The Waternut Stunt hull build

[chips]

man i wish i had some input but i didnt notice any noises with mine, but i havent ridden mine as much as you've riden yours. good luck

 

[sxi4evr]

Couplers have plenty of clearance...maybe a tad too much but they certainly aren't hitting. Although I despise troubleshooting, I am discovering quite a few problems that could pose serious problems later down the road. Found the two forward screws in the middle of my pole bracket were gouging the waterbox pretty good.

The problem still isn't fixed though. I'm getting really close to just cranking up the idle to eliminate the shutter/grinding problem since it seems to only happen at very low rpms.

turf? the ski looks good man i like the matching jeep haha

 

[Waternut]

I'm just going to leave those front two bolts out...at least for now. The turf won't protect the waterbox for long.

I put the stock steering turn plate on today and used some 4° (I think) bars that Pabloescobar was kind enough to give me last year.

I bought 1 gallon of paint and I painted my SN, jeep, and stunt hull with it. I'd say I got my $100 out of that gallon. I'm basically out though. Just enough for a couple small touch ups and that's it.

 

[chad]

Couplers have plenty of clearance...maybe a tad too much but they certainly aren't hitting. Although I despise troubleshooting, I am discovering quite a few problems that could pose serious problems later down the road. Found the two forward screws in the middle of my pole bracket were gouging the waterbox pretty good.

The problem still isn't fixed though. I'm getting really close to just cranking up the idle to eliminate the shutter/grinding problem since it seems to only happen at very low rpms.

I didnt ask if you had plenty of clearance . I explained that process to see if your motor may be sitting too low or too high at the front and causing your midbearing to grind.
I am just trying to help.

 

[Waternut]

I didnt ask if you had plenty of clearance . I explained that process to see if your motor may be sitting too low or too high at the front and causing your midbearing to grind.
I am just trying to help.

I was really answering BK's response. The engine was aligned perfectly when installed but it's settled slightly out of alignment right now. I'm getting to that next but my patience is growing thinner and thinner the more I work on it.

 

[Sanoman]

I didnt ask if you had plenty of clearance . I explained that process to see if your motor may be sitting too low or too high at the front and causing your midbearing to grind.
I am just trying to help.

John,l can say if anyone can help you,it is chad.Any thing that he has suggested to me to try on my build has worked!

I was really answering BK's response. The engine was aligned perfectly when installed but it's settled slightly out of alignment right now. I'm getting to that next but my patience is growing thinner and thinner the more I work on it.

l can feel the frustration in your posts.Let me say this in a positive way.Anytime that l rebuilt an old 550 from being totally stripped down,l had to run some "shake down" cruises to get everything correct.So,think about it,you started with a hull needing even more than what l went thru.You can't expect everything to be right on the fist few runs.l look at my stunt everyday questioning all that has been done so far.Yesterday l cut the tube for my trim cable off.lt moved alittle on me,so l'm takeing it back out and redoing it.Cause l ain't gonna have it get loose and end up leaking.l'm very anal retentive and l'm not an engineer.Just an old car detailer.So man,give it some time.lt will work out!

 

[Waternut]

Ok originally I lined everything up with the coupler damper removed and it was perfect. It settled out of alignment over those first couple rides so I'm trying again. I should've taken the gap difference originally but I didn't. Either way it was enough to see.

I worked on the alignment a little today with the coupler damper in place this time. I have smaller than stock couplers but the gaps range between 0.035" (lower right) and 0.043" (upper left) measured with feeler gauges. 0.008" (0.2mm) doesn't seem like enough to make a difference but I'm curious what others think. There is no visible step between the two couplers but they're smaller than stock so it's difficult to see as the steps would be smaller.

 

[BruceSki]

I worked on the alignment a little today with the coupler damper in place this time. .

you are wasting your time with the rubber in. You need to align it with the rubber dampener out.the rubber will move it where the teeth line up in the rubber from one coupler to the other.

 

[Big Kahuna]

Ok originally I lined everything up with the coupler damper removed and it was perfect. It settled out of alignment over those first couple rides so I'm trying again. I should've taken the gap difference originally but I didn't. Either way it was enough to see.

I worked on the alignment a little today with the coupler damper in place this time. I have smaller than stock couplers but the gaps range between 0.035" (lower right) and 0.043" (upper left) measured with feeler gauges. 0.008" (0.2mm) doesn't seem like enough to make a difference but I'm curious what others think. There is no visible step between the two couplers but they're smaller than stock so it's difficult to see as the steps would be smaller.

I typically have about 1/8" - 1/4" gap (front coupler to rear coupler). You have to allow for some movement of the motor otherwise they face of the couplers will rub together. With those numbers it looks like you have them jammed up together.

