Board member Clark Bird (Griswald) takes us along on his journey to discover the basics of DIY electronic fuel injection modifications.

 

I have often read posts on the various message boards from boaters who are either converting to EFI or going back to carburetors, for some odd reason. Certainly, EFI isn’t anything new and has evolved with numerous companies providing hard parts as well as various software platforms that allow users to install and tune these systems themselves. Coming from a drag racing background, my tuning experience was all about carburetor jets, nitrous pills and reading spark plugs. This EFI stuff was brand new and a bit intimidating to say the least! However, I knew what made an engine run and how the different variables came into play to achieve horsepower. I’d like to share some of my personal experiences with EFI and how I’ve taken the initiative to install and tune a Delphi Mefi4a on my 27’ Fountain. It didn’t happen overnight and there is a list of people to thank at the end of this article.

A little about my setup: I purchased a ’97 Fountain in 2007 with a ZZ502 crate motor, MPI and M1 Procharger. The ECM was an older model MEFI-1, which I later discovered was very limited in capability. The fuel system consisted of an SX electric fuel pump and the notoriously junky rising-rate fuel pressure regulator from Procharger. The boat ran pretty good that first summer but I lifted a ring land on #7 at season’s end and knew it was time to freshen up. Dave Kropp at CHS Racing Engines had been building my drag motors for nearly 20 years and there was no other choice for me to rebuild this one. Once we got the motor torn down we found some cracked exhaust seats on both heads and upgraded to a pair of Dart Iron Eagle 308s. Besides a set of SRP flat top pistons and the very familiar Crane 731 hydraulic roller cam, the rest of the parts were stock including the MPI manifold and 42lb fuel injectors. I did, however, trash the Procharger regulator and went with a unit from Bell Engineering.

When it came time to dyno the motor I contacted Full Throttle Marine in Spicewood, TX and owner Bob Lloyd. After the initial break in I remember watching Bob make adjustments to the timing and fuel tables. For the life of me, I could not grasp what was going on. I didn’t even know enough to ask a stupid question. He would make changes while I just sat there with a dazed look on my face. BPW? What in the world is that? A couple dozen pulls later we ended up with approximately 550hp and felt that was a good place to stop and install back in the boat. I wasn’t going for all-out power with this build so these numbers suited me just fine. I wanted to turn the key and go boating, not worry about engine reliability and Bravo parts scattered all over the lake. Bob Lloyd’s tune worked pretty well during the cooler temperatures of spring, but when summer time rolled around with the heat and humidity, the boat started running poorly and I found myself scrubbing soot off the transom more than I wanted to. My wife moaning about the fuel smell didn’t help matters! So, what to do? I couldn’t stand the thought of relying on others to dial this thing in (no offense to Bob Lloyd or anyone else) and figured it was time to get my feet wet and learn this strange and crazy, EFI. I had been reading about air/fuel meters and decided that would be the first step at trying to tune this thing myself. Reading more threads on the message boards gave me enough information to start some research and make a purchase. I bought a dual-sensor unit from F.A.S.T. and took my Stainless Marine risers back to CHS Racing Engines to have the bungs installed. Eddie Young, of Young Performance Marine, had made a couple posts describing how to do the job and that’s how I instructed CHS to weld them in. $150 later, I was ready to go tuning!

 

 

 

 

 

 

The first runs I made showed the motor ran fairly efficient with AFR readings in the mid 12s, right where you would want a naturally aspirated motor to be. However, once I got into boost the meter would flat-line at 9.0 and the motor would not rev. Rich, rich, and more rich! I’d stop, raise the hatch, make a couple turns of the needle valve on the fuel regulator and make another pass. This process was a bit cumbersome and no two passes were the same. Frustrated, and after some choice words, I was one of those wanting to go back to a carburetor. Ditching the Procharger was out of the question though so I took some time to think things over and realized EFI was the way to go. But, how do I go about this? The MEFI-1 worked fine but as I mentioned earlier, was limited in capability and unable to tune once in boost. Ultimately, I would have to upgrade the ECM to get where I wanted to be. After some thought, and shock at the prices some of these units command, I found Crate Engine Depot had a great deal on a MEFI-4a and harness for right at $600. WINNER! I would also have to find a way to tune the MEFI controller so I chose the MEFI Burn/Scanner/Tuner Pro setup. I had to upgrade to a 2 bar MAP sensor as well since I would be running boost.

