mosesonwater

[mosesonwater]

my son and i are working on a nice old gran prix we found in ocean city. we need all the help you guys can give us about how to rig up this hydro to go. we have adapted a 15 hp tiller johnson to the gas pedal and kill switch. the steering we need help on how to hook-up correctly, especially cause daddy is going to be the guinea pig for the first run. thanks

[mosesonwater]

[mosesonwater]

http://www1.snapfish.com/snapfish/th...NAME=snapfish/

[mosesonwater]

i'm working on how to send pics any tips would be appreciated mosesonwater the link on the previous thread should show our project

[Chairman]

Not a hydroplane, but a tunnelboat.

I provide some notes on setting up, including steering, for buyers of my plans. You can see this information here:

http://www.dillon-racing.com/pro-tun...el-page-14.htm
http://www.dillon-racing.com/pro-vee...r-notes-10.htm

I hope that helps.

I believe you will find your boat to be woefully under-powered with 15hp. A 30hp or 35hp Johnson/Evinrude would push this boat into the 40-45 mph range without an exotic propeller.

The Grand Prix below is Al Hunting's many-time National Championship Sport C, doing nearly 60 mph with a 40hp Nissan.

[mosesonwater]

thanks very much for the help and correction. tunnelboat means we might be able to take a boat wake without pearling huh! we look forward to all u guys help to keep us alive. when these tunnel boats were made , did the builders provide titles for each craft? we got a bill of sale when we got it,and md told us unless we were at a sanctioned event we would need a title to be able to get numbers to run around off sanction with , or they'd lock us up if they catch us, which it sounds like they will with only a 15 so far for power. moses

[mosesonwater]

the dillon info is great, does 1/4 turn make the motor turn enough to steer properly. we got to change our chunk of wood for the alum bars lined up with the tilt tube. we had wrapped another wrap around the drum to give more turning capability, but it sounds like we don't need it or want that much turn. the river does wind a little where we are going to try her out.i didn't want to wind up on shore. right now our gear shifter is rope and pulley off of visegrips on the motor. if we can afford a step-up in hp it'll be much easier to hook -up correctly than our current tiller make over job.we've got only 1 hole in the dash for a gauge, it might have been a speedo, because i found a hole in the back for the rubber tube and pick-up.the boat has nydahl fittings on it for steering pulleys, are they still avail? is gran prix still in business? be fun to try to trace this boats history if possible. are there any events near ocean city md? so we can check it all out.

[Mark75H]

Unfortunately there are no races for that type boat anywhere near OC MD. We hope to have races for some other similar boats not far from you at Sharptown (MD 313 & Nanticoke River) next spring.

Race boats are exempt from registration requirements when used at races, so they are usually sold without a title. Most locations make it pretty hard to get a title for something that was built more than a few months ago. With your bill of sale you might be able to get a DNR clerk to give you a title if you fill out a homebuilt form or maybe an abandoned vessel form. Depends on the whim of the clerk, how helpful they are. Here's the location in Salisbury:
201 Baptist Street #22
Salisbury, Maryland 21801
Hours of Operation: M-F 8:30am - 4:30pm
Tel: (410) 713-3840

You can download the forms from the Maryland DNR website

Anne Arundel County considers it illegal to own a race boat in the county unless you get numbers and current registration on it.

[mosesonwater]

thanks for the input sam, i'm a little more comfortable about just getting a bill of sale. we'll definitely stay out of anne arundel till we get squared away. they used to have races on the river near denton, i remember coming by and checking them out when i was a kid. they were the only thing that fit under the old bridge. did any of the gran prix have any flotation, or it wasn't used to keep weight down? if i could find the maker if they were still around, and get a written note that the boats were made and sold with bill of sales only, that might sway the dnr, salisbury been tough , i've gotten better help in history and title questions from the annapolis office and the coast guard. they even pulled the ser# and searched nationwide cg database for any history of registration and came up with no history, but it was nice of em to try for us. salis didn't want to be bothered. its an awesome boat we can't wait to try it out.

[Mark75H]

Same boats that used to run at Denton run at Sharptown.

We miss Denton ... the short course of short courses