i decided to go ahead and send the two older powerheads to Jim Ruch for new bearings, rings and reeds so I'll be breaking all four powerheads in at the same time

Jim Ruck
 

You've got the right guy .....

I saw his name here on OSO and also found out that alot of other Mercury "engine builders" send their blocks to Jim to be fixed.

Jim ruck is the man!!:ernaehrung004:

Are you running stock 280's? I know you spectre had drags with some work done on them right?

I had factory stock 2.5 drags on the spectre that ran pretty well with merc 32X15 three blade cleavers reworked by DAH Propeller. (119mph Gaffrig speedo) @7900 rpm My only gripe was that due to the more extreme porting, and the fact that Mercury didnt intend for the Drags to end up on an offshore/pleasure boat, they didnt idle well around the docks at all, so that made it interesting coming in.
This time I'm running 2.5 280's on the Skater. Hopefully with better idle characteristics, but still enough hp to make it fun

Any new pictures?

I took a month off to get away for awhile

enjoying the view

view from the air not too bad either

at the end of July we attended the race at St. Clair Michigan. It was great to see so many Skaters racing and winning.

Ryan Beckley deserves an award for never say die. :ernaehrung004:
After enduring mechanical breakdown while towing from Florida to Michigan late Friday night, and finally making it to St Clair in time for some practice runs, he heard an unusual sound coming from one of his 2.5 merc outboards. after pulling a head he realized his engine had ingested a carbon fiber reed or two.
Here is the team swapping a powerhead Saturday evening as the sun goes down.

Not surprised, that would be Ryan...... Looks like you two had a great trip. Never been to Tahiti, how was it, value/cost vs. fun :):):)

Yea pulling a powerhead as every passerby comes up and asks the same questions as to What are you doing? and Why?
is thrilling in itself...
As for tahiti-bora bora, I normally would'nt think that dropping that amount of coin on a weeks vacation would be worth it but it was.
We knew going in, that not only airfare and hotel was pricey, but food and drink was alot higher priced than what we were used to. ($9.00 coronas, $200.00 dinners). But the place was amazing.
Staying over water bungelow at one of the earth's most beautiful places was definately worth it. I'd reccommend it. At least once in your life.

David, thanks for all your help and encouragement over the weekend. It was great to see you all again. We really look forward to hearing from you guys next time you are down this way.

NOW GET BACK TO WORK ON THE 36'!!!!

I second the motion. ;)

I third the motion! Winter is coming!

ok, that's it, I'm going to get right on it!

Are you done yet, pictures? :whistle:

any volunteers???

Send it to Fla! To cold up there.

It was great seeing you guys too, we are looking forward to the Joey Gratton January 1 run.
And yes thanks for the encouragement. I need all the motivation I can get

"You Can Do It" :evilb: "You CAn Do It" :evilb:"You Can Do It" ,etc., etc.

The 2 powerheads for the center motors are finished and coming back from Ruck fed ex freight

Is he a great guy or what!

Are you splitting 2) low water pickups to feed 4) motors?

yes i am, why?

Just a dumb question that popped into my head.

What are you doing to prevent too much water pressure?
A by-pass on your splitter manifolds?



I did not run bypasses with my twin 2.5's and was always looking @ pegged guages over 80 mph.

Had issues with base gaskets. (I'm thinkin 30 lbs + is too much)

Also I had check valves in the low water pick up lines.

My main concern was just having enough water pressure to feed the 4 outboards. It will be interesting to see how it plays out when we do testing. I know that the 2.5's don't seem to require as much water pressure as the larger bore XS.

10-4, any guesstimates on launch date?

it now looks like early to mid october

"Cool" Your project is Awsome. WE GOT TO RUN WITH A 32 Skater with Quads this weekend. Pretty impressive.

tell me more, any pics?

We're in the CA Delta, and just finished the Big Cat run put on by the lions club. I think the guy that owns the quad Skater is older than me. ,Only talked with him briefly @ a couple of runs. Boat seems to run pretty well.

The cool part is when he leaves a dock or harbor. He onley starts the 2 mouter motors and does his manuvering , the heads for the open water, lites up # 3, lites up #4, Then rolls on the throttle. Sounds awesome.

I screwed up a bunch of the pics, but there's a couple to look at.

http://steveshots.webs.com/apps/phot...bumid=13836941

Those are great shots! much appreciated, Thanks! (more motivation for me)

Thanx for the cudos,the stills are ok, I was having a bad hair day on the moving stuff. ( hadn't used that lens in awhile)
Moral support is good, I appriciate it when I jump in and find it deeper than expected. (most of my projects) I want to see it finished so I can wish for one.

Thanks.
God forbid I ever get burned out on this, I'll keep you in mind

Thanks Nice Pair. It's nice to see whats happening on the left coast. I love the 32 outboards.

You're welcome.

I got the rebuilt powerheads back and using the down time to install the 1" spacer kits that are reccommended to improve midrange.
When you do that you have to extend the throttle linkage (supplied) and also reposition the lower cowling to engine bracket 1" forward drilling new holes and using fender washers pictured below

Coming alog nicely Dave !!!!! Nice Pair thanks for the pics, nice to see the outboard boats !!!!!!!!!!! :)