GCMSINC

Now maybe I can get some pic's up and explain some of the project parts.
This is how it started life from Warlock.

GCMSINC

The following pic's are of the buildup and completion of the T-53

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In January the engine was delivered to me from PPS as promised with the test run stand as you see here.

Baja Rooster

iTrader: (1)

Bad ass! This is the first insight into a turbine boat so I love the info!

GCMSINC

Thanks Baja!
If your going to have a Turbine boat you have to have flames bellowing out the tail pipe. Most of the turbine boats are just throwing raw fuel into the exhaust and lighting it with whats called a streak flame. The streak flame is created by removing one of the igniter plugs and making it a fuel injector to introduce raw fuel into the burner can which creates a tongue of fire streaking out the back of the turbine lighting the raw fuel. It's not advised to stay on the streak fuel for very long or damage could occur to the hot section of the turbine which equals $$$$$$$.
Before the engine got to me I went to work on making a "Flame Holder" that would stay lit after touching it off with a short blast from the streak fuel. The flame holder can stay burning without damaging the hot section of the turbine and can be used to light even more fuel introduced to the exhaust stream behind the flame holder creating a controlled tail of fire. Not really a afterburner creating significant boost but we will call it that. :-)
I used this brass bolt that came from a old S-12 vacuflush head system for the fuel jet.

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I used a flair pipe cap and drilled the center out to hold the fuel jet in place, drilled a freeze plug to hold the fuel nozzle and the freeze plug was drilled to fit inside of a old motorcycle muffler that was cut down to the size I needed to fit in the center of the exhaust. Another fitting was attached to the inlet side of the flame holder where fuel and bleed air from the compressor is mixed to burn in the can, "old motorcycle muffler" then the unit was fitted into the exhaust.

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In order to get the exhaust straight out the back of the transom a gear box / drop box had to be used. This is a gear box built by SCS Gears and have been used in many applications such as the Turbine Powered Miss Geico.




The brake on the front is used to stop the N2 turbine to put the crash box in and out of forward/neutral/reverse.
The lubrication supply system on this gearbox is all external to the lubrication points in the gearbox. I chose to make a distribution manifold and plumb the oil lines to all of the lubrication points using 1/4 SS tubing and compression fittings as shown in the pic's below.

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The engine will be mounted "open air" and not in a closed up engine compartment so there is no need for a fresh air duct going to the air intake of the turbine. With the brake mounted just in front of the air inlet of the engine I need to come up with a way to evacuate the dust from the area and keep the brake system cool.
This is what I started with!


I used the lid as the backing plate behind the calipers and the boiler portion as the collection and evacuation housing. I machined a alternator fan to fit the shaft and a RC airplane prop spinner to smooth the airflow going into the fan. Try not to laugh too hard! LOL

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On to the gauges and monitoring system. I ended up going with RacePak after studying all the other options out there. Very easy system to set up and customer service is very good. This makes a very clean and easy system to install as well as providing a data logger to review performance testing.
I am monitoring N1 & N2 RPMs in percentage, prop shaft RPMs which will give me on the fly prop slippage using the on board GPS speed included in the RacePak system. Also monitoring torque percentage output, turbine oil pressure and temperature, gearbox oil pressure and temperature, power steering oil pressure and temperature, EGT and fuel flow in GPM. The system also controls the fans used to cool the air cooled oil coolers, "No water going through anything so no water pickups on the boat", and 4 programmable warning alarms. So far it seems to be a great system.
You can configure 4 pages of screen views as well as have multiple displays linked together for more view-able information on multiple screens..

GCMSINC

On to the boat preparation. Lots of cutting and fiberglassing....... UGH!!!!!!!