Goodfella

Hey JOJO,
You will be or should be okay? When 26 Sonic has issues with his
half ass install can he send you the repair bill?

Cattitude

I agree with a lot of what goodfella says, 1/2" fuel lines, the gages, doing it right, the risk of a bad install.

One of the beauties fo the whipple system is that it is calibrated and computer controlled when you bolt it on and the timing, knocksensor, fuel curves are all there. Brand X leaves it to the installer to tune and that is a significant disadvantage. Dustin has Dyno'd his systems and it is well tested- you would be throwing money away to pull the engine and dyno it.

With regard to 100 hrs- I have to disagree- check your compression against specs, if it's good you are good. My dodge Pickup's (And my former vette and Goodfell's vette for that matter) computer lets me track average mph- usually 37 but we'll call it 40 to play it safe. Lets say i bought a new dodge, gas engine, towed max gross wt since day one (assume its a wrok truck) at 100 hrs you've got 4000 miles- working the truck hard. Now take into consideration that the marine engine operates at cooler water and likely oil temps (or at least as cool) allthough in a similar load pull environment.

Are you going to pull your truck engine and freshen it at 4000 miles? Let compression and oil consumption be your guide. If you really want to be careful have your engine oil analyzed once a year and they can tell you the health of your engine based on wear metals present in the oil sample. I'm talking about mild big blocks here- high strung engines are different. There have been several posts about 600 hr boats still having excellent compression.

You also don't need to pull heads and stud them and upgrade gaskets- At least not with the Whipple- if you think your self tuned system may detonate then you do have cylinder pressure issues. With that said- when I do freshen my engine, I will choose to invest in better alloy bolts and the correct felpro gasket and probably inconel exhaust valves- for piece of mind.

Don't take it from me- speak with Dustin or Andy at Whipple and you will get the real skinny. Good luck and happy boating.

blown formula

Don't get scared off of Prochargers by these guys!
I've run one for two years at 5-7# boost & no problems. Normal maintenance & oil changes. You do need the extra gauges, etc. regardless of the system you buy. Don't be fooled. The shop that does the install is the key here. It should provide a turnkey solution for you. If you have a sound engine & good compression, everthing should be ok for recreational boating at speed. However, if your gonna race, be safe, build it correctly from the start. I have a 454 with a roller cam & rockers, no girdles, No problems. I run as high as 5400 rpm & 75 mph (gps), depending on prop. No one's kit is going to include every little piece for your boat or situation. This is "hot rodding" at it's best, a little boost, better fuel system, better props, better drives, more speed, want more speed, pull the motor & make it bigger & better, add more boost, more fuel, faster speed,,,,then whoops, the boat is too small, need bigger boat, bigger (more) engine(s)...it' just keeps gettin' better!! Dang it all!! that upset's me!

JOJO

WELL........I DO KNOW YOU NEED TO CHANGE HEAD GASKETS WITH THE WHIPPLE I'VE SEEN ALOT OF BLOWN HEAD GASKETS WITH THIS SYSTEM (NOTHING AGAINST WHIPPLE OR DUSTIN I'M JUST STATING WHAT I HAVE WITNESSED I THINK THEY BUILD A GREAT PRODUCT WITH A VERY OEM STYLE FIT AND FINISH)
BUT TO TAKE AND SHAKE A GUY DOWN $2000 FOR THINGS HE DOESN'T NEED FOR A EVERYDAY RECREATIONAL BOATER LOOKING FOR A LITTLE EXTRA SPEED NOW IF THE ENGINE HAS ALOT OF TIME ON IT THEN YES....GO THROUGH IT FRESHEN IT UP

WHEN WE DO AN INSTALLATION WE TAKE THE BOAT OUT SET IT UP FOR THE CUSTOMER AND MAKE SURE THAT IT IS RIGHT AND I DON'T CARE HOW MUCH YOU RUN THAT ENGINE ON THE DYNO IT DOESN'T MEAN THAT EVERYTHING IS JUST PERFECT WHEN YOU PUT IT IN THE BOAT
AND YES 26 SONIC YOU HAVE ME INSTALL A PROCHARGER FOR YOU NOTHING WILL BE HALF ASS AND THERE WILL BE NO REPAIR BILL AFTER THE INSTALL.

blown formula

LMAO!!!! So, take that !!

