Getting a handle on handling.

[johnsonm50]

Ugly?! ****, do you have any idea how many hours I've spent polishing those? 😉
Actually we had experimented with setting the motor back and up, and the tabs were attempts to lengthen the boat.
I just recently put those back on to see how it would change it. They pose more headache than reward. So from here on out tabs are gone, and motor will be hanging in the original spot.
Next step that I shall be doing is trimming excess air trap depth. I've got at least 1 1/2" trap depth at rear. If it truly does lift the rear, that may explain another odd sensation that I'll experience. I can get the boat into a plane and it'll feel healthy and skipping along just fine and around 35-40mph, with no real rhyme or reason, I'll get a sensation that feels like a gear shift or torque converter lockup as if the prop suddenly found clean non aerated water or something. I didn't mention it before, because I figure that that will go away with getting things setup better.

To see how the boat would act, I buried the prop to depth of about 3 inches with a cpl degrees kicked in. I'm 6'2" at about 200lbs. I'll kneel at the midland area. Def not a steering wheel hugger, and def not hanging ten of the back. Butt down tuck on straights. Face in the wind for set and lean for turn albeit turns are not something that I've felt cozy with for awhile.
I really appreciate the reply! Being able to hear from experience and know how helps a ton. I've just had a few too many questions in my head and/indecisions.

Wow! I'm giddy like a little girl over all of this attention! Thanks for everyone's replies!

Why do most racers go against steering system springs? And yes, it is equipped with em.

What are the symptoms of a boat with too much motor?

Good questions.
The springs: If you have steering issues unrelated to the springs they can make it worse because even if they seem tight to grab & pull they do move & there's strong forces working against them. As a matter of fact I forgot to mention in the vid your cables were all over the place flopping around. They do that even without but less. The tie back system is best to start & is more stable but direct is ok too.

Too much motor: Several things can happen beside just being too fast. The excess torque can bounce the boat all over & make it porpoise too much to tame. I loaned a 25 Evinrude / Merc B quickie to a pal to try on his runabout, It was pretty fast but barely controllable. He did a good job handling it & since has started racing. On the same boat he raced a Champ Hotrod 15. It was faster & controlled real nice once set up. The weight difference had some to do with it & no doubt Hotrods are fast. Like I wrote before tho, you can cut the power back a little if you want with the throttle cable if you don't want to change the motor. If you're heavy for it it might be better to do that & run it where it's sweet & fast enough. Different props will make for different handling too.

[johnsonm50]

About the hull design, it originally was a three point with no air traps. The traps were an add on.
Supposedly and I mean "supposedly" this boat did 64mph back in the sixties. With the purchase of the boat back in the early '80s came the "legend" or ?! Who knows. It was supposedly built by a "gypsy" boat builder. I've never peeled back to look for markings. Legend has it that this guy would build a boat for an interested party if he could crash in the garage while building it. In evolution, it makes sense. Bartering chickens and beads eventually becomes hydroplanes.

Air traps can improve the speed capability of a 3 pointer but handling? Not if there's too much. The air that would escape immediately past the sponsons will then add lift to the transom. kind of a 'too much of a good thing becomes a bad thing'. You want a hydro to lift just right, less being safer than more typically.

[Ram4x4]

I can speak about steering that is too loose. Just recently I moved my steering forward and in the process had to replace the steel cables as they were too short for the move. I replaced the cable with that dyneema rope a lot of folks are using (I really like it). After all the changes I didn't tighten my steering as tight as it was previously. On the first run with the set up, it sure was real nice to have smooth, very easy steering...that is until I entered one turn, the boat skipped a little and then grabbed. Of course, when that happens, it throws your body to the outside, and along with it your right hand, which then cranks the steering right, then as the boat cuts to the right, it throws you back to the left (along with your right hand) and you enter this crazy side-to-side slapping oscillation. No, it wasn't fun, I thought I was going over. Needless to say, I tightened the steering rope a little more and definitely the nut on the steering wheel too. I make sure my tie-down rope on the back is extra tight as well (I crank the wheel full left, then I tie the rope). Much better now after further testing and it still steers nice.

That oscillation thing was on smooth water with only one other boat on the course...I can imagine how ugly it would have been in an actual race with 9 or 10 other boats churning up the water.

Springs on the steering cables, IMHO would be a baaaaad thing.

[jeff55v]

If the ends of your steering bar terminate on the same plane as your motor's turning axis, your cables will hold steady tension throughout it's full range of motion.
If the steering bar ends terminate in front of or behind the motor's turning axis, your cables will loosen or tighten when you turn the motor.
You want the cables tight at all times.
Springs in the steering are not legal in any racing sanctioning body because they are considered unsafe.

