Giving a Bezoat a Second Chance

[ZUL8TR]

A 2nd good luck this year. Is the Y80 running great, any recent issues?

[nail33]

Good luck this year

[Albert]

What a year 2024 was for the bezoat.
It raced in Lincoln Maine, did ok but not great. It raced in Kingston NH where it had a decent showing but we ended up having to leave Saturday evening. It ran in NB and I blew it over by hitting a wake and punched a hole in the sponson...

What about this year? Well, back to Lincoln in a month with a freshened up 80. I will also be running A runabout again for the marathons...maybe I should start a thread for the tune up on that boat?

More to come as the BZ continues to teach me how to drive and the Yamato continues to teach me how to make a motor better.

[nail33]

I've never driven a runabout before so it should be interesting if not entertaining.

You may need to double up on the knee pads

[Albert]

Had a little test session last Friday,
Water was pretty rough, and the 9 degree above freezing temp made it a short session.
Enough to break in the rings though as after the motor had cooled it posted the best compression numbers I have seen from it.
Boats are loaded in the trailer and we leave tomorrow morning for Lincoln Maine.
As a side note I'm also scheduled to participate in the marathon in an A runabout.
I've never driven a runabout before so it should be interesting if not entertaining.

[Albert]

Ok, ticking things off one at a time.
motor re assembled with fresh rings and a little less material on the head.
Transom clamp repaired with a timesert style sleeve and a new clamp. Yes I know it doesn’t match. But it’s functional and maybe next winter I’ll make up a pair of new matching clamps or use merc ones.


All the screw holes from the old transom plate have been filled with west systems. And the new is ready to install next weekend.
Possible testing this weekend if weather permits. We’ll see.

[ZUL8TR]

Luc

You covered the bases On plug indexing the butt dino for sure and even GPS will not give the complete answer. One way I would test an effect of a change was by running a measured distance with a stop watch. In a 3 lap race winning by a few feet could result from small hard to notice changes. On ignition timing I also did the same type testing and listened for any drop in revs over the distance, excess timing advance will give a rpm drop off. Having a digital tach will spot it along with the sound. I would use about 800 to 1000 ft.

As always Max speed on the race course is not the winner it's how quick around the course in 3 laps along with the needed obvious great start that counts. Great starts are hard to do with 12 boats, need lots of races to get it down + great equipment. Harry Pinner RIP (racer, props, engines, boat builder), Marshall Eldridge Jr RIP (racer, props, engine builder), and others gave me their tips on: start, race strategy engine, props, etc.
Thanks Guys, great friends that really helped a lot.

Pete

[Albert]

Pete,
Yeah these things don't hold time well at all. I usually set it at about 220 and run it there. I have all new crank bearings so it's reasonably tight.
I got some good used Cam locks and it now holds the mag tight.
I checked the volume of the chamber at TDC and measured out to just below 20cc, I believe the the tech manual says it has to be 18cc at a minimum. So I felt comfortable having a machinist take a couple thousands of an inch of the head. I haven't checked the reeds since I first assembled the motor. I like the drill bit idea, maybe I'll do that tonight.

Still running non resistor autolite 4051 copper plug in a 14mm head. I didn't see any notable difference in performance with indexing the plugs, but I have a fresh box here so maybe I'll make a couple pairs and re-test. I have a new garmin gps that I think will be more accurate then the phone app I was toying with last fall.

Mixing Lucas semi syn oil at 20:1
E free fuel is a real issue in my part of the world (New Brunswick Canada) I can sometimes get 91 e free, but not reliably. I do actively seek it out. Otherwise I use 91 e10 and deal with cleaning the carb often.

Main jet is set at 1 full turn then in or our a click or two depending on weather. Not uncommon to see a 20 degree change in temp in this part of the world in a day. I need to test next week or the week after and I'll be lucky if it's ten above freezing.

[ZUL8TR]

Luc -

You feel the need for speed

https://www.bing.com/videos/rivervie...1&&FORM=VRDGAR

Have you noticed your Y80 is probably (like all) not holding the ignition timing you set due to the top bearing design with excessive lateral clearance, probably there to help oil get to the bearing at a dead end. There is a lot on HR about this and what the mod racers did to get it better (not stockers). So with this lateral clearance when you set the timing it will change with crank rotation at different rpm positions. Where is your 80 static timing set at? On my Y80 I use a dial indicator for piston BTDC position and check how steady with a timing light (at various RPMs) to see how much timing variation from where set (it is noticeable) . Lucky the Y80 is not that sensitive to timing variations if not too excessive and reasonably close to where you want it. If not I do a bit of reset with dial indicator and recheck with the timing light. Then test -test - test.

