The Rtech/Konrad Conversion
 

Here are a few shots of the Rtech project boat that will be making the rounds to many poker runs in the south/southeast. We have several objectives for this project.

1) To see how much boost we can safely run using the Rtech supercooler on 9.4:1 502/502 crate engines.

2) To test the Konrad 540 drives replacing the TRS drives that came on the boat. They are guaranteed for 740 ft-lbs torque. They also raise the propshaft 1.65" over the TRS.

3) To test the BAM Supercyborg 1350 transmissions replacing the Borg Warner 72s that came on the boat. We aren't going to come close to their torque capacity.

4) Of course we are using Nickerson carbs.

5) To test the Hydromotive P5s with the higher drive height.

Re: The Rtech/Konrad Conversion
 

Older boats are heavier and need the power to take on the newer, lighter boats out there. But if you put supercharged engines in an older boat, you really need to upgrade the trannies and drives to take the punishment. A complete conversion like this isn't cheap but if you like your current boat, converting it is cheaper than buying new with big power.

Re: The Rtech/Konrad Conversion
 

Inside the box you can see the Nickerson prepped blowthrough carb and the arrangement of the intercooler and discharge tube. The complete installation is only 1" higher than a stock HP500 carb engine.

Re: The Rtech/Konrad Conversion
 

Previously the boat went 80 with 29 Hydromotive four blade on the TRS drives and 500 HP. With the higher Konrad drive we expected planing to more difficult, but it still pops up without blowing out. With Bravo 28s the Konrad drives increased speed to 83. The prop change was due to the 1.25" propshaft diameter on the Konrad drive. Then we put on the supercharger system with the largest pulleys we could find. Now the boat runs 90 at just under 5000 RPM using 30 Hydromotive P5s. With the five blade props the boat will take lots of throttle coming on to plane without blowing out. The five blades are likely costing a bit of top end but with only 2.5 psi we are happy with the 7 mph increase. The next pulley size on the blowers should give 4-5 psi and we'll see how the boat likes that.

Re: The Rtech/Konrad Conversion
 

Cool!

Re: The Rtech/Konrad Conversion
 

That your old boat Tom????

Re: The Rtech/Konrad Conversion
 

That's my girl, living the high life in Houston, Texas. :D My brother is taking care of her now.

Re: The Rtech/Konrad Conversion
 

What boat is this? Weight?

Re: The Rtech/Konrad Conversion
 

Welcraft Excaliber cat 30.....really friggin heavy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Re: The Rtech/Konrad Conversion
 

What Airpacker said, about 8500 lbs.

Re: The Rtech/Konrad Conversion
 

some pics I had of the boat

Ernie

Re: The Rtech/Konrad Conversion
 

Any new update on how testing is going? Paul said he was going to Travis this weekend to the poker run.

Re: The Rtech/Konrad Conversion
 

Hi Jack:

Lake Travis this weekend, you can talk to Paul there. He hasn't changed the pulleys yet, he's been too busy helping to get a customer's boat sorted out. That's another story...ask him about the Conquest project.

Re: The Rtech/Konrad Conversion
 

What is prop shaft ht in this installation? My TRS propsafts are 9" below bottom of boat and that seems like they drives are longer than typical. ould that be cause of not reaching full WOT RPM? I'm only turning 4000RPM with same props (21P Mirage) as I had on old drives.

Re: The Rtech/Konrad Conversion
 

tomcat, it's good to see people breathing new life into old gals. Nice work.

My '86 10-Meter Fountain with the Konrad conversion, Huber 950's, and a freshen-up of the motors performs and is as reliable as a new boat. All this at a fraction of the cost of a new one.

I'm interested in what you find with the P5's. I've got a set of P5X's that feel sluggish (with their larger blade surface area) when compared to my Quad IV's. By sluggish, I mean they seem to take longer to get up to rpm, and the seat-of-the-pants accelleration feel isn't there. It certainly is with the Quad IV's. I realize this isn't an apples/apples comparison (cat/v-bottom), but I'm interested in hearing about the P5's.

Nice work on your project, and welcome to the Konrad Family.

Brian

Re: The Rtech/Konrad Conversion
 

Hi Fred: The latest products and projects are not on the website yet. My bad; too busy building stuff. Feel free to give me a call at (416) 709-8714.

www.rtechperformance.com

Poorsche: Propshafts were about 5" below the hull with the TRS drives, which is pretty high. Mirage props could not get on plane but Bravo props never blew out. The Konrads raise the propshaft height by 1.65" from that point. The Bravo props still planed fine, but now we are running the P5s. More testing is required, but it's poker run season so it's going to spend the summer as is. I have never seen propshafts 9" below the hull on a performance boat. Is there a spacer installed in your drives that you can remove?

