Making Progress

[DDSBC]

Nope. Is the torque and horsepower numbers on different sides of the graph throwing you off?

[MarshinIt]

We get it ls1airboat, if I had a nickel for every time you've said that, Id be able to afford one of those fancy supercharged motors.

As for that motor, that is one sweet motor. I'll have one of those one day, or at least I can dream about it. Keep us posted on how it goes. And I'm sure you'll get that thing just right with some tweaking and some help from some of these knowledgeable guys.

[ls1airboat]

glad the point is made

[Deano]

Diggin, I saw the different scales right off the bat. The reason it still looked off was because moving the torque curve up to the same scale as the HP resulted in the curves not crossing even close to 5250. I then occurred to me that when changing the scale that the curve itself would have to be twice as tall to still jive. After stretching the curve to match the increase in vertical scale, the curves cross where you would expect them to.

As far as not knowing why they do that . . . the cat is now out of the bag.

It is to give the illusion of a much flatter torque curve ! Can't blame them for creative marketing !

[digginfool]

Good point, although I think you have too much time on your hands. That's quite a bit of photoshop right there.

[Oilfield Trash]

Glad to see you ended up going with the (MP) LSA Diggin! They're offering a 3 year now? My rev limit was set at 5400 from them, guess they turned them back a little. When I got mine I was looking hard at bumping that up too. I talked with Shane some on it and he easily convinced me. I was dead set on getting into the ECM. Life happened and I ended up not getting around to doing it but I gotta say after running it for over a year now I couldn't be more impressed with that motor and have never been short on power. My set up is similar to yours - running a 2.54 belt to 82" 4 blade R set at 12.5 deg. Eventually I'll do the upgrades you mentioned and try to turn it up around 5800 but these motors are hard to beat right out of the crate. Oh, and I'm sure you know but the lower you can get that HP fuel pump the better.

[HuntingBigun]

I thought real hard about the Mast Cyclone. It was only slightly more than what I paid for the LSA and had a forged rotating assembly. But, with that build, my future options are somewhat limited. The LSA is a platform that performance can be increased quite easily; pulley and a cam puts you in the 650 HP range for less than $1,000.00 (pulley alone pushes you over 600 HP for around $450.00). Pulley, cam and a stroker kit puts you well over 700 HP, all for less than what the Tornado costs and way less than the Hurricane. Granted, there goes the warranty and you still have to add machine shop costs if you go the stroker route, but I have options with the LSA. As far as who I got the engine from, it came from Marine Power. They provide the 3 year parts & labor warranty for both mechanical and electronics.

Good stuff, you see why I am running a blower motor I am sure that all you have to do that is why Mast will not sell one of their 1000 hp car engine for airboat application they do not want to change pulleys and add bigger cam Same as Dave does on his stroker motor easy to do heck anyone can due it even Tony480 after 56 phone calls to Dave and buying a block from him, taking to a machine shop to do it like Dave says will last Should be a great 500 Hsp motor for ya be better when you wake it up.

Guess that's where you just pull **** out your ass as usual. Never made a call to Dave. I did all my own research and sent Dave a message and bought a block from him like I said before. I did talk with him when I was down there for a while about various options. But I pretty much had it all mapped out and he just confirmed my intention.

Candy A$$ Tony480 you give ton of crap on here about carmotors and anything you want, your research data is from people like me that been running LS for 6 years or Dave trying this stuff when he did not know they work, the same time listening to you cry about water pumpers no thanks needed but no worries I plan on making you the star of your own thread as soon as you put your boat together I love it when someone get their feeling's hurt make sure you post your dyno heck learn from Diggin he gives and takes Bolting together a motor does not make you a engine builder by the way, Man up start your own build thread, list what your doing and what you expect that what you ask ecoturds for all the time, give them a place to ask you questions

Diggin I was not talking to you about Dave or any of that stuff I think you made a good choice, just pointing out that tweaking is not as easy on airboat as car the rest was for Tony480 sorry I should have his own thread should not have brought him into this one, side note my buddy who owns Night Hawk (twin to Venom) I have his pitched at 5300 rpm he likes it that way beast on the ground and only lost 15 mph but it would out pull less rpm on ground so it all about how you want your boat to feel like. Great warranty and should run great.

My boat would cruise 1000 rpm less than my old thunder deckover same load and speed or water depth so I will be interested is it the HP or the Blower I think it the blower so your will be the answer let us know Sorry for the highjack

[Tony480]

Trust me ain't none of my research came from you and your boats. If I had been looking at yours I damn sure wouldn't be building no c/m. And my feelings are from hurt. Hell I have none. And no need for me to start a thread. I know what I'm building and who's building it and what's going in it and that's all that needs to know. No need to stroke my ego.

[HuntingBigun]

Trust me ain't none of my research came from you and your boats. If I had been looking at yours I damn sure wouldn't be building no c/m. And my feelings are from hurt. Hell I have none. And no need for me to start a thread. I know what I'm building and who's building it and what's going in it and that's all that needs to know. No need to stroke my ego.

No worries I start one for ya, have some cool pictures too shame you do not share facebook acct that was a good one, just remember crybaby you brought me into it so I got plenty more to come you just like Charlie Crist one day a aircraft the best and then LS expert the next, so why tell any of us about your build LOOK I am building a MOTOR Charlie 480

[Tony480]

Actually you brought me into it

[HuntingBigun]

Actually you brought me into it

Nope I consider FB and SA both my playground just little more fun over here now, I should have waited for you to start a post but you never have your own and I wanted to get your attention, I am out on this one, we start again soon trying not to highjack DIggin thread we have our own thread soon enough or come play on my DB thread when I start it Charlie

[digginfool]

Headers are in, motor mounts and exhaust system on the way (due here on Friday), rudder and fuel tank getting painted; all I need now is my prop. I plan to send the blades out for Duracoat. Would hate for that to be my holdup.

