Towers anyone ?

[will350]

Fuel system is "plumbed" , Steering bars mounted and the mount for the "up front" pipe The "down under" pipe won't take much to mount but that long skinny one (off a 400 Polaris) will take a little bit of thought . The center section of it is round and straight so I can cut it and make a "slider" section
to "adjust" it. The ones with the brackets are off my Rotax( adjustable) as are the "fat" ones . The "curley Q" gizzies are from a Yamaha Banshee . I ran one on my 250 and it seemed to work OK , don't know how a pair will work on this. The 2 shiney things are jet ski pipes , short , water injectable with pretty big exits. Will they work ? ? I know that I've run some really small pipes on R/C stuff water cooled so who knows.
The drive shaft is complete except for the nut and bolt that go in the end of the crank to drive the socket. All in all , a crude set up but the bearings in the motor are designed to handle a big huge spinning object so it can be off a smidge with out any "really" bad consequences . It's only a piece of 1/2" square cold rolled filed to fit the coupler with a socket . (Craftsman of
course,gauranteed for "life". Now all I gotta do is wait for spring ( and hope I can find a crew to help me test)
Will
(Oh..... and it makes noise too.......)

[QUINAULTRACING]

WILL, everything looks great. and looks like you have made tons of progress sense my last visit. as far as a crew to help with testing, all you have to do is CALL. QUINAULTRACING AND ASSOC. is always willing and almost ready to help with testing. I'd say come up to LAKE QUINAULT but BBBBUUURR this time of year the lake is full of ice water, and wood. Find a body of water that we can run on and we wait for a good two or three day window of nicer weather. I will call a emergency meeting with the owners of QUINAULTRACING (my wife and grandchildren ) and see if they have the FUNDS to help with such a project. SANTA has been pretty good this year so i don't foresee any problems there. We also have two hulls ( 86" SORENSON knell-er or a 96" APEL lay-down) both are yours to test with anytime you want. Even have two new props we might make work (prop testing also) and some old ones that will work. JUST CALL WHEN YOU ARE READY AND HAPPY NEW YEAR FROM ALL OF US ON THE WEST SIDE OF THE OLYMPIC PENINSULA. P.S. have heard roumers of a ONE WEEK PRO WILDCAT RETREAT THAT WILL BE GOING TO BE AT LAKE QUINAULT IN THE NEXT WEEK OR TWO ) we race ice cubes (so we think we are in the lake) on the table, floor, or where ever you like, just got news that this year we have a 250 hull, a CSH hull and a canoe in the house upside down to race on the bottoms, will use canoe for KILOS. bring your own head ache pills. To find out more and exact time call the LAKE. your rope puller all ways steve..22-R QUINAULTRACING

[will350]

It's Ready To Run ...... It always helps to speed things up when you've got a pile of stuff to paw through whe you need a piece. The "down" pipe was really simple to mount. The "up" mount required a little more thought and $10 worth of springs . I think it'll stay there. If it doesn't , I'll figure something else out . You'll notice that the recoil is pointed forward . It'll turn anyway you want. Just in case I can think of a way to start and launch myself, I'll leave it that way. ( I have seen more than 1 pained expression on launch due to the exhaust in either "up" or "down" mode .
While I'm waiting for Spring , I'll get the "clutch" unit back together.
Think I'll see if I can drill some of the periferral weight out of it to get the engagement speed up
Will

[Geezeracer]

Will say:
"I have seen more than 1 pained expression on launch due to the exhaust in either "up" or "down" mode"

This looks fine. Besides, no matter how you aim it there isn't a way in Hell it can give a roper or holder anything on a par with the ear bleeding, crotch broiling experience of igniting the Wankel blowtorch!

John

[will350]

Well.... that's certainly true . I can't think much of anything else that you can actually "feel" like the Wankle . A total shame that it won't perform as good as it sounds.
Got out to the shop today and did some"clutch" work. I don't have any way to check this for engagement speed so we'll have to wait and see.
It should bring it up some .... and if it's not enough,I still have the option of taking a little out of the springs.
Will

Will say:
"I have seen more than 1 pained expression on launch due to the exhaust in either "up" or "down" mode"

This looks fine. Besides, no matter how you aim it there isn't a way in Hell it can give a roper or holder anything on a par with the ear bleeding, crotch broiling experience of igniting the Wankel blowtorch!

