2 years done

[craigdskilling]

WOW that's clean and shinny.

[Ghost]

So when I do the steering I'm thinking only single ram, can I add another ram later down the road if need be.

asur I too am running 6 pounds of boost I called my guy to find out.And we talked about doing heads down the road but to run it for now.

So I got a new go pro for Xmas from my wife and was wondering when I do my first outing with the boat I will be filming everthing, where should I mount this front looking back or back looking forward or have someone hold it.i bet there will be a cool rouster tale coming out the back.thanks guys for all the input feel the love

Suction cup mount, move it around and take lots of shots.

[yeller]

Yeller - pretty sure around 99'/2000' they went up 2" on the x-dim. It might have been around the same time they changed the stringer width for the 496 vs 502 motors, not sure.

I finally checked to see exactly how deep my BH sits. I leveled the bottom of the boat, then leveled the drive. The black line at the back of the front prop is the prop shaft centerline. As you can see, the prop shaft is about 1/2" above the transom bottom. That is the height Merc spec'd for the the BH. I was surprised to find out it is actually that high. The BH always looked like it was set up properly on my boat to work as a true surface piercing drive, but looks can be deceiving, so I always assumed I was below the transom bottom.
So now I know why the BH works so well on my boat, when others have not had the same results. I remember MOP did not like the BH on his 22', but his X would have been lower, so the results were not what I've experienced.

[yeller]

To clarify BH height, I should have mentioned the "level" in the pic is up against the bottom of the boat.

[Ed Donnelly]

Looks like the drive can go down another inch or so..Ed

[Just Say N20]

I thought that Younger determined that you want the bottom of the gear case level with the bottom so the gear case doesn't produce lift and force the bow down.

[yeller]

Looks like the drive can go down another inch or so..Ed

Not so Ed. I am actually still too low.

I thought that Younger determined that you want the bottom of the gear case level with the bottom so the gear case doesn't produce lift and force the bow down.

Yes, Younger is correct.

I was sure I read somewhere that a good starting point (for height) is to have the prop shaft 1/2" above the bottom of the transom...but of course now that I look for it, I can't find it. I believe I was thinking of a post I saved of DonTamm's (who use to be on this site). Don was told by Gary Meisenberg Sr. at Performance Marine that the bottom of the torpedo should be even to 1/2" above the transom bottom on his 18' Classic. For those that don't know, Gary was involved in the development for the BH (as well as the Bravo's).

From the Merc service bulletin, "The Blackhawk Drive Unit uses an “X” - Dimension that is 2-1/2 inches higher than the standard dimension used for the Bravo One Drive Unit (See “Transom Cutout” section in the Power Package Installation Manual for further information)." I don't have the "Transom Cutout", but based on what I could find, I believe the X dimension was 13 9/16".

My 2004 is at 14 1/2 which means I'm still 1 1/2 too low.

[yeller]

Greg I have every intention of putting on steering.... I still can get steering for it from cp, I have talked to Rick from cp that has all ready to go from Ziegler I was shocked that he could still get the wing plate.

Craig, as an FYI; here's where I had to grind the Bravo wingplate to fit the BH.
Wingplate.jpg

This is why I had to grind it.
Interference1.jpg

I just recently removed my drive and saw the wingplate was making minor contact with the top of the cover, so I've since done a bit more grinding on the wingplate.
Interference2.jpg