HARM J Hydro Project: Week 1

[sponsonhead]

This will be another series of "dumb guy" questions but don't both the OMC and Merc engines require a restrictor for "J" ... does the Merc use a different size restrictor than the OMC so that "out of the box" (whatever that means in this context) you have parity? These six new kids don't have any racing experience yet ... right? So, why would anyone need to worry or be overly concerned about "competitive" engines? Seems to me that just to get them on plane, on the course, heading in the right direction etc. would be the first order of business. Next season ... well, that's another story.

Finally ... who's Sled?

I will let one of the J Daddies jump in to discuss the restrictor plate difference because I don't know the difference between them and freely admit to divesting myself of my J Chops about 6 years ago.

I don't think anyone is overly concerned about "competitive" engines; just something they can get out on the water and run, without having to do a lot of massage work or worry about things like throttle cables binding up and running drivers up on the beach, etc. And as I mentioned, we THINK we found someone who will loan us some or all of the motors we will need for this season.

Sled is Ed Runne.

R-19

[Big Don]

Finally ... who's Sled?[/QUOTE]


Worm's brother. (Sorry couldn't resist)


This is a really great project!!!!!

[Dr. Thunder]

Ok ... now I just gotta' ask ...

Finally ... who's Sled?

Worm's brother. (Sorry couldn't resist)


This is a really great project!!!!![/QUOTE]

Who wants to tell me how these two got those names???

PS: Which one is the boat builder?

[sam]

Sled = Ed Runne; not to be confused with his brothers, Worm and Farmer. Farmer is the boat builder

I asked their father about the names and he told me

[Jakeroub]

this is an awesome project! A great way for a family to get started. I was also thinking about the fear that someone who hasnt built a boat might have about doing it. This is a great way to eliminate that, as it looks pretty supervised. Awesome.

Jake

[G Stillwill]

I have two Mercury AX 15 motors and never have had a binding of the throttle if you have the swivel in the right bolt hole in the powerhead. Someone at the Nats that was having a binding problem looked at mine and said no wonder his was binding he had it bolted in the wrong hole. He used the bolt hole that Im using and the binding was fixed still a pain to hook up the cable though.

[BP125V]

J's

we have both Merc and OMC JH's and JR's here in region 7 and both work well. As usual it all comes down to testing, set up and boat time for the driver.

Bill III

[Dr. Thunder]

Performance issues?

But for "J" ... is/are there any significant performance issues between the two engines? Is the OMC "faster" ... if so why? Not talking about boat, prop, set up differences ... I'm asking about engineering/technical differences between the two. I know there are perceived/actual problems with the "A" and AX classes but at the "J" speeds ... top end, acceleration, cornering speed etc. what have you observed? Does this question make any sense?
Thanks

[Mike Schmidt]

Outstanding project !!!!!!!!!

This is great. Sure wish I lived a bit closer. If you need turn fins ( brackets and fins) and or fuel tanks let me know. Send me a sketch, I will donate 6 of each. home # 860-349-9310 Work 860-344-4920

Michael D-1

[Big Don]

But for "J" ... is/are there any significant performance issues between the two engines? Is the OMC "faster" ... if so why? Not talking about boat, prop, set up differences ... I'm asking about engineering/technical differences between the two. I know there are perceived/actual problems with the "A" and AX classes but at the "J" speeds ... top end, acceleration, cornering speed etc. what have you observed? Does this question make any sense?
Thanks

Once again it's going to depend on who you ask. We have both engines (OMC & Mercury) we are curently running the Mercury. What it comes down to for us is if we have a good OMC we feel it is still the way to go, but and that is a big but, we can't get our OMC's to run as good as they did in the past so right now our Mercurys are faster. We have never seen the speeds with our Mercury that we did with our OMC when it was running good. So I would say the advantage in still with the OMC if you have a really good one. So they should slow the OMC's down a little more. Right!?! Kidding guys.

If a new person asked me what should they buy I would tell them to buy a Mercury but the 2 engines are really close right now. There are probably more good Mercury's right now then there are OMC's?? Both are going to require to be touched by that special engine guru to make them really good and then they might just be good and not great...

[sponsonhead]

This is great. Sure wish I lived a bit closer. If you need turn fins ( brackets and fins) and or fuel tanks let me know. Send me a sketch, I will donate 6 of each. home # 860-349-9310 Work 860-344-4920

Michael D-1

Thanks, Mike. Knowing your love of Unlimiteds, I have no doubt that if you were out here you'd be right here with us on the project, and believe me, you'd be like a kid in a candy store in the Museum. I'll see if we can work up some measurements on tanks and get back to you.

Speaking of hardware, one name I did leave off (which I said would happen) was Steve Greaves of Portage Bay Systems/Keller Hardware, who is offering the museum a really good deal on hardware for the boats. Thanks for your help, Sparky!

R-19

[D_Allen_III]

Awesome!

This project is awesome! Its kinda like pine wood derby cars, BUT FOR BOAT RACING! Someone should really try getting this going on a national scale. What a great way to get families involved with racing. If the kid gets one, how many times does that lead to dad, mom, or sister getting one too. Plus it really puts instills the idea that it is a FAMILY sport. If every region had something going, even if only 2-3 boats were being built, what a success it would be. I think its one of the best ideas I've ever heard for promoting our J class. Good work Washington!

[Dr. Thunder]

Thanks for the response ...

[QUOTE=don11w
If a new person asked me what should they buy I would tell them to buy a Mercury but the 2 engines are really close right now. There are probably more good Mercury's right now then there are OMC's?? Both are going to require to be touched by that special engine guru to make them really good and then they might just be good and not great...[/QUOTE]


I realized that my questions were detracting from the purpose of this thread which should be to follow and recognize the outstanding work of the folks at HARM and SOA et.al on this project ... so, further questions about the "J" engine choices etc. will be on a new or different thread ... Thanks again to all of you that replied.

[Joe J]

Merc vs. OMC

While I agree that it comes down to testing, we have found that some of the Merc's do not run well w/ the restrictor in place.

We have 2 Merc's running in California, One is fast in J, and one is not. The other J dad and I did some testing w/ both motors, on the same boat. Our Merc was over 3mph slower than their's as a J. Same prop, same setup, same driver, everything identical.

We then removed the restrictor. Both motors ran within .2 mph of each other.

It makes no sense, but I have since found out that others have had the same experience we did.

Patrick:
Great job, hopefully this will kick start Northwest racing.

Joe

[Dr. Thunder]

Little Rascal or Scamp?

From the pictures it looks like the boat kits from Darrell are his "Little Rascal" design. Would that be correct?