 

Once I received the ECM I could hardly wait to get it installed and hook up the software. The harness they sent was a bit tight so I had to do some cutting on the wire loom and stretch things out a bit. Being the impatient person I am, I ended up erasing the stock 502 Ram Jet tune that came in the Mefi4a. Luckily, Bob Radke, at OBD Diagnostics sent me a generic tune to get the motor fired. Once running, it wasn’t pretty. It was spittin’, sputterin’ and generally unhappy. I’m pretty savvy at computers and applications but didn’t have the slightest idea where to look this time. On the phone to Bob at OBD again!

Bob had me read a couple parameters from Scanner Pro as well as the AFR readings. Right away he suggested the motor was running lean and to go into the fuel tables and add some fuel. It turns out that Tuner Pro is a fairly easy program to use and it didn’t take long to realize how minor changes to the fuel tables would affect the air fuel readings. A couple clicks here and there, upload the file and it was time to hit the water. Ideally, it’s best to have someone with you to run the boat while you tinker with the laptop, but it can be done by yourself. I made several runs while recording data and would use my iPhone voice recorder to save the AFR readings at different rpm so I could take that information back to the house and make further adjustments. It’s worth mentioning that these changes can be made in the boat but time was usually a factor in my case and this process seemed to work best for me. I can’t say I got the tune right on the first few tries and there have been many hiccups along the way. However, persistence paid off and I’m quite happy with the way the boat runs now. AFR readings are high 12s to 13.0 NA and 11.8 to 12 at full boost. The motor revs to potential and fuel economy has increased dramatically at cruise speeds. It starts, idles, goes in and out of gear without issue and has turned out to be quite a reliable package approaching 300hrs this summer. The next step will be setting up my AFR meter to record through the ECM and Scanner Pro. This will allow me to log AFR readings right to the laptop for further refinement. It never ends… I’m sure there are quite a few gear heads out there like myself, who may find themselves in this situation. I’m no expert, but I dove into this venture head first and can say that I’m glad I took the time, listened to the experts, and ended up with a great running boat and the satisfaction that I did it myself. For anyone that has some technical and mechanical ability, I say go for it!

 

 

 

 

Dave Kropp – CHS Racing
Engines Austin, TX

Bob Lloyd – Full Throttle Marine
Spicewood, TX

Bob Radke – OBD Diagnostics
Redondo Beach, CA

Eddie Young – Young Performance Marine
Mount Juliet, TN

Jim Speros – Mobile MercMan
Jonestown, TX

Clark Bird…

Last week in Key West we lost some people very dear to us. One of those, Joey Gratton, throttled two of the boats participating. I was with some of the Page Motorsports team watching the race and I was the one who informed them the boat had rolled in Turn One. Although concerned for our friends, we were confident in the team, the boat, and the rescue teams. Little did we know……

I did not know Joey as long as some of you. I was lucky enough to meet him last year in the pits. He was someone I was hoping I could get to teach me some pointers about throttling a race boat when the time came. To Joey’s credit, he actually took the time to talk to people at the races. He was never “too busy” to chat with fans or beginning racers. Joey and I shared a mutual connection in that we both competed in the sport of motocross racing back in the 70’s. While I’m still investigating, it’s likely that we raced on the same tracks during AMA Circuit races in Oregon and Washington during those early years. If that’s the case, the idea of this being a small world really hits home.

In 1997, Joey joined the sport of offshore powerboat racing. At that time he was quoted as saying “Racing is racing, you’re going from motorcycles to boats, but you got the same theory and use the same basic knowledge, setting up lines on the track. If you can do one, you can do anything.” With Joey on the throttles, the Page Motorsports team was three-time world champion and captured the national championship an astonishing seven times.
Joey was the throttleman in 1998 on the Hooters team with Page which won the American Powerboat Association World Championships held in Biloxi, Miss. Back then, Gratton teamed with Page and crew chief Jon Maas of Naples to win racing’s Grand Slam, which included the Southeastern, Gold Cup, National and World championships. Joey was also the throttleman on Dirty Duck with Slug Hefner when they set the APBA Supercat Light record at 115.37 mph.
Joey commented about the 2001 death of powerboating legend Jack Carmody in which his boat flipped in a Texas race. “We were real good friends; we went to the hospital after the accident,” he said. “It makes you think that this could happen to any one of us.”
On the team’s Facebook page, “There are no words to describe the loss our family is feeling,” wrote Page’s daughter, Maisy. “There was no greater man than Joey Gratton and there is nothing that will ever replace the huge hole in all of our hearts.”
Videographer and documentarian Tom MacKnight assembled this video as a tribute to Joey. Tom has graciously given us permission to link it to this article. As Tom said to me, “It was tough to make.” It is both tough, and uplifting, to watch. He said it best in his introduction, “Joey became a great friend. He always encouraged and supported me and I will be forever grateful. After losing Joey in an accident in Key West, I went back and put all the unused interview footage together and made this tribute. I hope if you knew Joey you enjoy this piece. If you didn’t know Joey, I hope this gives you an insight to what you missed.”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UpEL6LJdjh4&feature=mfu_in_order&list=UL

