TBPNews #32 - December 28, 2002
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>>>>>> Tunnel Boat Performance News >>>>>>>>>>>>>>
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In this issue: 
1) Happy New Year!
2) Laith Pharaon wins tragic final round of World F1 Championship
3) MerCruiser Engine Tests Online! 
4) Upcoming Boat Shows!
5) NEW - AeroMarine High Performance Powerboating Apparel
6) 'Boating Life' magazine issue is its biggest ever
7) The Sequel is out! - 'The Vintage Culture of Outboard Racing' - save 30%
8) FEATURE ARTICLE: Winterizing Your Engine: Inboards
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1)Happy New Year!

As another year of perforamance boating closes out and a new one greets us with enthusiasm, we'd like to wish all of our TBPNews subscribers, and all the visitors to the AeroMarine Research website a Happy New Year.  We are proud to have published twenty-one newsletters during 2002, to over 2100 TBPNews subscribers!  Please keep your suggestions coming in, and we will do our best to address the issues and technical subjects that our readership is most interested in. Thankyou again for your support.  Safe on the Water!
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2) Laith Pharaon wins tragic final round of World F1 Championship

Laith Pharaon won the final round of the World F1 Championship, in a race where a 2 boat accident took the life of (Italian) rookie Vincenzo Polli.  In ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates, on December 20/02, (Saudi Arabian) Laith Pharaon won his first event of the year and his 2nd career, in a race prematurely stopped after a 2 boat accident that took the life of Polli at the Grand Prix of Abu Dhabi, the final round of the U.I.M. F1 World power boating Championship.  

At the start of the scheduled 60 lap event pole sitter (Italian) Guido Cappellini held the lead for the first 12 laps. Pharaon moved from 3rd to 2nd position, outrunning (French) driver Philippe Dessertenne at the first pin with (Italian) Francesco Cantando charging from 5th.  On lap 12, the day turned dark when (Swedish) driver Jari Honkala launched off a wave going into the 2nd corner and flew airborne for 100 feet before hitting Polli broadside in the safety capsule, fatally injuring the driver. Honkala was cared for by the Rescue Team as the boat remained upside down before being hoisted out of the water and helping the Swede to safety.

As the rescue personnel worked on both victims, the leader of the race Cappellini took himself out of the race feeling that the setting sun was becoming a problem for the visibility. The lead went to Pharaon on the 17th lap and the field moved up a spot as they continued for another 5 laps.  The race was finally red flagged by U.I.M. officials since both ambulances were at the hospital and the drivers were continuing to complain about the visibility. The event was stopped on the 22 lap and everyone in the top 10 was awarded half points.
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3) MerCruiser Engine Tests Online! 

The MerCruiser MX 6.2 MPI actually weighs less than the 7.4L it replaces - yet delivers significantly greater horsepower. It's the perfect choice for midsize runabouts, performance boats, fishing boats, and cruisers. 	

Mercury MerCruiser has teamed up with BoatTEST.com to bring you instructional video tours on 13 engine packages - everything from the 3.0L to the 8.1S Horizon--sterndrives and inboards--and they are now available online! These new streaming videos give you tips and advice on the maintenance of your MerCruiser engine while demonstrating many of the procedures detailed in the owner's manual. They include helpful hints on everything from cooling systems to winterizing to corrosion prevention, and because they're engine specific, show you where the key touch points and components are on each individual engine! 

Check out at: <http://www.boattest.com/engine-test-main.asp> 
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4) Upcoming Boat Shows!

Check out all the upcoming shows at:
http://www.boatshows.com/

Or upcoming Races at: 
https://www.h2operformance.com/events/default.asp?min=1&max=16&type=r

Or upcoming Poker Runs at: 
https://www.h2operformance.com/events/default.asp?min=1&max=16&type=p

Or upcoming Powerboating TV specials at:
https://www.h2operformance.com/events/default.asp?min=1&max=16&type=tv
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5) NEW - AeroMarine High Performance Powerboating Apparel

Now available at great prices...High Performance Powerboating Apparel.  Wear and display your passion for high performance powerboating everywhere.  Pullovers, vests, sweatshirts, tee-shirts, baby doll shirts, race travel bags, coffee mugs, coasters, wall clocks, mousepads.  All with high performance powerboating graphics.  Check them out at: 

http://www.cafeshops.com/cp/store.aspx?s=AeroMarine
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6) 'Boating Life' issue is its biggest ever!

