Tuning. I suck at it.

[ejp]

I know my cat isn't going as fast as it should. Here are some things keeping it from doing that. I need some Ideas to change that. :o

I look at most of the cats on the net and it seems that their struts are a little below the bottom the hull. Am I dreaming about that??? I can kick my strut out a little but I am limited because the stubshaft is so long that it makes things get stiffer when I spin the prop after I kick it out to the max. Any ideas??? Am I way off on how my strut should be set????? :o :o

Now, my pipe is close to a foot long from the glow plug to the fatest part of the pipe :eek: :eek: :eek: The reason it is so long is because it has to stick out the back of the boat. :o :o I want to shorten it to get max rpm's but then I would have to add on the the end. Won't this make the pipe change again :confused: :confused:

Please help me, I am not good at this tuning thing, just building ;) ;)

[Mike T]

Once you have the balance (center of gravity or CG) right, if you set the boat on a flat table top, the bottom of the strut should be level with the table top with some amount of daylight showing under the strut. On a gas boat there would be about 1/4" showing under the strut. On a small cat, 1/8" might be right. If yours needs a radical up-angle on the shaft to get it to ride loose, you should look at moving some weight aftward to move the CG back some.

Why does the pipe necessarily have to extend past the transom? Performance is the primary concern. Appearance is secondary. Set the pipe the right length. If it drools oil into the boat, put a length of silicone tubing on the stinger, or just wipe the boat up when you're done. The silicone tube will cause little or no tuning change.