I attended Joey’s memorial service in Key West, along with every racer and fan that could possibly be there. Rev. Jim Black did an outstanding job of describing what Joey was like, and how much he will be missed. It really hits home when many of your “tough” racer friends can do nothing but give you a hug, with tears in their eyes, completely unable to speak.
Joey was that kind of person. I call it infectious with life. We will all miss him.

Godspeed, Joey

by Paul Rose

A memorial service for Bob Morgan and Jeff Tillman will be held this saturday. The service is being held in the Arrowhead Ballroom at Port Arrowhead Resort in Lake Ozark.

The service is scheduled to begin at Noon and run until 6 PM.

For those wishing to attend, directions are available on the resort’s website-
http://www.theresortatportarrowhead.com

UPDATE- Driver Bob Vesper and throttleman Danny Crank were successfully removed from the boat. Vesper emerged from the crash relatively unscathed. Crank was conscious and talking. He has been transported to Miami for medical treatment. According to our people on-site, the boat’s canopy suffered significant damage.

Team Warpaint respectfully requests that individuals refrain from conjecture until further information is received.

The Team Warpaint Apache cat has just been involved in an on-course crash. According to witnesses, the boat launched between turns 2 and 3 and stuffed hard. It was reported the boat submarined for several seconds.

No helicopter was on scene at the time so rescue boats were the first to respond. It was estimated that several minutes passed before their arrival.

We will continue to update you as we lean more.

A group of boaters from the Key West poker run assembed an impromptu tribute this morning that was halted by the Coast Guard. In a report from the course, the boaters planned a three-lap tribute run, one lap for each of the fallen racers. The run was taking place after the completion of today’s first race. Approximately one lap in, the Coast guard moved a 100-foot cutter and two smaller patrol boats onto the course. Warnings were also broadcast over VHF. After approximately a 10-minute “discussion” between several poker runners and the Coast Guard, the tribute boats were forced to retire from the course. A light airplane towing a banner recognizing the racers continued to fly over the course and above the Key West harbor.

We will have more on this story as we receive it.

Key West Changed My Life.

 

At 23 I accompanied a friend to the races at Key West. Awe can’t even begin to describe what I felt as we explored the race camps in Mallory Square. New boats, old ones, wooden, glass and aluminum ones were arranged casually about. Crated engines bagged and ready to be installed for the next day’s race. Engines going in and out, grinders spinning and wrenching in every direction. The sounds of engines running filled the air and seldom stopped. Boats from overseas on trailers the likes of which I have never seen. This is where we both wanted to be, racing here next year. We explored the water ways, restaurants and bars around the island as well. It truly was paradise.

 

The next year and years that followed drew me back again and again. First I returned as a crew man delivering and preparing a race boat. Eventually I came to race. I structured my existence around the racing. The jobs I took, the businesses I started, the compromises I made all centered on being available for the next race and next season. I soon found many others from around the country suffered from this same obsession. My best friends are racers and people that work or follow boat racing.

 

The food is great, the bars are better; the noise will drew you down the side streets and into alley bars. Blue Heaven, Hogs breathe, Louie’s Back Porch, The deli on Southard, and of course Sloppy Joe’s are a few of my favorites. Parties on Duval and the outer mole are truly unique.  I have found someone sleeping under my truck, seen the doors of Sloppy Joe’s closed, and wormed my way thru the last night of Fantasy fest. I have stayed on the south side, the east side, Stock Island and once at Broward. I have gotten lost trying to find a short cut thru the center and even got hurt during a race and visited the emergency room. I have been thrown out of a cab and once pondered hijacking the Conch train……My head is flooded with various memories… I have left broken and hurt and on top of the world.

 

Beware if it’s your first time because you too will be changed for life. You will NEED to return every year to feel alive. The treasure chest in your memory will be filled with Key West experiences. Now that I am 50 I realize more than half of my life was spent looking forward to the November trek. There is no cure for being a race whore.

