erikgreen
Captain
- Joined
- Jan 8, 2007
- Messages
- 3,105
Okay, I finally got my 21 foot Sea Ray out to the lake for a trial... and had a good time 
For those who managed to miss my 100 posts about it, I had bought a 21 foot Sea Ray last july with a cracked 305 block. I then had a car accident in it on the way home from the lake the first time.
Since then I've been repairing and rebuilding. I got a 350 1982-ish model long block from Rapido Marine, and put it in with the intake and manifold from the 305. I managed to get replacement parts for the gimbal and transom kit, parts of which had snapped off in the accident.
Today I took it to the lake (Minnetonka, what a zoo) for a couple hours. I ran it at about 3000 rpm for most of the time, and toward the end of the day we brought it up to WOT. Results as follows:
WOT RPM: 4000
Prop: 14.5 x 17
Speed: No gps, but other boat estimated 35-ish mph
Planed at about 2200rpm, we cruised around at 2700-3000 most of the time.
Problems: Slight shipping of water at the gimbal - suspect hole or leak in the bellows somewhere. Maybe a total of a gallon per 15 minutes, and only at displacement... no leak at planing speed.
Trailer brakes did not work, and we had to debug the lights before we went anywhere (I rebuilt the trailer too). My friend's brake controller, which works for his 30 footer, displayed a "0.6" for how hard it was braking... for his 30 footer it usually displays 4-5. I need to check the wiring and adjust the pads at the very least.
Trailer rollers (also new) need adjustment for clearance.
Drop axles on the trailer now mean I have about 4 inches of ground clearance... lower than I'd like, but I'd need to rebuild a big part of the trailer to get more. Maybe I need a new trailer instead...
I probably need to check the accuracy of the tach too, but my priority will likely be the bellows. I'm not sure how much more time I have this year before I need to winterize, but I'll see what I can get done time and money permitting.
All in all I'm quite happy with the Rapido Marine engine so far, and I'd recommend them to anyone here.
Erik
For those who managed to miss my 100 posts about it, I had bought a 21 foot Sea Ray last july with a cracked 305 block. I then had a car accident in it on the way home from the lake the first time.
Since then I've been repairing and rebuilding. I got a 350 1982-ish model long block from Rapido Marine, and put it in with the intake and manifold from the 305. I managed to get replacement parts for the gimbal and transom kit, parts of which had snapped off in the accident.
Today I took it to the lake (Minnetonka, what a zoo) for a couple hours. I ran it at about 3000 rpm for most of the time, and toward the end of the day we brought it up to WOT. Results as follows:
WOT RPM: 4000
Prop: 14.5 x 17
Speed: No gps, but other boat estimated 35-ish mph
Planed at about 2200rpm, we cruised around at 2700-3000 most of the time.
Problems: Slight shipping of water at the gimbal - suspect hole or leak in the bellows somewhere. Maybe a total of a gallon per 15 minutes, and only at displacement... no leak at planing speed.
Trailer brakes did not work, and we had to debug the lights before we went anywhere (I rebuilt the trailer too). My friend's brake controller, which works for his 30 footer, displayed a "0.6" for how hard it was braking... for his 30 footer it usually displays 4-5. I need to check the wiring and adjust the pads at the very least.
Trailer rollers (also new) need adjustment for clearance.
Drop axles on the trailer now mean I have about 4 inches of ground clearance... lower than I'd like, but I'd need to rebuild a big part of the trailer to get more. Maybe I need a new trailer instead...
I probably need to check the accuracy of the tach too, but my priority will likely be the bellows. I'm not sure how much more time I have this year before I need to winterize, but I'll see what I can get done time and money permitting.
All in all I'm quite happy with the Rapido Marine engine so far, and I'd recommend them to anyone here.
Erik
