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Just got a 460 jet boat, have questions

7K views 12 replies 3 participants last post by  Jackal 
#1 · (Edited)
redacted due to insurance issues
 
#2 ·
Hello, I am now the proud owner of an original 63.5 390FE and now this monster of a 460. Supposedly 25 hours on it, so I figured at least 50. ;) Older seller, so hopefully it hasn't been flogged.

It is mild built, .030" over w/ D0VE heads, no idea if they have been worked or not, full MSD ignition, Rewarder Twisty OT headers with huge primaries, 800 cfm Holley Marine, and now for the confusing part...a Torker I intake! My RPM Air Gap and 1" spacer should be here today / tomorrow. I debated between this, a Torker II, and a Victor, and I feel like I made the best educated guess I could prior to gaining access to the forum. It will be a lake cruiser, not a max effort river racer.

I have no idea what cam or valvetrain yet, but it is definitely more aggressive than the stock 390 cam, yet still pretty mild I'd say. I twisted some NGK nickel WR5's @ .044". My FRPP tall valvecovers should be here soon as well, so I will get a look at things hopefully this weekend.

I have only run it off of a hose for about 10 min. in total, so the temp gauge hasn't budged, but PO ran it at 140-160 deg. It has a Canton 10 qt. pan full of VR-1 20w50. The oil pressure gauge is 80 psi and it stays pegged out, at least while cold. Hope it comes down as temps come up.

Idle speed is high, 1,200 or better, so I plan to drop it to 600-800 unless this is a bad idea in this application. I will stick with the Motorcraft FL-1A filter, but I haven't yet pulled the trigger on fresh VR-1 as I wasn't sure if I should stick with 20w50 or not. Does VR-1 have enough zinc in it as-is for this application, or should I add a bottle of ZDDP as well?

The plugs I pulled weren't that old, but they are completely sooted up. I'm sure either due to low operating temp, wrong plug temp range, or the damn Torker I with issue compounding 1" spacer. I'm hoping I can dial-in the Air Gap w/o having to get too much into re-jetting. I still have to learn the Holley carb though. I just learned the Edy carbs last year.

The D0VE heads are just pre-emission heads that have small chambers for a slight compression bump correct? Approximately 9.2:1 or so depending on the slugs and decking? The MSD has a 6,000 RPM chip in it, but I hear that these jet boats usually won't allow the motor to spin up to redline in the water, so I have no idea what my MAX or even average RPM will be. Supposed top speed is around 74-76 MPH, though that seems ambitious considering the 350'ish HP I'm guessing. Though this is a Youngblood TX-19 hull with a Berkeley 12JR pump. The thing is 3' long! I really lucked out with this pump, I was clueless at time of purchase.

BTW, these intakes are huge! Can damn near fit a beer can through the gaskets.
I hope your 1" spacer is a 4 hole or Jomar "Powercone"; with that combination an OPEN spacer will lose everywhere.

140 is the normal temperature of a MARINE thermostat.

Some VR-1 has enough zinc-phosphorous, (the not for highway use stuff), however, a 15W-40 oil will be better suited to the engine environment; even a 10W 40.
 
#3 ·
Thanks for the reply / advice!

Scotty (Mad Porter) suggested a Torker II with a Jomar spacer, but everything I have read about the Air Gap intake suggested that a 1-2" open spacer would compliment things above 4,000 RPM without taking a hit on the bottom side. Many stated that the 4-hole spacers with Air Gap killed things everywhere, at least on big blocks. Please confirm.
 
#4 ·
With the jet pump out of the water the 1200 rpm idle speed is probably higher than if the boat were in the lake and slightly loading the pump. Leave your idle speed where it is and adjust it in the water if necessary. 900-1000 rpm is fine in a jet boat and good for a flat tappet cam.

If the oil pressure gauge reads 80 psi and is working correctly, then you might consider a lighter weight oil. Again, run the boat in the water first and watch oil pressure once the oil is at operating temp.

With that hull, set back pump, diverter, and ride plate, your boat could probably go faster than 76 mph, and with the right power plant and setup could reach the 90's. TX19s are relatively short air entrapment boats so creep up to those speeds slowly and simultaneously learn how to set the boat back down into the water gradually and carefully once aired out.
 
#6 ·
These FRPP tall valve covers are NICE, and relatively inexpensive, but rather than using paint on the recessed logos it looks like they used vinyl that doesn't want to adhere. One of the letters was missing altogether when I opened the box.

They came with breather / PCV baffles, but I'm not so sure I want those tiny screws in there with my valvetrain. Thoughts?
 
#7 · (Edited)
Think I screwed up and the boat is 3 hours away to confirm. Looks like I have a square bore carb (pic attached / LIST-4780-2) and this looks like a spread bore flange. It's listed as a square bore intake on Summit's site. Their tech support says it will take either carb style, but I can't imagine that's right without some sort of adapter. Are the cheapo plates really a good solution or do I just need a better match up?

ETA: The Edelbrock 2732 carb adapter plate should work, but I don't like the idea. Luckily it's in stock at O'Reilly so I'll give it a shot until ya'll convince me otherwise. ;)
 

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#8 · (Edited)
That carb flange on the manifold will accept both ...

as far as the carb spacer goes you should use whatever spacer you have read about because, the conclusions from actually testing several different design carb spacers on that exact manifold must not be worth a damn because we used only decent TFS cylinder heads during testing.
Actually, the 1 inch thick "Equalizer" made from a "Powercone" worked the best everywhere in those good for nothing tests which probably don't mean anything so, by all means use whatever you have been told or read elsewhere.

EDIT: that manifold's carb flange has both bolt patterns, also.
 
#10 ·
Don't take it personally; it is not just you.
I do not feel the need to justify to anyone the means of how I acquired whatever information.
Those conclusions are not gonna change so, any discussion about it by me is useless; just do whatever makes you feel contented.

The information given was free and you can certainly take it or leave it if you wish.
 
#13 · (Edited)
Yup.


Anyway, I let the temps come all the way up to 170 and oil pressure never budged from buried past 80 psi. Time to lower viscosity I guess. I was thinking about trying RP HPS 10w40 rather than VR-1 10w30. Thoughts? It runs like a raped ape with that Air Gap though, holy crap. Sure we were just getting use to the boat but in about 18 miles, for the most part we cruised around 3,400-3,600 RPM. The GPS speedo was flaking out so I'll have to look into fixing / replacing it, but it claims we hit 69 MPH w/o trying. I spun it up to about 5,200 RPM once and it hit it quickly and with ease. Pretty stoked, she's a beast and everyone loved it. The first thing I did was tighten the go pedal down, and it still popped out on me at the furthest point from home, so it was interesting trying to 2-foot it all the way back, but quite worth it.

ETA: Going to try some RP HPS 10w40.
 
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