Boating Life magazine of Winter Park, Fla., says its 2003 Boat Buyers Guide, due out Monday, is its biggest issue ever.  The magazine evaluated a total of 101 boats during a seven-month testing process. The result is the 188-page special issue that carries a January cover date.  The magazine said each full-page boat report includes performance charts, lists of amenities, specifications, and the opinions of the five Boating Life testers.  Boating Life is published nine times a year by World Publications.

We have obtained great deals on Powerboat magazine subscriptions.  This month we have a great deal on the popular 'Boating Life' magazine.  Boating Magazine is dedicated to sportsmen, distributors & manufacturers in the powerboat industry. Regular articles on boat buying and financing, powerboat accessories, seamanship, maintenance, sport fishing, racing, and sport cruising. You can receive a 69% discount for a full-year subscription Regular Price: $31.92; OUR PRICE: Only $9.99 (69% Savings!)

Get yours now at: http://www.aeromarineresearch.com/boating%20magazines%20discounts.html
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7) High Performance POWERBOAT Books - 'The Vintage Culture of Outboard Racing'

We have obtained great deals on Powerboating design and history books.  http://www.aeromarineresearch.com/boating%20magazines%20discounts.html

'The Vintage Culture of Outboard Racing' - This is the much anticipated sequel to Peter Hunn's The Golden Age of the Racing Outboard. Unique in concept, Vintage Culture is the first book to capture the colorful story of the people, events, and organizations that paved the way for modern outboard boat racing in America. The book offers a compelling, personal look at the famous and little known men and women who participated in an immensely colorful and rewarding sport. Author Hunn ranges from those in the Prop Master's Hall of Fame to the amateurs who formed the sport's backbone. The primary time period is from the late 1940s to the late '60s. This exciting new book is profusely illustrated with dozens of historical b/w images. Vintage Culture is a book for those who lived the postwar story of American outboard boat racing and for those nostalgic enthusiasts and collectors who wish they there.  Paperback: 240 pages ; Dimensions (in inches): 0.55 x 9.96 x 7.12 ; List Price: $34.95 Price: $24.47 (You save 30%).

http://www.aeromarineresearch.com/boating%20books%20discounts.html
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8)Winterizing Your Engine - Inboards

When the temperature falls below freezing, if there is water inside your engine or gearcase, the result can be a cracked block or housing and a repair bill that runs into the thousands. It is easy enough to prevent this unhappy circumstance by putting your boat's engine to bed properly at the end of the boating season. 

Rust - Allowing corrosion to flourish during the off-season is less dramatic but equally destructive. Corrosion can establish a foothold on idle components, so liberal use of corrosion inhibitors--both internal and external--is a second guiding principle for winterizing. 

Checklist - I am big on checklists, so I suggest you prepare one.  As with laying-up your boat for the season, it is essential not to miss a step. If your owner's manual includes winterizing instructions, that is the procedure you should follow. In the absence of manufacturer's instructions, here are two generic checklists for engine winterizing, one for outboards and one for inboards. Some steps on these lists may not apply to your particular engine. 

The only major items you will need, other than your engine's normal lubricants are an aerosol can of fogging oil, a fuel stabilizer (gasoline engines) or a fuel biocide (diesel engines), and, for inboards, a gallon or two of non-toxic propylene glycol antifreeze. You can find the tips for outboards in TBPNews #31.  This week...