 

[Waternut]

you are wasting your time with the rubber in. You need to align it with the rubber dampener out.the rubber will move it where the teeth line up in the rubber from one coupler to the other.

Well in a perfect world, you could line it up without the coupler and when you put it back in, it would fall in the same place. However, that has never been the case for me. The engine always goes back in a little different.

I typically have about 1/8" - 1/4" gap (front coupler to rear coupler). You have to allow for some movement of the motor otherwise they face of the couplers will rub together. With those numbers it looks like you have them jammed up together.

Maybe that's been my problem all along. When the engine vibrates real bad, the couplers might be banging against each other.

 

[BruceSki]

Well in a perfect world, you could line it up without the coupler and when you put it back in, it would fall in the same place. However, that has never been the case for me. The engine always goes back in a little different.

make marks on your motor mounts with a permanent marker as to where the outside of the bedplates should line up and when you slide the motor forwards you have a mark to set it back to when you put the dampener back in.

 

[steve-uk]

you are wasting your time with the rubber in. You need to align it with the rubber dampener out.the rubber will move it where the teeth line up in the rubber from one coupler to the other.

x2, you can see whats happening without the rubber damper, the damper will give you a false idea of where you are

get it aligned (height) without the rubber damper.

once you have this you pull the motor, put the damper in, add you shims (if you needed any) then you can play with rotational alignment on the bolt holes

 

[Waternut]

x2, you can see whats happening without the rubber damper, the damper will give you a false idea of where you are

get it aligned (height) without the rubber damper.

once you have this you pull the motor, put the damper in, add you shims (if you needed any) then you can play with rotational alignment on the bolt holes

That was done initially. The couplers were absolutely perfect to within 0.001" before putting the coupler damper in place. When I dropped the engine in place, everything was out of whack and the lateral alignment is what got thrown out of position. I tried torqueing the bolts down in a way that would keep everything lined up but obviously that didn't last.

 

[steve-uk]

Ok originally I lined everything up with the coupler damper removed and it was perfect. It settled out of alignment over those first couple rides so I'm trying again. I should've taken the gap difference originally but I didn't. Either way it was enough to see.

I worked on the alignment a little today with the coupler damper in place this time. I have smaller than stock couplers but the gaps range between 0.035" (lower right) and 0.043" (upper left) measured with feeler gauges. 0.008" (0.2mm) doesn't seem like enough to make a difference but I'm curious what others think. There is no visible step between the two couplers but they're smaller than stock so it's difficult to see as the steps would be smaller.

I typically have about 1/8" - 1/4" gap (front coupler to rear coupler). You have to allow for some movement of the motor otherwise they face of the couplers will rub together. With those numbers it looks like you have them jammed up together.

just read back through and saw you had aligned without the damper.. my bad...

i think BK could be onto something here, your clearance does seem pretty tight there, the damper is forgiving

 

[Big Kahuna]

just to be clear, I am not talking about up and down clearance, left or right. I am talking about the space left from sliding the motor forward or back. All the way back the fingers touch each other. Pull the motor forward and you leave a gap. Approx 1/8-1/4" You still want to align the motor left right / up down.

 

[Waternut]

just to be clear, I am not talking about up and down clearance, left or right. I am talking about the space left from sliding the motor forward or back. All the way back the fingers touch each other. Pull the motor forward and you leave a gap. Approx 1/8-1/4" You still want to align the motor left right / up down.

No I understand. This information was very helpful. I was thinking the fore/aft distance between the couplers was on the order of spark plug gaps and based on your information, it seems like it's supposed to be 5-10 times more than what I had. I can certainly see this causing some major vibrations if the couplers were hitting each other.

 

[Waternut]

just read back through and saw you had aligned without the damper.. my bad...

It's ok, thanks for your thoughts. I've already fixed a lot of things based on what some people believe to be the issue. I'm not trying to be a jerk but I've found if I ignore someones recommendations, it makes it look like I'm not interested in doing that.

 

[BruceSki]

I am talking about the space left from sliding the motor forward or back. All the way back the fingers touch each other. Pull the motor forward and you leave a gap.

ahhhh... didn't realize you guys were talking this direction either. carry on.ancake:

don't mind me.

 

[Waternut]

ahhhh... didn't realize you guys were talking this direction either. carry on.ancake:

don't mind me.

No problem...thanks for the insight.

 

[SUPERJET-113]

Ya, OEM specs on a Superjet for that are 2-4mm or .079-.157" in.
Gotta have a nice little gap for movement/flexing of the motor mounts.