Pump intake skirts/boat polishing

[cyclops]

How do these look? I had some left over diamond plate after installing some under my kicker so I fabbed up some skirts. I just eyeballed off Bob D's picture. But I think they should work. I haven't had a chance to test it on the water yet. If anyone is interested in making some skirts for their pump I have a template drawn up that I can email ya.

 


Bob D wrote: (gamefishing.com)
Intake skirts are simple pieces of aluminum cut and bent to extend the sides of the intake opening and force more water through. They use 2 bolts that take the place of the intake grate fins, pins. (if that makes sence). If your jet cavitates in tight fast turns or on choppy water these 50 dollar parts will eliminate cavitation. The added edges also make the jet turn better at low speed acting as rudders per say. and if you have a flat bottom like mine they tend to cavitate because the V is not there to move the air bubbles away from the center. I installed a set on my 16 foot sled and could turn twice as tight as before. If your boat dosent cavitate when you crank it around hard then you probably dont need them other than they will help low speed turning. I noticed the difference big time on the little boat.


There made by Specialty MFG. Same as the pumps. There 50 dollars if you order.

Auburn Sports has 9 sets. But there like 58 bucks. Allot of bang in performance for the buck.

Heres a pic of them installed on the bottom of the pump. They are no lower than the back of your shoe.

[Drifterat]

Looks good Cyclops.

You have a shiny boat. What is it?

[Fish]

My guess the first one is a Wooldridge

[cyclops]

It's a Duckworth Kenai 16' I just finished polishing it, and fitting it with some new goodies.

[Fish]

Sweet show the rest

[Hamige]

Do I understand Bob D's post that you remove the intake grate and fins from the pump to install the intake skirts. I'm assuming that you replace the grate after you've install the intake skirt. I'm not sure that my 16' Almar would benefit from these. I'm having problems with porpoising though while running at higher speeds. Adding trim veins would probably remedy that.

[cyclops]

After being laid up for three months I was jonesin for some fishin and figured after they closed the flood gates on the dam some fresh fish would be showin on the Cow. We pounded it hard till 1:30 and didn't touch a single fish!   Water was at 8150 cfm this am, colored up, and 42 degrees. Only one other boat at the ramp this am but we thought we would give it a shot anyways. Talked to a guy at the launch as we were leaving who had fished the creek, and he reported hooking 12, landing 8!!! He showed us two nice chromers he kept. I guess the fish shot right up with the high water. Check your regs folks.
  The skirts didn't do anything for me, they may help turn a little sharper. I just drilled, and tapped some 14-20 holes, and used SS screws to mount mine. Hamige, it sounds like you need to trim your motor down some.
Here's pics of the boat, and one showing how it looked before.



God, check my buddy takin a leak in the first pic!!! What a bone head the rest room is behind him 20'

[Drifterat]

God, check my buddy takin a leak in the first pic!!! What a bone head the rest room is behind him 20'

That's too funny. We don't call it the Ghetto for nothing...

Nice polish job, do you do driftboats? 

[Fish]

She's a beauty Cyclops, thanks for the report and the pic's.

I think your buddy was just expressing how he felt, Just pepe on it

[FishinSinsation]

ok, so why would you take a picture of your buddy taking a leak  

[cyclops]

I thought I would share how I polished the boat.
A neighbor of mine at our old house drove dump truck for an asphalt company, and he was always out polishing his rig so I went down to see what he was using. He used a airway buffing wheel on an electric polisher/sander with Flitz, and let me tell you with double aluminum dumps, and the wheels, fuel tanks, ect. all polished up you definitely needed good sunglasses as he drove by. Anyway he told me he got the airway buffs at Truckers Supply in Federal Way so I headed out and bought a Craftsman 6" sander/ploisher model #315.115031 and went up to Truckers Supply and bought an assortment of 8" buffing wheels, and jewlers rouge. I like the dry bricks as it makes less mess, and is easy to use. I ended up using the orange wheel with 86/82 thread count with a 220 grit brown tripoli brick to cut the oxidation, and scratches. Then I used the white 68/72 thread count wheel with the 800 grit white brick to polish. I polished horizotally, then vertically in 1' sections going over it twice in an effort to reduce tiger striping. The first time I did it I then hand polished with a liquid grean polish and it looked like a mirror. This time I didn't and I can see some tiger striping but I plan to do it again this summer. I'll probably use an orbital with the green polish as a final step rather than hand polish this time. The first time I had the boat on blocks in the garage, and had a lot of time to mess with it. Talk to the folks at Truckers Supply, and they'll set ya up.

You can see the polisher with yellow wheel, and what's left of the 2" x 12" brick of tripoli in the last pic.