I'm bored, what to do.  

I'm about ready to spend some $ on the old girl again.   The last round of lay offs are over and I'm still
afloat.   Really, you can't run a 5 block long plant on less than 7 electricians can you?  
Four on shift and three to do all the job changes etc on daylight... I can't see it with less than 12 myself.  I would have no doubt I'm safe except the know nothing college boys are in charge now      Sorry, I mean
they have NO experiance running a plant, they just have a peice of paper that says they have a brain.   

Ok, now lets talk,  NOS.   ZEX 100 shot on my 460 and put on the AA impeller with a loader scoop.
What and where would I find what's called the 10 and 2?  Tom I need you here    

 Would you recommend this type scoop for the Berkeley 12JE?  If not what?  Remember I'm running 62 MPH and am looking for 65MPH.   Maybe 70 later.....  naw, it's to big for that isn't it??  23'

I'm running 5100 rpms now with the A impeller,  with the AA the rpms would drop to around_____??  With the 100 shot of NOS that would push RPM's back up to ____  (approximately)  For ____seconds?

And this would  ____ to the top end?  

Is anyone using the ZEX system?  

I'm thinking with the long bolt logs the AA would push less exhaust by lowering the RPM's a bit too.  It should keep them in their happy zone a little better.  Yes, no.... insert opinion here _____

So

1  RPM drop expected going from an A to AA  
2  RPM increase expected with a 100 shot of NOS
3  How many seconds do you run the happy juice
4  what would you guys expect this plan to do to the top end?  Good or bad
5 Opinions, if you think I'm nuts be kind  

DO NOT SHORT A WIRE AT THE BATTERY UNLESS YOU WANT TO BE BLIND OR BADLY BURNED.

If you are going to play the short game hook two of your heaviest wires you can find to the battery, (jumpers will work).  Make a loop away from the battery prefferably over the side of the boat and away from any fuel fumes.   

Short the two wires out there in space while wearing a nice pair of insulated rubber gloves.  It's possible the wires will weld together and the wires will become SUPER HOT.  Have a plan for a quick release of the wires by pulling or what ever.   Plan on the breaker NOT tripping for safety's sake.

You're playing a fools game when you cause a dead short.

DC current is very unforgiving, be careful

You may have an idiot light sender.   They are either ON or OFF.
The gauge needs a variable sender.

I don't know how you could test the sender without a pressure you could vary.

You could ohm the sender but it would happen so fast I don't think you would have time
to tell if it were variable or not.

What brand gauge are we talking and can you see any markings on the sender?  I'm guessing not.

It's reasons like this I now have a mechanical AND electric oil pressure gauge for back up.

Good luck.

The other option is use all black wire and put a ring of the correct color electrical tape at the termination point.

The tape is cheaper than 5 spools of wire.

When I contacted Armondo about a pan he told me he feels the oil is following the crank and not falling back into the pan.  

The milodon pan sucks with oil control out the rear, piss poor to no baffeling and windage control.  Add  to that no wipers and it = trouble.

Just from my experiance there is no way no how I would ever put a milodon marine pan on a 460.

The chevy versions may be fine, I'm only talking about 460's.

The pick up was milodon to match the pan.  The HV pump was new, the second pump I put on was new.  The gaskets were new.   The gap was verified pan to pickup.

No doubt about it, the pan design just flat didn't work on my engine and many more on this site.

Hey Ray,,,  I don't want to cause you any concern on the Milodon pan but part of the issue was everyone saying it could't be the pan.  (not on this board)

 I took the pan off.  Put on a new pump, new gaskets, verified pick up distance from the bottom, pressure tested the pickup (air) and took it back to the lake. 

Same problem, 4400 rpms and oil pressure dropped to 20 psi from 75 I don't know if it would have gone to zero or not.  I didn't give it a chance.

The second contact person I talked to at Milodon said they have problems but didn't know why.  Some 460's have the issue and some don't.  They bought the pan and pick up back.

 The first guy I talked to at Milodon was a real dick.  He said It was the oil pump pressure relief valve.  It was the HV oil pump sucking the pan dry. It was the clouds over the moon.  Everything but the pan.

I hope you're lucky.   I also hope you back out of the gas quick enough to keep from doing damage if it does drop the pressure.

I didn't think I was alone in thinking that way.   I had a touch over $5000 in the engine I built last year and that was doing all the work in house but the machine work.   

It doesn't take long to add up and scare the life out of someone does it?

Maybe we should have classifications:

1.  Get there and back   

2.  Have some fun along the way   

3.  You ain't gonna beat me sucka   

This could lead to a whole new way of defining a "Marine engine"   or not   

Great post GT.  Well stated.

We used stock 460 short blocks + (marine cam) for years in our boats till we stepped up performance around 1990.  We would pick up a used short block for $50 or so, cook, it hone, it ring,   and bearing it and run it for about 5 years.   There were 3 of us running 460's back then.

Our lake is pretty calm and staying in the water was not much of an issue. 
I would consider losing suction like missing a gear.  Not certain death but not good for sure.

I just think we need to identify balls to the walls versus good cruiser engine parts.
Grade A balls to the walls being 4 bolt main block, forged crank,  H beam rods and forged pistons....

Cruiser grade  cast crank, hyper or cast pistons, stock rods with ARP bolts.

This is just my 2 cents.   The cost differance would be night and day and may help save a marriage 

Give a new jet boater the parts list for the balls to the walls and he'll be selling it not fixing it.

What do you think?

Do you have more desire to save money (fuel) or do you want to go a bit faster?

You'll answer your own question.

I'm running an 850 on my 460

If that's really the price for a kit find another place to buy one.  He's trying to start
his own stimulous package!

I'm just wondering what you're building?   Do you want 500 HP at 5500 RPM's or are you looking at 7000RPM's.

You need to know where you want the torque and HP to be (RPM wise) before you start buying parts.  RPM's play a hugh differance in the parts bin.

Do you want to run regular fuel or racing fuel, premium etc?   Don't build a 10:5 cr engine for 7000 rpms and try to run regular........

The Ford is a fine engine, the weak spots I've seen is the pistons (stock).  In the last 36 years I lost one engine to a piston top, and one to a cam, the crane cam came out in 3 pieces.  The other engine was a 70 429 that broke a rod.

Plan your build,  RPM's  then HP  it won't do you a bit of good to build a 10500 rpm 500 HP build for an "A" impeller jet.  (just an example)

Good luck!   

I'm using these in the 460 version.  They are an excellent quality head.