...for Inboards 

- Change coolant--fresh-water cooled engines only; Coolant loses its anticorrosion properties over time. Replacing it every year with a fresh 50-50 mix protects the inside of your engine. 
- Change oil in engine and transmission; First take the boat out for a ride to get the oil hot and contaminants in suspension. (This also distributes the fresh coolant throughout the engine.) Replace the oil filter. 
- Top-off fuel tanks and add biocide--diesel engines only; Keeping the tank full inhibits condensation, a serious problem for diesel engines. Treat the fresh fuel with a biocide to retard bacteria growth. A stabilizer is unnecessary unless you expect to run the engine during the winter since the paraffin that precipitates out will be reabsorbed by the fuel when warm weather returns. 
- Run engine out of fuel--gasoline engines only;  Shut off the fuel supply and let the engine run until it stops. 
- Fog the intake--gasoline engines only; While the engine is running, remove the flame arrestor and spray fogging oil into the air intake. Give it an extra heavy shot just as the engine starves and dies. 
- Drain fuel tank and supply lines--gasoline engines only; Adding stabilizer is an alternative but less effective way of avoiding engine problems in the spring resulting from stale gasoline. 
- Flush raw-water circuit;  If you have a fresh-water flush connector, use it. Otherwise, close the intake seacock and disconnect the hose on the outlet side of the raw-water pump. Disconnect the cooling-water discharge hose from the exhaust manifold or riser. Run fresh water into the discharge hose to back-flush raw-water passages and rinse out salt deposits. You can extend the disconnected pump hose outside the boat or let the bilge pump handle the flush discharge. 
- Protect raw-water passages--raw-water cooled diesel engines only.  The raw water circuit must be drained to prevent freezing, but air exposure promotes corrosion. Reconnect the water-pump outlet hose. Insert a funnel into the disconnected discharge hose and pour a 50-50 mix of propylene glycol antifreeze into the funnel until the hose will not accept more. Allow the mixture to remain inside the block for several minutes, then open all raw-water drain plugs and drain the engine. This treatment leaves behind a layer of corrosion protection on the water-jacket, and it freeze-protects any water that might be harbored in low spots inside the engine.
This treatment is also applicable to protecting the heat exchanger on a fresh-water cooled engine. 
- Remove raw-water impeller;  Antifreeze swells some rubbers, so rinse the extracted impeller as a precaution. Some grease the impeller and reinstall it. My preference is to leave it out until spring so the vanes don't take a set. 
- Fog cylinders--gasoline engines only;  Remove the spark plugs and spray fogging oil into the holes. "Bump" the starter to spread the oil on the cylinder walls. Regap or replace plugs, as required, and reinstall. 
- Fog intake--diesel engines only;  Spray fogging oil into the intake manifold and turn the engine over slowly by hand to draw the oil into the cylinders and spread it. Do not use the starter, even with the stop control pulled out; the engine can start on the fogging oil. 
- Drain muffler canister;  The less moisture the engine is exposed to, the less corrosion will occur. 
- Degrease, derust, touch-up;  Maintain all painted surfaces to keep corrosion at bay. 
- Grease control cables; Extract control cables from their housings and coat them with grease. If you cannot remove them, tape an oil-filled bag tightly around the high end of the housing; the oil will work its way down the cable. Lubricate linkages and pivots. 
- Coat unpainted parts with an anticorrosion spray;  Seal all engine and tank openings
Keep moist air from getting inside your engine and tanks. Seal air inlets, crankcase and transmission breathers, exhaust outlets, and tank vents. Fabricate caps from plastic containers and tape them in place with plastic tape to create an airtight seal. 
- Tighten stuffing box; If the boat will be stored in the water, tighten the stuffing box to eliminate all dripping. Tag it to remind you to loosen it in the spring. 

...and for Stern Drives
A stern drive is, in principle, an inboard engine married to an outboard drive system. If your boat has a stern drive you will need to follow: 
- the inboard list for protecting the engine, but also...
- add to that several items from the outboard list for protecting the lower end. 
- An additional requirement is filling the drive shaft housing with the appropriate lubricant.
Remember that a stern drive needs to be in the full-down position for draining the water passages and for checking or adding gear lube. 
- Store it in the down position. 
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See you next time!

/Jimboat

