Jet outboard hot rodding/stainless impeller questions

[Lennyg3]

First off, i have the "AR" pump on my 225 optimax. Reading the outboard jet site it appears that the kit comes with a stainless impeller from the get go. Can anyone else confirm this? Do different impellers have different pitches like prop blades, or??

Next: Does anyone have any legit performance increases from going stainless? Is there any gain to be had in the top end department with a 4 blade stainless or is it just holeshot and midrange? My original thinking was that switching from 3 blades to 4 blades was like swapping steeper rear gears in a car where you gain performance out of the hole, but lose top end. Thinking about it more I would guess it doesn't matter how many blades you have as long as you are able to turn max rpm the top end should be the same, correct?

I had also read about something called a "hot shoe". I'm guessing this is just a ported/smoothed pump housing? Any thoughts on this?

The boat performs great as is, but the hot rodder in me can't help but want to go faster/tinker. I had considered getting the flywheel lightened, a set of reeds, and ecu reflashed by simon motorsports as well, but $1000 seems a bit steep for 1-2mph. Has anyone had any dealings with simon and what have your results been?

 

[Lil' Blue Rude]

Here's my experience with them. Disclaimer "My motors AREN"T stock" :mrgreen: . 40/28 omc and 60/40 omc on 16' 42" Blazer SS. Light boat.
I started out with a aluinium 3 blade in the 40/28. was getting between 37-38 on the lake. switched over to a 3 blade polished stainless and gained 1 solid mph up to 39. Same thing on the 60/40 gained solid mph and that was from a sharpenend on polished aluminium to a sharpenend non polished stainless. Both three blades.
I have run a 4 blade stainless in the 40/28 before. Couldn' tell any diffrnece on bottom end and it hurt my top end. didn't sound like it cut my rpms any just only pulled 36mph across the lake.
Flywheel just gonna help out of the hole. reeds will help all aroud. Check out Chris Carson reeds. Great guy to deal with. Very helpful. Not sure about the ecu but I've heard Simons is good to work with.
You can polish the pump. get some thinner grates and bevel the leading edge. Cean up the shoe so that everything is smooth and even. You can cut the liner so the edge of the liner meets the edge of the impeller blades.
I sharpen on the top side of the impeller. this brings the leading edge down making the motor hook up better. About like adding a little more pitch to the leading edge. If your motors gotta a 4 blade I don't recomend sharpening this way because it may bite enough that it hurts holeshot if the motor don't have enough umph to pull it.

 

[Lennyg3]

Lil' Blue Rude » 25 May 2013, 12:52[/url]"]Here's my experience with them. Disclaimer "My motors AREN"T stock" :mrgreen: . 40/28 omc and 60/40 omc on 16' 42" Blazer SS. Light boat.
I started out with a aluinium 3 blade in the 40/28. was getting between 37-38 on the lake. switched over to a 3 blade polished stainless and gained 1 solid mph up to 39. Same thing on the 60/40 gained solid mph and that was from a sharpenend on polished aluminium to a sharpenend non polished stainless. Both three blades.
I have run a 4 blade stainless in the 40/28 before. Couldn' tell any diffrnece on bottom end and it hurt my top end. didn't sound like it cut my rpms any just only pulled 36mph across the lake.
Flywheel just gonna help out of the hole. reeds will help all aroud. Check out Chris Carson reeds. Great guy to deal with. Very helpful. Not sure about the ecu but I've heard Simons is good to work with.
You can polish the pump. get some thinner grates and bevel the leading edge. Cean up the shoe so that everything is smooth and even. You can cut the liner so the edge of the liner meets the edge of the impeller blades.
I sharpen on the top side of the impeller. this brings the leading edge down making the motor hook up better. About like adding a little more pitch to the leading edge. If your motors gotta a 4 blade I don't recomend sharpening this way because it may bite enough that it hurts holeshot if the motor don't have enough umph to pull it.

Rude,

I was hoping/figured you would respond here. I am 99% positive that my motor already has a 4 blade in it, but it doesn't look nearly as skinny or finished as the aftermarket ones offered by say wooldridgeboats. Should I just work on sharpening mine up?

Have you ever installed reeds? Is it difficult? I haven't tinkered much with outboards, or 2 strokes for that matter. I understand the concept, but haven't torn one apart.