Did you ever get the good mag locks from TJ as I noted earlier in this thread?

I do not follow your too much cc's so you planed the head?

Have you set the reeds max open to be dead nuts the same for all, I use a correct size drill bit barrel to do it? Also the reeds do not close all the way there is a designed static lift off the reed plate that needs to be the same. Are the reeds without any bends and no corrosion?

Have you indexed the spark plugs and what plugs are you using?

Where is the high speed jet set? All are different to get it right.

Maybe you already stated previously, what head are you using 18mm with adapters for 14mm plugs or 14mm head for 14mm plugs?

What oil brand, type and ratio are you using with E free fuel if available? I use 87 E free at 16:1 Pennzoil XLF syn blend

Good luck and hope you get the speed you need
Pete

[Albert]

The reports of the death of hydro racer have been greatly exaggerated it would seem.
So here we go again.

The Bezoat has continued to outperform its driver and motor at almost every opportunity. This year I had a small list of things to do before heading to Lincoln Maine for the SSOA season opener.
Firstly my transom plates were a little rinky dink so I had a local fab shop whip something up for me. Pictures to follow.
Secondly I stripped a transom clamp last spring and had to use a nut and bolt to clamp the basket case y80 down. It was functional but not very pleasing to the eye. The mid section is at a friends now who is making me a press fit bushing to repair the stripped clamp.
Thirdly, and most importantly, more speed! We had a local test day in the fall and the boat set up got better and better but I was still not able to catch a certain inboard racer from New England . So speed is needed. My Y80 , as is well documented here, has seen a lot of action. But every time I’ve had it apart it works better when I put it together. Every time I learn something. This year it got the head planed slightly as I did cc well above the limit and had over 0.03” of material to work with over the squish band. I also put fresh rings in the motor and gave it a light hone as there was some very minimal vertical streaking visible in the bores. Some more massaging of the foot will also take place.

I have 5 weeks to prep and test before Maine. Let’s get this party re started.

[DeanFHobart]

Congratulations on your accomplishments Albert. That is awesome.

[ZUL8TR]

Doug Thanks for the info The adapters I have are steel from Tom Cronk (all he had) but agreed the aluminum would be preferred but have mine worked out very well with NGK B10EGV plugs, Non E fuel oil mix, carb setting and prop.

[deeougee]

The 14 head has 3/4” reach. Have a variety of non-resistor plugs, even the half heat ranges. Next up to try, NGK BR9EYA’s. I run EYA’s in all my other performance equipment. Saw info put out by Arctic Cat that the EYA’s fall in the half heat range when you run them so the 9’s would be more like a 85. Cat started using these as standard equipment in their production sleds after their discoveries in racing. Yes these are a resistor plug but being at the end of the like with 5k ohms resistance it’s acceptable. Obviously when using resistor plugs, any plug for that matter you should be measuring resistance on the centre electrode and along the metal plug body for leakage and damage which will be picked up on the meter in the form of some sort of ohm reading or zero if the electrode is severed somewhere. Those 18 heads have really limited availability for plugs. Your better off getting the aluminum inserts from Lee (machined components llc) and converting to 14’s like you have.

[ZUL8TR]

Luc That 4051 is a 19mm (0.75") reach with no gasket. With the 14mm Y80 head will probably protrude too much into the combustion chamber. I do not know if the Y80 head with the no adapter 14mm plug hole is deeper than the Y80 18mm head plug hole? The original Y80 NGK A9N 18mm plug is 1/2" (16/32") reach without the OEM copper spacer and about 13/32" with the copper spacer and that plug outer ring is flush with the combustion chamber surface when installed.

The NGK B10EGV (a non resister race plug fine tip gold palladium center electrode) I use is also 19mm reach but with the 18-14mm adapters I adjusted with shims and some adapter grinding to not protrude into the combustion chamber to be like the original design. I also index them so the ground electrode points in the general direction of the intake ports. The NGK 10 heat range was selected colder than the original A9N heat range because it was recommended (Rick Montoya) to go colder with the adapter for better heat transfer because the plug with the adapter will run hotter. So if you go with the NGK 14mm I suggest to use use a hotter B9EGV plug (#5827) to be closer to the NGK A9N heat range. Also the 19mm reach needs to be reach adjusted as noted. Of course to do is to try with experiment and finally test

[Albert]

Pete,
I have been using autolite 4051 as its a non resistor plug in the same heat range as your b10egv. But without having to use adapters in my head perhaps I should reconsider in a different heat range as even the autolite are getting a little tricker to get due to them being a non resistor plug.
My hi speed is about 1 turn out, we played with it a little so I would have to check the settings.
We ran E free 93 with timing set at 205" and Lucas Mixing oil at 18:1.