Hi Brian: I hear what you're saying about extra blade area; the Mercury Maximus is even worse. Since these props were designed for stepped hulls and the aeration/slip that apparently occurs on those hulls, they may have too much blade area for other hulls. The P5 was better than the Maximus on the 32 Skater project. I suspect a four blade and a bit of spacer might have been even better, but the owner was happy with the cruising speed and he's the boss.

Re: The Rtech/Konrad Conversion
 

[QUOTE=tomcat]Poorsche: Propshafts were about 5" below the hull with the TRS drives, which is pretty high. Mirage props could not get on plane but Bravo props never blew out. The Konrads raise the propshaft height by 1.65" from that point. The Bravo props still planed fine, but now we are running the P5s. More testing is required, but it's poker run season so it's going to spend the summer as is. I have never seen propshafts 9" below the hull on a performance boat. Is there a spacer installed in your drives that you can remove?

QUOTE]

Ther isn't a spacer--it looks like the bottom end was replaced. I thought it was a pretty extreme distance below the hull. Did notice the TRS manual suggest a 19P propeller instead of 21P so I'm gonna try that and going to try an old TRS Cleavery that I have to see what happens.

Thanks for reply.

Re: The Rtech/Konrad Conversion
 

I assume you swapped out the GMPP cam and spring?
What did you go with?

Re: The Rtech/Konrad Conversion
 

Is it possible to put a TR lower on a TRS outdrive? The TR is longer and is designed to turn a larger dia. prop in cruiser applications.

Re: The Rtech/Konrad Conversion
 

That's what I was thinking... similar to Konrad's 520 vs. 540. The TR has a longer lower to support big props, up to 18" dia (like the 520 lower). The TR also has a lower "bullet" that is bigger in diameter, so if you are running a standard prop (ie: Mirage, Bravo, Hydro) there would be a noticable difference in the prop outer hub diameter and the bullet diameter. I think one would look at it and say "something ain't right here."

Does a TR lower bolt up to a TRS upper? Good question. Anyone?

FYI, the Konrad 520 and 540 lowers share the same upper.

Cheers,
Brian

Re: The Rtech/Konrad Conversion
 

Back4More: They weren't virgin crate engines; they were a marinized version that came from Marine Perormance. I checked the cams on a digital cam checker and found the same lift and duration as the ZZ502 cam, except a 115 lobe separation instead of 110. I left the cams alone and put in new lifters, springs and roller rockers.

Re: The Rtech/Konrad Conversion
 

;)

Re: The Rtech/Konrad Conversion
 

I'm interested in the Conquest project..... what's going on there?? and if it is close to Galveston I'd like to go see it... I'm handicapped right now and can't get in a boat, but I'm hoping for surgery soon... and I'd love to have an old quest marine boat

Ernie

Re: The Rtech/Konrad Conversion
 

The Conquest is a 28' deckboat with a single 565. It's at Victory Marine in Dickinson Texas until the owner picks it up this week.

Re: The Rtech/Konrad Conversion
 

Nice work Tom!

How many hours logged so far?

Kurt

Re: The Rtech/Konrad Conversion
 

Three poker runs and assorted pleasure cruises (at WOT). We haven't turned the boost up yet so maybe 650 HP now, not really a challenge for the Konrad.

Re: The Rtech/Konrad Conversion
 

We finally had some time for more prop testing. With a pair of labbed Bravos 31" pitch, the boat went 95 mph @ 5200-5300 RPM showing 3.5 psi boost. We are hoping that switching from Gil manifolds to the CMI sport tubes will add some RPM (and boost) and have us knocking on the door at 100. Because of the 9.5:1 compression ratio we don't want to change the pulleys yet.

So a boat that went 80 with 500 HP 502s, 83 after the Konrad/BAM conversion, 91 with Hydromotive P5s, is now 95 with the new props, and has gained a total of 15 mph so far with only 3.5 psi boost.

Another poker run this weekend in Texas, then off to Destin for the Emerald Coast run. See you there!

Re: The Rtech/Konrad Conversion
 

I just wanted to post a hard-earned helicopter picture of the Rtech project boat. This was taken by the Florida Powerboat Club at the Destin poker run. Thanks to all of our sponsors:

Konrad drives
BAM transmissions
Nickerson carbs
Victory Marine

Lots of hard work by my brother to make it all happen. We didn't get the CMI headers in time for this year. No mechanical failures on engines, drives or blowers. All in all a successful season of poker running and product promotion.

Re: The Rtech/Konrad Conversion
 

Aaaaaa, this is Texas, not Canada. Boating season is not over yet.

2008 update on the Excaliber Cat:
Added:
Brodix BB2X heads
CMI Split Tube Headers
New blower pulley (5 pounds of boost)
Innovate Air/Fuel Gauge Displays
Hydromotive P5-X 32's
= 103 MPH @ 5300RPM

You forgot to add these items were an 8 mph improvement from before