My concern with beveling the edges on the grates is that I take on average 3-4 hits on the shoe per year, and i would worry that they would get bent out of shape rather quickly like this and I will not be able to fix them. Is it that noticable of a difference, or a case of "every little bit helps"?

You mentioned not sharpening from the top if I have a 4 blade impeller because the motor may not have enough oomph to pull it. Do you really think I will have that issue with the 225 optimax?

Thanks for all the help in advance,

Lenny

 

[Lil' Blue Rude]

From what I've been told the Wooldridge are poor quality. Been told the casting is hit and miss whether there any good or not. The 4 blade I run in a 40/28 was a Wooldridge. Hurt top end. I'd start sharpening on yours and see what you can do with it. The reason I said I wasn't sure if your motor would have enough grunt to turn the 4blade sharpened on top is because I've not messed with them enough to know how they pick up water compared to the 3 blades. It defiantly helps the 3 blade to sharpen on top but the 4blades a different beast that I've not played with enough to come to the same conclusion. Easy way for you to decide is does your boat spin out or slip coming out of the hole wide open?
As far as the reeds, I've not changed them on your motor but it's about a 15 min job on mine. EASY to do. I you can turn a wrench I'm sure you can do it. remove breather, carbs the plate behind the carbs and you got he reed cages out. Unbolt the cages then swap the reeds out. use blue Loctite on every bolt when you put I back together. Call Chris up and talk to him about what you want. He might have some cages done up a little different then yours that would help. Some motors have rubber coated reed cages and he talks about good gains from removing the rubber and porting the cages.
As far as the grate not gonna see a big gain. Every little bit helps. Your not gonna thin them out enough to make a difference in the strength. Take a good look at the inside of the shoe and you can see there is room for improvement in flow. Take out high spots and smooth out everything.

 

[Lennyg3]

Lil' Blue Rude » 01 Jun 2013, 09:51[/url]"]From what I've been told the Wooldridge are poor quality. Been told the casting is hit and miss whether there any good or not. The 4 blade I run in a 40/28 was a Wooldridge. Hurt top end. I'd start sharpening on yours and see what you can do with it. The reason I said I wasn't sure if your motor would have enough grunt to turn the 4blade sharpened on top is because I've not messed with them enough to know how they pick up water compared to the 3 blades. It defiantly helps the 3 blade to sharpen on top but the 4blades a different beast that I've not played with enough to come to the same conclusion. Easy way for you to decide is does your boat spin out or slip coming out of the hole wide open?
As far as the reeds, I've not changed them on your motor but it's about a 15 min job on mine. EASY to do. I you can turn a wrench I'm sure you can do it. remove breather, carbs the plate behind the carbs and you got he reed cages out. Unbolt the cages then swap the reeds out. use blue Loctite on every bolt when you put I back together. Call Chris up and talk to him about what you want. He might have some cages done up a little different then yours that would help. Some motors have rubber coated reed cages and he talks about good gains from removing the rubber and porting the cages.
As far as the grate not gonna see a big gain. Every little bit helps. Your not gonna thin them out enough to make a difference in the strength. Take a good look at the inside of the shoe and you can see there is room for improvement in flow. Take out high spots and smooth out everything.

No, my motor doesn't lose traction at all coming out of the hole WOT. I took a good look at my impeller tonight, and it does have some dings on the leading edge. Guess it's time for a sharpen.

I think I'm going to go ahead and grab a set of reeds from Chris Carson. I am decent at turning wrenches, so I imagine it wont be too difficult. I'm also going to straighten the grate out and sharpen the fins. I'll post back here as I go.

 

[lowe1648]

As rude as said before it's worth playing with motor height. Not as easy with a 225 as are small motors. I started playing around with the height on mine. I started out at the beginning of the day running 27 down river with two of us. After moving my motor several times I can average just under 31 and saw 32 once or twice but after running it at that height for a few trips I need to drop it. I do not have any cavitation in tight turns or straight line but it will in chop or if I slide at all and then the pump won't hook up right away. I don't have power t&t. I originally set my motor height with the motor tipped in as close to the transom with the leading edge of the shoe even with the bottom of the hull. After running it I decided the 3 hole out from the transom had the best performance. Checking where the shoe was with the motor in that position was slightly below the bottom of the hull. That was my original setup which was set down on the transom and right now I am 3/4" higher now. I'm going to drop it a 1/8to a 1/4" and think it should be perfect.
I don't know how practical it is to adjust your motor height but if your mounting holes will allow it would be worth a afternoon.