move/add strakes?

Re: Simple question for Fountain owners with twins.
 

Hey Brian,
Thanks for the input.
Unfortunately a made the decision (and have committed to it) to go the bravo route. I have 98% of the bravo components (HP gimbal assemblies, outdrives, flywheel housings , etc).
I kicked around a set of #3s but since my boat had merc transmissions, I would have had to change transmissions and move my engines forward. The cash required for that drive choice wouldn't have left me with enough money for big enough engines to turn them.
This old boat is not going to see more than 600 HP per motor. With the.weight of the boat and the way I drive (I take my time getting up on plane), building bravos capable of staying together isn't out of the question.
Dan