Joe

 

We are very proud to launch our new SeriousOffshore Newsmagazine.

Three years ago, the forum website SeriousOffshore.com was born. The idea then was to build a place where people could come and enjoy themselves with other offshore powerboating enthusiasts. A place where they could come and relax, sharing their interests and friendships in a relaxed and hassle free environment. This newest step for us is nothing more than an extension of that idea.

Why?

Good question. There are several reasons. Mostly for the same reason the forum side of the site got started- there existed a need.

Forums are great for sharing information. And while alot of that information is shared by people in the know or directly involved, much of it is not. There’s quite a bit of 3^rd and 4^th party information, rumor, supposition and conjecture to be found. It’s just the nature of all forums. One thing we learned is that many people truly in-the-know simply weren’t participating. In the early days of forums, these people logged on, told their stories or spoke to issues. Virtually all of them found the same thing- often they were sucked into debates with people much less qualified or connected. So they stopped coming. It’s simply a reality of “the boards”. So the first need we sought to feed was a place where these people could talk about what’s going on in their world and be free from heckling and debating.

Our second motivation is the way the delivery of information is changing. Magazines were at one time our only real means of keeping in touch with what was going on in the sport and the business of powerboating. But technology has opened other avenues. We all enjoy the tactile feel of a magazine in our hands, but in today’s world, they just aren’t as useful as they once were. We didn’t make this happen. Progress and technology did. People want their information now. They demand it. And they don’t want teasers while waiting on stories to be written, typeset, printed and mailed. The best part is that we aren’t limited to six paragraphs and 3 small pictures to tell a big story. If it’s an 8-page story with 30 important and interesting pictures then that’s what goes out.

Please don’t misunderstand our intentions. We certainly wish the magazines well and we encourage you to continue to support them by subscribing and patronizing their advertisers. We simply see a need right now and look to fill it while the magazine publishers find their new direction in this New Media world.

 What we’re most excited about is our concept of the “enthusiast reporter” We now have and will continue to expand a network of people throughout the sport who will be documenting their experiences and reporting back. What you will be getting is not only first-hand information from people who are actually at these events and activities, you’ll get them from the perspective of an enthusiast. You’ll see what they’re seeing from the angle of someone who loves and lives the sport. Don’t worry, we have professional editorial support on staff. We will make sure what you get is the high quality you are looking for.

This is going to be a work in progress. We expect to learn some things along the way and to respond swiftly to what our users want. And we will probably make some mistakes along the way as well. That’s what happens when you try doing something new. We hope you can roll with us while we get this going.

We hope you enjoy what we’re going to be publishing. If you have comments or suggestions, you can direct them to either our publisher, Paul Rose at publisher@seriousoffshore.com   or our executive editor, Brendan Baker at executive.editor@seriousoffshore.com

If you’d like to participate, we’d love to have you. If you have a commentary or a story, or if you’re interested in being a regular contributor as a Field Editor, please let us know. If you have writing skills, that’s great. If all you can provide is a handful of pictures and a simple description of what’s going on in them, our staff can help you turn them into a feature story.

Thanks for stopping by!

 

 

As many of you know, one of my favorite classes is SVL. There are a couple of reasons, including the camaraderie of the class and the competitiveness of the boats and teams. These teams will race to win during the day, and have dinner together at night. The part that amazes me is that during the dinner they will not only share the usual stories (fibs?), about how they happened to be better or worse than the other boats, they will also share items that may have helped them win or place on the podium. One of the best attributes of the class is that it’s currently the most reasonably priced Spec Class to run. That equates to more boats per class, per race and some of the best deck-to-deck action you’ll see The single Merc Racing 525 with the Bravo drive has proven to be almost indestructible in these canopied, roughly 30’, 4750 lb packages. Current speeds are approaching the low 90’s, (depending on who you talk to), and the rules are configured such to try and keep them in that range.

Last year in Key West we had the opportunity to witness the build up to the World’s include a boat that couldn’t afford to make it, (and therefore put up or shut up on a challenge issued). But we also witnessed the boat racing community assist with donations to get them there to meet the challenge. It just so happened they made it and won the Key West World Championship by finishing second in all three races Plus it included the added bonus of the throttleman scaring the heck out of the driver. This once again proves that finishing every race over the three days of competition is priority one, being the fastest (legally) does not guarantee you the championship.
Running on the edge is something these guys do on a continuing basis. There were four boats that entered last year, and the competition was edge of your seat. I cannot imagine what it is going to be like this year. As of this time, it appears there will be eight boats there for sure. That, as far as I can tell, will be the most in an SBI SVL race ever. The teams that currently appear to be racing are Absolutely Not, Black Phantom 9, IMCO, Octane, Tug It, Sun Print, Typhoon, and Watch Your Back.

