Who needs a dyno to tune with when you've got this!

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http://www.thetuningschool.com/airboat.wmv

It was pretty cool, things are definitley different when tuning an airboat!!

It maxed out at a stable 5200 RPM, and it had enough thrust that it pushed the F250 it was strapped down to (on a trailer) forward, as you can see in the video. It blew shop towels 300 feet across the street and into our neighbors place.

It was definitley a cool transplant and use of the LS1 engine and fun to tune!

Bob

[5_Liter_Eater]

Thats neat!

[Cantalope Kid]

That's crazy! You're going to be airborn in that thing...TONS of power!

Engine mod list?

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It's an LS1 with bolt-on mods, it will be a 383 soon though. The tuning was a bit different as the challenges were different than a car. The Tri-blade was made of carbon fiber and quite huge, had a lot of drag for the LS engine to deal with.

We had to work with the ECM to get the engine's idle speed low enough, to not push the boat fast while at idle (there is no "neutral") but not so low that the engine struggled to push the blades from a lack of torque.

Eventually we got the engine to idle at 675 RPM, and not struggle pushing those blades. The engine liked moderate timing and we gave it a bit richer AFR at WOT because they tend to run at WOT for a sustained period of time. The LS engine definitley handled it well though, the boat flies! It was a cool tune to do!

Bob

[Engine_HP]

OMG, Poor LS1 baby.

a transmition would have helped in many ways.

[Cantalope Kid]

This thread is useless without...water? Lol

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OMG, Poor LS1 baby.

a transmition would have helped in many ways.

I'm not totally familiar with how the power transfers, but the owner mentioned it had a gear reduction type of assembly, which reduced RPM from the engine to the blades. At max engine RPM of about 5000 RPM, the blade turns about 3000 RPM. Crazy stuff, they can do about 70-100MPH!

[Josh2562]

Hello bob. I bought hptuners to tune my airboat. I know this is a old post but do you remember what afr you set it up for at cruise and wot? Thanks for any help