[johnsonm50]

Tight at all times, It's true & a lesson I have learned repeatedly. It's not so bad going for a cruise but if you're in a race turning in traffic you need tight steering. If you have to let go & re-grab for even a fraction of a second & the motor will move too freely- it will & you'll be a bit looser than you should be. If the bar is not exactly in line but close it will still work but should be a tieback setup if so, that extra 1/2 wrap around your bar pulleys adds to then being steady. I Also find that it's better if the bar is slightly wider than the space between coaming pulleys. No matter what tho, the side to side cable length beyond the coaming pulleys varies when turning. Thing is you don't really turn them that much at speed & it doesn't matter as much slow.. were not 'K' turning these things

[Entler]

Well ****, I seem to have my work cut out for me! My first instinct leads me to think that I'm going to have to make a new steering bar if I'm to remove the springs from the setup, because I'm thinking the tight to slack ratio through a turn is excessive.

I've separated the powerhead, tower, and foot. Anybody got any recommendations on foot repairs?
Here's a question for y'all. What would be the pros and cons of a larger or deeper skeg? Like the difference between the early Quicksilver lower unit and the 20h deeper skeg release? Also, does anyone have any idea what alloy the alum for the foot might be? I figure that might be crucial to know considering how thin the skeg is and if I were to have one sectioned in, I'd like the best results possible.

[rumleyfips]

The cable holes in the steering bar should be on the same line as the pivot pin in the saddle.

[ZUL8TR]

What repairs are you needing for the foot?

The deeper skeg gear case for the 20H came out in 1956 (subject to correction) that also deleted the multi hole water intake in favor of the single hole lower intake. The idea was greater stability in straights and turns when run at higher transom heights. It worked well. If you repair your skeg to be more like the revised 20H skeg you can probably run higher with the right prop and testing.

Here is an article back in 1956 on the new at the time 20h revised skeg (starts on pg 12). The testing was done on a hydro similar to yours. The conclusion was they could raise the engine and get increased speed to the near 60 mph range with the props at hand. The final was 16-1/4" transom height with shims because they ran out of adequate clamp wood. Better performance than with the short skeg gear case. No text on what gear ratio was in the case, probably 1:1 and I think the 16:21 gears didn't appear until the Merc popper mid section came out.

http://www.boatsport.org/magpdf/bsv53.pdf

Are you wanting to restore your skeg to the original early short skeg design or to the deeper version? If the earlier I have a pattern for it (just ask) if the later deeper design I do not have the pattern.

Question to HR racers was the 20H deeper design the same as used on the 30H? If so I have a pattern for that one.

As for aluminum alloy I have no info, perhaps others who have welded on these older cases will chime in.

[dwhitford]

The long-skeg gearcase on the 20H is the same as the 30H gearcase. And the 16:21 gears for the 20H were ''new'' in 1958-'59 to approximate the same gear reduction as the 15:19 Hot Rod gearing. The Hot Rod gearing provides slightly more reduction than the Merc 16:21 gearing, but both ratios permitted the use of bigger props and more acceleration coming out of the turns.

The main reason the ''popper'' (Conversion) Mercs put the Hot Rods out of business, however, was the increased Merc horsepower from the exhaust tuning. The popper's exhaust housing and the exhaust filler block and side plate constituted a pair of tuning megaphones.

[Entler]

Well, since you are offering, I'd love a 30H pattern. I can always trim it down from that. As far as repairs to the foot, I think bearings and seals along with skeg fabrication is in order. Of course im saying that prior to seeing inside. Who knows, maybe it needs the works. I hope not.

[rumleyfips]

In another thread Dean Hobart details his 25XSH record setup. He ran high with a short skeg. My memory tells me that few few ran the long skeg in B or 25SS through the sixties and seventies. I know I didn't .

[ZUL8TR]

Entler - I sent you a PM about the skeg patterns. If you open it up replace all seals. Drive shaft seal might be difficult to locate, the cone and water pump cartridge use CR 5522 available from SKF brand. There is an O ring with square cross section on the outside of the water pump cartridge. There are 2 different thicknesses an early and late version. The later was better you probably have the early with that multi hole gear case.

Here is a parts list for 20H but essentially same for your case (lots of NLA parts)

http://www.crowleymarine.com/mercury...s/1711_140.cfm

[GrandpaRacer]

Also, I think the cone is reverse threaded. It makes it easier to get off knowing that.