Sidewinder update from Zanesville

[Dudley13F]

The float level adjustment seems to have fixed the bogging in the turns. It's a little hard to judge since we raced in really snotty water yesterday (coming out of the water as you bounced around the turns). I was able to get to the first turn with Steve French and Tom Sutherland. Tom definitely had top end speed on me, but anybody who knows 250cc Mod Hydro (AMH) knows Tom has some of the fastest stuff in the country. Tom ran a Hot Rod with open pipes. I'm not sure what motor Steve ran since he wasn't sure which one he was going to run at the start of the day. First heat I started slightly behind Steve and a bit ahead of Tom, we got to the first turn together. I stayed to the outside because I wasn't sure if the bogging was fixed or not (first time on the back of the boat since we made the adjustment). I ended up about 1/2 to 3/4 of a lap behind them at the finish. Not bad for a stock motor and my 10 heat in the boat. The second heat I got a bad start and the water was even worse than the first heat so I decided discretion was the better part of valor and pulled into the infield (I didn't want to be the first person to dry out a Sidewinder after stuffing it). I'll post more results after today's racing.

[26V]

From my testing at Depue Saturday with the hydro. Raising the float level was a major improvement. Even on very tight corners I droped maybe 1000 RPM. On sweepers I only droped about 500 RPM!
Thanks for posting the info on the float level Dudley. I will let you know how todays testing goes with the runabout.

[Dudley13F]

Gene,
Glad I could be of assistance. Only wish I could claim credit for figuring it out. I'll try to post pictures this week of how I changed the vent tube set-up, so you don't have to worry about dumping fuel. It does look pretty neat overall.

Today's race confirmed the improvement due to the float level on the race course. We had pretty nice water overall and we were able to use all of the throttle. I did learn the value of checking your set-up. I didn't really check it on Sat and when I checked it on Sun, I discovered it was all FUBAR. I hadn't tightened the lock nut on the kick out bracket down and in all the trailer transport it had adjusted itself in. So Sat I was way deep and way tucked, definitely not a speed secret. Sun with the correct set-up (what I ran at White Haven) it was much racier. In the 1st heat I swapped places a few times with Steve French (OMC A Mod motor) and he beat me by less than 10 boat lengths. In the 2nd heat Steve and I again had a good race going until his powerhead decided it wanted a divorce from his tower. Luckily Steve didn't lose the powerhead but it didn't look pretty when he left the pits. I'm sure Steve can provide more details about what motor he was running and how much he might have been playing around with his throttle for us to race together. Tom Sutherland slowed down and let me catch up in the first turn so we could run down the backstretch together. He got around me on the outside in turn two, so he had several mph on me, but that is one of the fastest 250cc Mod Hydros in the country.

I had swapped props between heat 1 & 2, the 2nd prop was the wrong direction to go. So I'll be consulting with the guys who loaned them to me to see what that translates to for a next prop attempt. Also Tom Sutherland has agreed to help do some on course comparisons between the Sidewinder and the Hot Rod by us swapping some props between us next weekend at Akron. I had a gps in the boat for the 2nd heat (unfortunately the poor prop choice heat) and the numbers were similar to what I saw with my 200cc Mod Hydro (FAH). So the speed isn't quite where I'd want it but then again, we haven't had time to test props (I've only used 2 so far) or set-up. And the prop we have a speed for didn't feel anywhere near as good as the other prop.

[reed28n]

Great Stuff

Keep chugging this info is great to get our there... see you at Whitney Point !

[26V]

Sunday from Depue

Bad news. it was windy and ruff almost all day. The Pavlicks may have found some better water late in the day. Everyone I talked to was ether confused about the data they where getting and/or was running much slower then they did Saturday with the same setups.

Good news
I attempted to test the sidewinder on my runabout. After the float change Saturday on the hydro it pulled strong in the corners (( woo Hoo!!))
Speeds where low, but from what everyone else said that was to be expected with the wind and water conditions.
more later

[STEVE FRENCH]

In the 1st heat I swapped places a few times with Steve French (OMC A Mod motor) and he beat me by less than 10 boat lengths. In the 2nd heat Steve and I again had a good race going until his powerhead decided it wanted a divorce from his tower. Luckily Steve didn't lose the powerhead but it didn't look pretty when he left the pits. I'm sure Steve can provide more details about what motor he was running and how much he might have been playing around with his throttle for us to race together.

.

The motor I ran is a very good 22 CI, A-MOD OMC. ( One of my Morris built 25MODS less pipe on a 25ss tower.)....I did several tests with it last week and it was consistant at 62-63 mph......(with the wheel I ran Sat)......TOM seems to have 1-3 MPH on me.
I also tested with my buddy Archie Lewis with his very strong 15 Hot-Rod (Carl Holt built) on my Red Altralite and my OMC on my B-Webster.....With my GPS I would run beside Arch with 61MPH show'n then run up to 63 at end of lake with the OMC..........That said and with the water conditions and the wheel I was test'n, I would say a fair guess would be 61-62 MPG on Dudleys rig Sunday----it was BUMPY!!!!!!!! ....I think if a few B-stock Hot-Rods show at Akron,---you should see a good race!

I hope to have another powerhead ready for A-MOD/25MOD at Akron.....

19P

[Dudley13F]

Scott,
Thanks again for all the help @ White Haven. I'm headed to Akron this weekend and should be able to get in several heats (maybe as many as 8) with the Sidewinder.

There were probably 20+ people who came up to check the motor out and ask questions at Zanesville. I also saw several other people looking at the rig while I was busy doing other stuff. Everyone marveled at the quality of the machine work.

[Dudley13F]

Carb vent tube pictures

Here are pictures of the re-routed carb vent tubes for after the float level is adjusted up. Had to get a little orange on the motor with the new vent lines. Rotate the pictures counter-clockwise to see them in the proper orientation.

[14-H]

Here are pictures of the re-routed carb vent tubes for after the float level is adjusted up. Had to get a little orange on the motor with the new vent lines. Rotate the pictures counter-clockwise to see them in the proper orientation.

Dudley: like the orange! But that T-vented non-sense does not make a hill-of-beans worth of difference. If the float levels are too low, the engine will lose power at the top end, not in the corners. Raising the float levels may have helped, but something else is wrong. Keep at it! Eddie.

[Dudley13F]

Ed,
Definitely will continue working on it.

Even though raising the float level may not do anything (the theory was that the centrifugal forces were causing the gas to be pushed away acting like a fuel cutoff) the new vent line arrangement keeps from spilling fuel with the higher float level.

This weekend I'll get to do some prop testing at Akron and I'm hoping to go testing the following weekend. Just need to find a good place to test.

[Dudley13F]

Off to Akron

I'm headed to Akron today. I'll post more info after tomorrow's racing. Ed Runne is supposed to be there with a motor or two I believe.

[Dudley13F]

Sidewinders in the pits

It was cool pulling into the pits today @ Lakemore, OH (aka Springfield Lake) and seeing the vintage Dave Little Hot Rod El Camino (now sporting some new Sidewinder decals). More importantly there was a Sidewinder on display in the bed of the El Camino with powerheads, blocks, and other components on display on the tailgate. Kind of surreal to pit right beside the factory booth. I'll try to get some pictures tomorrow to post along with race results.

[Dudley13F]

Updates from Akron/Springfield Lake

Posted this weekend's results in its own thread. No pictures today due to the weather conditions (Dave Little kept his El Camino in the garage).