Stainless Steel Intake Results?

[Hydrotherapy]

i have cut some shims for my ss grate (blue 28 thou) and (green 12 thou)
had ever intention of testing the blue shim today in front and rear but as pics show the blue 28 thou make the sides of grate in the shoe hang too low and will cause drag BUT this 28 thou lines up the rear of shoe (by Tommy's taper) perfect which makes me think i should grind down the sides of the ss800 to allow use of the 28 thou shim......
today will be running the green shim 12 thou in front and rear as this allows near perfect fitment of sides of grate without grinding of the ss800 as Tommy's taper should help with water catch to the rear..
while i have been cutting and fitting shim the winds are picking up and it dont look good for testing BUT i'm down near 2mph on top from last year so it will give me a good indication to work with with shims NOW in front and rear rather than rear only..
any suggestions on cutting/grinding the ss800 would be great and even if you think i should to allow better fit from sides.....

pic 1 blue shim 28 thou front and rear
pic 2 fiment of blue shim at rear(perfect)
pic 3 fiment of blue but sides hanging lower than shoe
pic 4 green shim 12 thou
pic 5 blue shim 28 thou

[Hydrotherapy]

no speed gain from these shims,still looking for 2mph

might try 28 thou on the front and rear of grate but that means i gotta machine/grind down my ss800 grate ...and feel this is the last resort and would make my grate junk if it dont work

[SpeedJunky]

Ok, I rode some with the SS grate shimmed at .025 in the rear only to get baseline numbers again and then switched to the R&D 800 grate.
Unfortunately the boat chop today didn't give me fair testing conditions so cant say much.
From being under the boat for nearly 3 hours and slicing my finger open I came to the conclusion on my boat I need a .035 shim in the rear to make the grate match the position of the R&D grate.
Hopefully next week I will be able to do tons of testing. I have a whole week off so I better get some smooth water.

Hydro and shooter keep testing too, someday hopefully this riding season we shall figure this grate out. I wish I was one of the lucky ones who just bolted it on and had no speed reduction.

[shooter98xpl]

Well, I did like Tommy said and shimmed the front and back with .030 shims. Went out testing it this morning and the ski ran pretty good up to 75 mph. Then it bounced all over the place. I was on the buzzer, which I've only done that once before. So I am going to fill the ski up and go back out and do a test again. I'll do that wednesday probably.
SHOOTER

[jeff007]

Since a lot of people are having so much trouble getting these SS grates set up right ,i have pretty much decided im not even going to put mine on! yes i know its a safety issue,but i have never tried an 800 grate and i very rarely see glass or what i consider smooth water,,usually im in 1 to 2 feet chop and i really hate doing all of this grinding ,shimming and retapping my grate and shoe holes only to find this grate want stay hooked up in my water conditions.has anyone ridden there ski in 1-2 foot slop with this SS grate.
well crap!!! ive had a change of heart,, im going to install it tomarrow just to see if its somthing i can live with.
.

[jeff007]

I installed mine today and it seems to mount up flush with the hull, although it sets kinda sideways in the front,i cant figure out why but its flush and square with the pump shoe and sideways in the front.the other thing i noticed is if you measure the outside diameter of the front bolt holes in the SS grate they are the identical width as my 1200 grate and so when you try to bolt it up, the holes in the SS grate are not far enough apart to compensate for the larger bolts,i had to drill mine out the bolts would go straight in and not at an angle.other than that went pretty smooth.
PS i drilled my holes with a 17/64 bit then tapped with a M8X 1.25 i now think the bit was one size to big cause the bolts have a lil wiggle or play in them,,i used 1 size smaller on the rear holes and the bolts are much more snug.i still have a little grinding and matching to do.

[Hydrotherapy]

Now that over 50 ss grates have been shipped out please post your performance gains/ loss or other findings from switching to the SS grate. Keep in mind that this grate is NOT a exact copy as the alu. 800 grate (its a improved version). You may have to change your prop pitch just a little bit because it flows more water that has less cavation bubbles in it. Also the wing has a slight different edge on the front wing to improve water flow and hook up. The ride plate angle may need to be adjusted a few thousands of a inch up or down for best speed. Also the two center bars are thinner for better hook up on hole shots and give more water to the prop for less cavation on take off. I worked with Jerry along with others to try to get the best grate to you guys. If you have any problems please post them and I will try to help solve them best as I can. If it had not been for Jerry this grate would have never been produced. Thanks Jerry! Tommy Jordan

tommy i have only posted as requested ..not bashing the grate or the guys who put time into making it to keep us safe...

i have shimmed front, rear,and together with a selection of shims now and cant get my boat past 76.8mph...(months trying )

i have a rpm gain of 30rpm and assume its from the thinner bars

yesterday i ran the grate again with just a 28thou shim in rear and managed 77mph once but unable to again,i know my ski is being held back by this grate as it set up now so i switched to a box standard R&D800 and first run on a near perfect water day was 80.2mph which was repeated with a 80.1mph but a loss of rpm of 30 putting my 14/25 @ 7120 again assume the thicker bars on the R&D 800 caused this loss..

as i have been aiming for 80mph for quite some time now i was over the moon and retired to the ramp a little early,while there a forum member steved noticed my ss800 is twisted anti clock wise looking down it rear to front,this twist is a little more than i can work/grind out and i assume where my speed loss is and further more if the front mount is twisted i assume the support for the wing also is running out of true, also with the height difference from R&D to ss in the scoop,thus shimming required...

can anyone advise me on this matter

[shooter98xpl]

I did as Tommy told me, filled the ski up with some fresh petro and took it out for a quick spin. Full tank of gas it ran 74 mph. I have 30 ths shim in the front and 30 ths in the rear. The ski stayed hooked up with no porpoising what so ever. But I am down a lot of speed still. I know its hot weather as this is the first year I have noticed my ski being down on rpms compared to last year. My ski dropped 100 rpms, which probably equals 1 mph. So for now, I may just leave the grate the way it is and ride and wait till winter time, but as most know me, it ain't going to happen. As I will be back at the boat ramp tomorrow for shits and giggles, I'll try to do a quick back to back run with the ss grate then the 800 stock grate.
SHOOTER

[SpeedJunky]

77.9mph @ 7250 with the R&D 800 grate and then went back to the launch and put the SS grate on with a .032 shim in the rear only and ran a 76.5mph @ 7220.
No matter what I try the SS grate is always slower.
If it wasn't such a expensive item it would be at the bottom of the lake.

[Hydrotherapy]

77.9mph @ 7250 with the R&D 800 grate and then went back to the launch and put the SS grate on with a .032 shim in the rear only and ran a 76.5mph @ 7220.
No matter what I try the SS grate is always slower.
If it wasn't such a expensive item it would be at the bottom of the lake.

speed dont stess it man, your testing paid off and its the grate