LoveCraft half Transformed into Miss KTdoodle. A story by KT

[Skoontz]

Funny thing about races....You have a whole lot better chance of winning when your boat planes off rather than not having enough power to pull a booger out of a bucket of snot!

[Gstillwill]

Now you get the pleasure of buying props at 350.00 a pop and testing dozens to find a front running one.

[Skoontz]

George:

That is the downside....But, we have a good one now, of the same series Ernie has on Tammy's boat. Add this. If buying a $350.00 prop is what has to be done to watch the boat plane and get into the game, I would much rather do that than play Russian Roulette with whatever prop KT picks from the box knowing she will get into the race rather than come bnack digusted and mad....Add another comment....I realize that the damage caused in her engine in J class was most likely due to the vibration and high revs trying to rock over the wave she was plowing....See attached preceeding photos....And, I realize that perhaps, she needed more planing technique or the motor should have been kicked in a 1/4 even though that set up worked with the J prop we own...Go figure that.... So, how many engines would we waste learning the planing curve???Since we never know what prop we would pull, , and as we proved, and had been told by many, you can't trust a personal J prop because of the pick a prop issues at the race, so there was really no way to test acurately in J because of that system. Ruining engines will (I'm finding this out) far outcost $350.00 props, which, if you have a good one to start, and provide enough info to the prop shop, for a fraction of the $350 they can make the prop better....But, they can also make it worse. At leasdt that is a more calculated decision than picking from a box..... Even if we can successfully get an AXS class off the water, and I think we can and will, KT has never had the planing problems she has had in AXS as she had with J.... And in A, you should have seen that boat shoot out of the hole....You mentioned the boat earlier and how an A boat can work in J, but not really optimum, which is why we made the choice to move out of the class....To your knowledge, as with J class, are there boats specific to AXS that will outwork an A boat, or, typically does the AXS boat work double duty as I've seen at all the races we have attended to date?

[Gstillwill]

Bill the same boat that works in ASH will work in AXSH , my AX speeds with the Merc are within a mile or two of ASH speeds. The Mercs can pull a bigger prop with more pitch then the OMC can with the AX restrictor. When Val won AXSH at Wakefield last year using my best motor her best time was only 4 seconds slower then the best ASH time. My best AXSH prop was a 100.00 from another person the was quitting BSH and was his best BSH prop its also my best BSH prop but stopped using it on the B as I dont want to chance throwing an ear, I had it coppied but its about a half mile slower then that one. Some props test good and race poor and others test fair and race very well. I probably been through 50 props to get the three or four very good ones I have. I have three very good Merc 15's my best one was good enough to win AXSH last year at Wakefield and my third best was good enough to win AXSR at Moses lake this year and I built the motor that won AXSH at Moses Lake this year. I also built the motors that were second in JSR and JSH at Moses Lake and both of those set records at Dayton. I just sold the motor that Won AXSR to George Luce which his son was the won that won with it. I replaced it with a brand new short block and blue printed it ran it last week in ASH got a second in the first heat and won the second heat and overal a second the first race with it with a Merc. Thats boat is sold and will be headed out to Washington St in the spring and will build a new boat for next year. Any class is hard work to be competive and beable to run with the best in the country. When I get a chance I will post what one of our test sessions looks like from my record book.

[Gstillwill]

Here is what one of our test sessions looks like of course I blanked the prop numbers out and even though some of the letters are the same most were different props. This took a day and a half to complette, lost of hours in the boat.
Best Motor
Q-xxx 56.9-fr 56.5-sr 7100rpm Looked Real Good
T-xxx 56.2-fr 7250rpm Great
Q-xxx 55.4-fr No Top End Good P
T-xxx 55.8-fr 55.9-sr 7200rpm Looked Great
My Props
Q-xxx 57.2-fr 56.2-sr 7440rpm Looked Great
D-xxx 55.8-fr 6960rpm Looked Good
Y-xxx 56.5-fr hot 7260rpm Great Punch Ok
F-xxx 55.9-fr 7230rpm Great Punch
Q-xxx 55.9-fr 7500rpm Great Punch
F-xxx 55.1-fr 7350rpm Super Punch
Second Motor
T-xxx 55.6-fr 7190rpm Great Punch
My Props
Q-xxx 55.4-fr 7370rpm Ok Punch
Y-xxx 55.4-fr 7150rpm No Punch
Vals Motor
Q-xxx 55.2-fr 6830rpm Looked Good
T-xxx 55.3-fr 7150rpm Real Good
Q-xxx 54.1-fr 7360rpm Good Punch
T-xxx 55.5-fr 55.4-sr 7160rpm Great
My Props
Q-xxx 55.1-fr 54.9-sr 7300rpm LookedGood
D-xxx 55.2-fr 55.4-sr 6950rpm Looked Ok
Y-xxx 55.9-fr 55.7-sr 7190rpm Fast No Punch
F-xxx 55.2-fr 7224rpm Real Good Punch
Q-xxx 54.8-fr 7376rpm Great Short Course

[Skoontz]

Well George,

I never thought I would say it, but, I have been bidding in a Merc 15 on E-bay...But, before I get too stupid here, is there any specific model that works better or legal in AXS?

[Gstillwill]

Bill any 1999 or newer 9.9 or 15 will work the 9.9 will need a 15 carb and tunner plate in the exhaust but they are the same motor other then that. The short blocks are the same from 1995 till present but the Flywheel, switch box and stator was changed in 1999 and the 1998 and older arnt leagle to use if you change those pieces to the new style then the 1995 is the same. As far as any year being better they are all pretty much the same. The ports are so close to specs that its no sense is messing with them. When I blue print one I have never touched the ports on any of them. The quality control is so good that all of them run within a mile of each other after they was loosened up. The piston and rings are made in Japan and each weigh exactly the same and the rods weigh within a half gram of each other. The motors from the factory are just set up to tight to keep noise down. hone the rods alittle and put .005 bore clearance run the timmining as far advanced as it will go and us a .068 jet in the carb.

[Skoontz]

Next Q....

If I can get a used fishing motor, what is a fair price? I'm thinking like $1,000 or under, the less the better, but just don't know Mercs and pricing....

[Gstillwill]

Bill here is a break down of the cost of two of my motors forgot to add you can also use the 9.9 or 15 Mariner as long as its the Mercury made one. I just picked up a 1997 9.9 off of ebay for 569.00 including shipping I also got the new short block off ebay for 340.00 including shipping. You just have to shop for a deal. I resell all the fishing motor parts back on ebay like the gear foot, tiller arm carb if its a 9.9 carb.
2001 9.9.........................cost 800.00
new carb and pipe...................170.00
APBA conv kit.........................545.00
sub total cost.......................1515.00
Sold stock gearcase and tiller...-350.00
total cost less racing gear foot.1165.00

1999 9.9.........................cost 575.00
new carb and pipe...................170.00
APBA conv kit.........................545.00
sub total cost........................1290.00
Sold stock gear foot and tiller.....300.00
total cost less racing gear foot...990.00

[Skoontz]

Cool, George, and I'm betting the race foot is dancing at about a grand from Merc, right?