DAS BOOT
Here is the boat I'll be installing the engine into. Its a 1979 Glastron Carlson CVX 18. It came complete with broken trailer springs and rotted out interior.
This photo shows the interior completely gutted out. Note the exposed stringers in the foreground. The inner transom plate is in position for measurements.
Here's the engine mount in position. Transom assembly is in, along with a new steering system. The new flooring can be seen in the foreground.
To maintain some originality of the boat, I modified the stock instrument panel to accept the aviation style gauges.
Gauges, from left to right are: Speedo, 3in1 eng (oil press - oil temp - fuel pressure,) N1 tach, N2 tach, Turbine outlet temp, and Torque pressure
Here's the engine mounted in the boat. The exhaust stacks are on, the oil tank is mounted, the batteries are in and the out drive trim pump is mounted on the left.
Here's a shot of the driveline, the scatter shield is off for clarity.
Here's a shot of the whole works, showing intake screen and scatter shield below it. The mercruiser shift-plate linkage is seen in the right foreground
July 23rd, 2000 Das Boot is in the water and ready for a test run.
My friend Marty , the outdrive expert, stands by as I spool up the engine.
We set out for the first test run, a little apprehensive.
Das boot Idling out to open water. If you look carefully you can see the water which cools the oil, exiting from the boat above the outdrive. At Marty's advice, I directed the water so it will cool the upper bearing in the outdrive top cap, a common problem spot.
Here's the boat at speed. Boat maintains good attitude and ride despite the extremely light-weight of the engine in the back and the added fuel load which is placed up in the front.
Preliminary test runs show the boat has great potential for high speeds. I'm still trying different props to obtain best results. So far speeds in excess of 60 mph have been recorded with n2 (output shaft) at only 50% of its max. Stay tuned for updates.