Cattitude

JoJo- You could be charging admission to Blown formula for the entertainment value you are giving him

Forgive me for asking... The head gasket issues you speak of- were these on known professional installs and were all other variables left alone?

I only ask because i had also looked a boat with a Whippled 502- this was before i ordered my new boat and then Whippled it. This boat had an alleged professional install from a known local shop. The corners cut on some aspects of the install were obvious (Don't know what i could not see) and the timing, fuel pressure and heads had all been messed with. I would expect issues with this type of install but i had never heard of any where things were left alone.

I'm very confident that a procharger can be setup to work right- there is just more tuning left to the competence of the installer which makes it less of a bolt on for the average mechanically inclined boater.

Also- maybe know one ever told you this- computer manners- typing in all caps is regarded as shouting- If you mean it, that's your business, but i suspect you were unaware.

Happy boating!

GotTheFever

I installed my ProCharger on engines with over 125 hours on them (them meaning twin screw). Now they have over 250 hours, and I have not had a single problem. The engines are stock, except for CMI exhaust, an Accell Supercoil, and a Mallory Soft Touch rev limiter. I always fill it with 91+ octane fuel. A lot of the talk about the internal engine mods come from the days when intercoolers were not available. It's your choice on which direction you want to go, but I just wanted to give you first hand knowledge of my experience.

blown formula

Great idea..... I will get a tiny pulley for maybe 19# of boost out of my Procharger, the put in a "wye" pipe & duct it to the driver helm station.... air conditioning for those really hot days of August!!! Wonderful !!! Really tho', try taking the elbow off the intercooler on a Procharged system. The air is really cool even under boost conditions. This IS good.

Yes, I was entertained by the previous "warranty" issue. Goodfella is a nice & very helpful guy. I also believe his shop installs Prochargers. I don't know about Whipples. Anyway, I thought it was funny the way JoJo answered him. it hit my funny bone so to speak!

and now that I think about it, maybe a second 'charger JUST for a/c.....hummmmm

Mbam

We've done a good number of successful Procharger installations without ever going inside the motor, but I will say I am very conservative when it comes to the boost (3-5 lbs max). Never did any on engines that I would call tired. We also have some time on the dyno with a couple of the combo's. The experience was valuable, as it is much easier to learn the tuning under controlled conditions.

Even after the dyno testing, the one thing that is 100%mandatory (at least to me) is to verify the fuel pressure AT FULL THROTTLE in the boat with an accurate mechanical gauge.
Reading spark plugs is a black art and misleading with a blower as most of the time you add extra fuel to cool the piston.

As already pointed out, the fuel system is critical and real world conditions are differant than the dyno.

Bottom line is that if the fuel pressure is set per the installation instructions you should not have a problem.

I will say that even though we sell Prochargers, as pointed out by Cattitude I think re-mapping the ECU as Dustin does is a better way to control the fuel, but more expensive.

jspeeddemon

I would like to add to this thread by stating that the whole system of running superchargers is a difficult task no matter which system you run. There are precautions that can add insurance to your system, but nothing is foolproof. I personally have dual carb procharger, and it is a constant monitoring to be sure that you are not damaging your motor. Forget the idea of bolting it on and not having to worry about it regardless of which way you go, after all we are putting tremendous stress on the parts inside the motor. I can attest to JoJo's abilities with setting up blower motors, he is not a bullsh** artist. What he tells you, depend on it. He has lots of experience.
Goodfella I would not ride his a**, he is also a wealth of information and an honest person, certainly a tribute to performance boating.
Sonic 26 you need to really look at what your mechanical abilities, time factor tuning this motor, and intended usage of a your craft, before you make that final decision. I will say that dollar for dollar supercharging is money well spent in boating, if you have time to tinker with the finished project. Good luck.