[Uhairball]

Headers are in, motor mounts and exhaust system on the way (due here on Friday), rudder and fuel tank getting painted; all I need now is my prop. I plan to send the blades out for Duracoat. Would hate for that to be my holdup.

I am no expert, but this is a new one for me. Tell me about the Duracoat. What does it do for your blades? Does it affect balance? Does it make them last longer? Does it make them more impervious to dings? Cost? If it is only UV protection, is it needed if stored under cover?

[digginfool]

The best thing I could tell you is to talk to the Sensenich dealer. It does help the blades look better, longer. And, it makes keeping them clean much easier. I had intended to have it done from the beginning but forgot to tell the salesperson when I finally ordered them. I've used the prop for a year so it won't quite be as nice as if I had done it new but it will be better than they are right now. Plus, it's called Duraskin, not Duracoat. My bad.

[digginfool]

Prop is on its way to Sensenich, fuel tank and rudders at the paint shop, gearbox is on the motor. I'm thinking my barge will definitely be back on the water by December. Getting excited. One question: The 496 had a cable that went to the Throttle Position Sensor (TPS) that was mounted on the front of the intake. The LSA has a TPS that is mounted on a bracket and intended to be operated by a push-pull cable like the Vortec was. The only problem is the cable is much too long so not much in the way of options; swap to electronic throttle pedal or purchase a shorter cable. Has anybody used the electronic throttle pedal in their LS setup? Was it the standard version or is there a weatherproof version? I can certainly have a cable custom built but it sure would be easier to just run a pair of wires in a loam.

[JB550]

Electronic pedel works awsome. My LSA had one and my Ecotec does as well. They are smoother than wire in my opinion.

[digginfool]

Hanging the motor Monday, to the welder on Tuesday to fabricate tabs for intercooler radiator as well as a few other minor items.

[SWAMPHUNTER45]

Looks like your making good some steady progress with putting that sled back together Digs! Be running again in no time

[digginfool]

This isn't for my sled. This is for my DB ride boat. My barge. LOL

[SWAMPHUNTER45]

Yep I hear you, BARGE.....D-Barge from what I hear, that's what you CADDY guys like....Ha

[digginfool]

Went to hang the motor today and found out I need to relocate the alternator. Dammit, man!

[digginfool]

Hard to believe the last post I made about this project was back on November 11th. With all of the holidays over the last couple of months, haven't had a ton of time to devote to the boat but have made some progress. The motor is on the stand, the alternator bracket has been fabricated, fuel pump mounted and game plan created for the rest of the plumbing. I made a comment about getting pissed off and scrapping the whole idea of doing the engine swap, putting the LSA back on it's shipping crate to save for the future, then buy a long block and just use the BBC the boat came with. Swamphunter45 PM'd me about what issues I've had so I thought I would share my response.

Most of the issues have stemmed from the differences related to age of the boat and engine mounts. The way Diamondback designed the engine stand for the BBC in 2003 is not compatible with the LS motor so adapter plates must be purchased or fabricated. The engine stand design also conflicted with the alternator so, again, alternator had to be relocated which required fabrication since nobody manufactures an alternator mount that is compatible with the LSA that would move it to an acceptable position (this would not have been an issue had I purchased my LSA from Levitator/PCM rather than Marine Power). The engine wiring harness is a rat nest. Again, part of the issue possibly stems from the fact the motor came from Marine Power. They clearly purchased a GM crate motor and marinized it, with as little effort as possible. As such, the wiring harness is exactly what you would need to mount the engine in a Cadillac CTS-V and the length of the wires is what causes the mess. Once all of the wiring is finished, I will have quite the bundle of excess wires hanging off the rear of the engine. In the long run, I'm sure I will investigate purchasing an after-market harness that is better suited for my application. On top of the wiring and mounting issues, the plumbing on this thing is something else, again stemming from the motor coming from Marine Power rather than PCM. Now, don't get me wrong; the fuel pump set-up (all Aeromotive) is top notch but PCM uses an engine mounted unit that incorporates filters, pumps and alternator relocation that might have eliminated my problems with the engine stand. The engine also requires a second coolant system for the supercharger intercooler, which means more hoses to route, a second 'radiator' and electric coolant pump. All of which needs to be mounted and routed so that it doesn't look like hell. Finally, a realization I just had yesterday, the radiator inlet/outlet was sized to accommodate the hoses of a BBC, not the smaller hoses that the LSA uses so now I have to either adapt the hoses or change the hose barbs on the radiator. Finally, the LSA uses a cable operated, remotely mounted throttle position sensor which I will have to try to locate somewhere on the stand. Bottom line is, I was hoping for more of a plug-and-play solution to having blown up my old motor. I didn't expect it to be an easy swap but I wasn't expecting this. The more I'm in this sport, the more I learn how correct the old adage is about learning from the errors of others. Very early on, I was told it's far better to sell what you have and buy what you want rather than try to make what you want out of what you have. Translation: Don't try to make a silk purse from a pig's ear.

[digginfool]

Just some pics of the progress

[Birddog247]

Your weren't kidding about the rats nest. Hopefully it don't get in the prop. Looking good otherwise. Good luck!

[Tony480]

Damn that's a wire harness