I cannot imagine what the first corner will be like with these 8 teams battling to get the lead after the long, almost two mile, run up to turn one!
Absolutely Not is crewed by Mark Gibbons and Frank Sarro. This is their first year together in SVL and the improvements they have made to the boat are incredible. My hat goes off to them.

Black Phantom 9 is crewed by Mark Nieman and Kurt Jagel. This is also their first year together. The boat was purchased from the Dunbar’s after their successful two year stint,

IMCO is crewed by George Auriemma and Mike Fosse. This may be their first race together, but George won the 2009 OSS World Championship with this boat.

Octane is crewed by Jim Simmons and Tommy Palafeiano. This will be their first race together, and it is the first year Jim has campaigned the boat since purchasing it from the Suttons, (another husband and wife team). Tommy has competed before with Mark from Absolutely Not, I believe.

Sun Print is crewed by Steve Miklos and Gary DeCiucies. Not much you can say about this team. They were runner up last year at the event, but the only reason was a breakdown on the final day. They will probably go out as one of the favorites.

Tug It will be crewed by Kevin Smith and Pat Donovan. Kevin ran with Randy in Orange Beach in the Class 5 boat, and had such a great time they came back and purchased the Progressive SVL from Bruce Seroff. They are gonna have a great time at their first race. Ironic it is the SBI World’s in Key West with 7 other boats.

Typhoon is last year’s champion. This year it will have Louie The Rigger teaming up with Randy Schluess, but will still be among the favorites. With Randy on throttles, Louie should have a blast.

Watch Your Back will be crewed by Michael “Doc” Janssen and Dan Davies. This is the first year they have campaigned together, but they have certainly performed well. Last year the boat ran strong with a different throttleman, but it was penalized for having an illegal engine.

Currently, as far as I know, there are 4 other boats legal for SVL that will not make the race this year, too bad.

The Key West World’s will be quite the spectacle in the SVL class. Hope everyone gets a chance to see it. If not, we will do our best to keep those not there up to speed.

 

by Paul Rose

Being a transfer from the West Coast to the “North Coast” was quite a shock when it first happened. Luckily, shortly after arriving, I met some people who had a lot of the same interests I did. To put it shortly, Fast Cars, Fast Boats, and Beautiful Women. (I won’t ever say Fast Women, but I was single when I moved here).

Well, after getting to know the boating group around West Michigan somewhat, in 1996 there was a Poker Run hosted by Pier 33, a large dealership in St. Joe.

Attendance at the run was what would now be an unheard-of number of 124 boats. 124 boats. Not in Florida, but in Michigan. Times have certainly changed.

Some of the boats that attended were;
Smokin’Joe’s, a 43 foot Wellcraft Larry Smith Scarab owned by Jack Horisk and powered by three 1,110Hp, 702 CuIn Innovation engines.
Team Prime, a 42 foot Comanche Apache owned by Gary Montano of Cobra Power. Randy Garcia was also along. It was powered by three Cobra SC’s at 1,000HP each.
Lisa II, a 47 foot Fountain with triple 500HP’s and owned by Ray Weigel.
The Professional, a 47 foot Fountain also with triple HP’s and owned by Red Reynolds.
Hasta La Veesta, a 32 foot Active Thunder cat owned by Keith Holmes and powered by twin 650HP, 557CuIn engines.
Kevin Heirdes, President of Powerquest was there with a new 340 Viper.
Steve Smith was there with his 38 foot Cigarette Top Gun powered by 500HP’s.
Team Scarab, owned by Julie Frounde and powered by 900HP, 583CuIn engines was also there.
And 116 more high-performance boating enthusiasts who all came together to have a good time and raise money for Make-a-Wish.

I’m sure many of you remember some of these boats, and some of you may have participated. It’s hard to believe that 15 years ago 124 boats ran in a Poker Run here in Western Michigan. The most disappointing aspect of this is if you were to attempt to put this run on today in this same venue, to benefit what is the most deserving of charities, the barriers would be insurmountable. Maybe someday… I’m just glad to have been there “back then”.
For those of you who may have participated, hope you have fond memories and maybe have some pictures and stories to share with us.

For those who wish another would happen every year, I’m with you. So, best case in the meantime, see all of you at Boyne Thunder this upcoming summer.