John

[will350]

Took some time off from " tooth-o-rama recovery" and went out to the shop.(had 6 pulled Monday AM. ALL will come out on the 23rd so I'm trying to get as much done now as I can)
These pipes are from a Yamaha Banshee . I had to cut an inch off them to get them to fit the flanges. Will they work? I think they might at least work enough to figure out what I might need to do to them. Since I only paid $20 for them,I can "hack and glue" with out too many regrets. Mounts should be fairly simple as I have quite a few places to attach them (and everyone will have rubber isolators)
That other "snail shell) gizzy is my tilt adjustment.One on each side. I've tried this before and it does work and it does not slip. The saddles in the pivot have been filed to fit the contour of the piece. They do wear some but not bad. Been thinking I should make the adjusters out of steel so they don't settle as much as the aluminum ones do but these will work for now.
Will

[will350]

I thought that today would be the final chapter..... ho ho ho.......
I figured I'd just cut this thing apart , roll up an internal sleeve and fit it so I could slide the center section to adjust it . I've never seen an interally
silenced pipe although I've always wondered about why it wouldn't work as well and be much quieter . Any way... I can make a new center section....
Dig all that stuff out so I can slide inside.....or slide outside(maybe)
This off a 400 twin so it's plenty "big" enough. Also , the stinger is 10" or so into the tail cone. I'm curious about how that insulation and rough surface affects the rebound in the pipe.I'm not quite sure what to do here............
My thought is to cut out all that damping(cut the center section out),make a new center section,maybe an inch bigger in dia. ,sleeve it and be able to slide the rear cone 6" in and out total .... Stinger..? ? ? Try it the way it is? ? ?
I know there are folks on the board who have a better handle on this sort of S.W.A.G.(scientific wild *** guess) than I do so I'd appreciate some input.
Will

[smittythewelder]

If you feel like getting rid of the scaly carbon, have your local auto machinist leave the pipes in his hot-tank over the weekend, assuming he has the hot caustic soda.

I haven't been around this game in far too long; is there really a lower unit nowdays that will stand up to those big twins?!!

The other thing that I'm wondering about from your pix is whether that towerhousing might twist significantly under full power. I think that's why a lot of towerhousings were made using a piece of chrome-moly tube in the middle. Bill Rankin once told me about watching a dyno run of a Mk75 at the Mercury factory, and that they measured an amazing amount of twist from bottom to top of the block.

Pretty work!!

[will350]

If you feel like getting rid of the scaly carbon, have your local auto machinist leave the pipes in his hot-tank over the weekend, assuming he has the hot caustic soda.
That "scaley" looking stuff is some sort of expanded metal used to hold the muffling material in place . This is an "internally" silenced pipe. The only one I have ever seen.

I haven't been around this game in far too long; is there really a lower unit nowdays that will stand up to those big twins?!

I use stock 302 Yamato lower units with a LeeTietze nose cone . The only problems I've had were "self-induced".Bad line up and or tower flex. There is a pic of the "flexi-flyer" in the thread . It was the first one I made for a Polaris. With the F/C 340 , it was OK cause it only 35 or so HP but the L/C
ate couplers and input shafts. These "wide-footed" towers take care of that.
I have never had one of these go south internally in 5 years.The 3/16" shear pins are just barely enough.

The other thing that I'm wondering about from your pix is whether that towerhousing might twist significantly under full power. I think that's why a lot of towerhousings were made using a piece of chrome-moly tube in the middle. Bill Rankin once told me about watching a dyno run of a Mk75 at the Mercury factory, and that they measured an amazing amount of twist from bottom to top of the block.

Pretty work!!

I've gotten to where I like to make them reasonably attractive now because I know they'll work.
I'll be "off the air" for a bit. I had 14 teeth pulled this AM.Need some "recovery time" before I get back to this.
Will

[Ron Hill]

Will, I read your posts everyday. I enjoy every word, please continue the SAGA of the "TOWERS"....Anytime you want anything polished, send it, I'll polish it for free and reutrn if no charge for freight also...

Keep us all up to date....The clutch is the future of PRO Racing...trust me!!! (Because, shore starts will be easy..or idle starts will be easy...)...