I have a 88 bravo drive with a nose cone on it. I am pulling water in from the gills on the side of the drive. I was told that If I blocked them off and made the drive all smooth on the sides and mounted a transom water pickup I would gain some speed. Is this true???

But then another person said that if I do this I would pick up aerated water from under the hull and possibly make my motor run much hotter.

The motor is a 454 with a 177 blower with an intercooler . I want to make this motor run as cool as I can due to the heat that the small super charger produces.

So what should I do ??????

I would love to gain any speed if possible but I also want to keep the engine cool.

anyone car to shed some light on this?

by the way the boat is a 28 scarab. where on the transom would I mount the pick up?

Thanks
Paul

I don't know about picking up speed, but it will keep you from sucking sand if you happen to venture in too shallow water. The only drawback to them is if you are idling in water with floating seaweed, it will block the intakes. It is easily removed by either running in reverse, or shutting one engine and goose it a bit with the other.

Here is where they are mounted on my 302 Formla.

What's up Paul! How ya been? I would not change your set up. You will not see any speed gains. How'd the intercooler install go?

Talk to you soon.

Are there any disadvantages to a transom water pickup? I have had trouble with picking up sand with a cone and a low water pickup.

In boats that run over 80mph, the depth of the transom pickup can affect speed significantly. Too deep = slower. This style of pickup produces more drag than the side pickups in a Bravo.

As far as aeration, if you are not running a step ventilated hull (and on an 88 Scarab, you're not) then there is no aeration problems).

The advantages of transom pickups is that you can "tune" them to balance water volume and pressure against drag. At speed, if you are showing too much pressure, you can trim the pickups. This both controls your water pressure and reduces your drag. PLUS, you can retain the drive pickups and use them to provide dedicated water to a shower system, etc.

If your consideration is a quest for more speed, then you will be disappointed after you spend your money and drill a bunch of holes in your boat. You may even go slower.