Virage TX

[32DegH2O]

Started...Dedicated to Polaris Nut.

[K447]

Started...

Does that hull have flex cracking in the SMC ribs?

I have marked some suspicious places in the attached photos.

Bernie noted that he saw a lot of flex cracking in his Virage hulls, mostly in the areas near the engine mounts. When you press upwards from below, does the hull flex up and the 'cracks' widen?

I took the time on my own Virage hulls to Dremel grind the rough and sharp edges off the hard 'glue' used for the ride plate and intake grate inserts. Got tired of ripping my hands on those edges, and shredding my cleaning rags.

[TxVirageTx]

air

who added the extra air inlet ????i think a lot of bernies skis took a beating in the surf as well

[K447]

...I think a lot of Bernie's skis took a beating in the surf as well

They did have a rough life, but that also made them the early warning system for several issues.

The hull flex and rib cracking problem is something that some other Virage hulls have developed.

Since this hull is the basis for a high powered project ski, I thought it worthwhile to highlight them.

[32DegH2O]

who added the extra air inlet ????i think a lot of bernies skis took a beating in the surf as well

I added it ...fits right behind the steering cable inside without touching it but it's very close!

K447...some of your circles are very minor rib cracks, others are the marble grain in the material or it's the mesh material on the surface of the SMC. I was aware of this issue and I did check it out when I bought it. None of them open up as far as I can tell, nor do they have edges or show any signs of chipping off. There is a crack in the cross bracing plate but it's due to something heavy dropping on the top edge...but it appears to still have plenty of strength in it...I can't budge it at all. You can see the dent in the material...would be about the right spot of where an engine mounting plate end would hit if the engine slipped when taking out or putting in. The engine that was in the boat had been taken out and modified.

I can see that I'm going to have to watch out with the pictures I take cause you guys pick-up on to much stuff!

[32DegH2O]

Got some things done today...one of them was the pissers on the back. Decided on 4 instead of 7...just to many to find room for all of them...by the way, thanks to CrazyA and rlharrison for the spare pissers!! I cut the heads off 2 of them so I could decide where to put them and use them as a template. One will be used for each pipe and one for the stator water jacket. My plan is to switch the water rail hose and the bilge hose so that the water rail hose connects to the deck water outlet...so now I can see and feel all the water exiting the boat. I still need to check and see if there might be any problems with this...concerned it may not be to good for the mat or water coming in through the bilge hose now that it's connected to the hull water outlet located in the pump cavity...anybody have imput on this?

[32DegH2O]

Sorry forgot the pics...

[K447]

...water coming in through the bilge hose now that it's connected to the hull water outlet located in the pump cavity...anybody have input on this?

Make sure the bilge hose loops up high, and has a vacuum break hole at the apex.

That will ensure the water doesn't back siphon into the bilge through the pump.

[32DegH2O]

Make sure the bilge hose loops up high, and has a vacuum break hole at the apex.

That will ensure the water doesn't back siphon into the bilge through the pump.

Was thinking of putting a one-way in-line valve on the bilge hose. Do you think the mat will stand up to the exiting water from the engine?

Tomorrow is suppose to be a freak warm day here...lower 80's...average high is 60. So I'm going to take the opportunity to take care of some cosmetic things with some gel coat paste...like the old pisser holes located at the front.

[TxVirageTx]

bilge

you'll have to keep a high loop on the bilge line, otherwise water will flow backwards thru it.if you don't change the water jacket cover fittings and match the inlet size for water to the same as what the pipes get you'll have one pisser spraying harder or weaker than the others.guess you got the air inlet idea off mine??sweet!!!.dr bones told me that a aluminum pickup tube from out of another virage sender can be installed to make a stocker into a dual pickup,my pros this way and running 3 pumps on the 42's,but the virage is a single pickup on 2 pumps with 42's.i've been told the stock water seperator will only flow 19gph,the pro has 2 virage 1.also when i clearanced my pipes i went with 2 shorter insulators,one on the collection chamber for better straight alignment and on the pto chamber to gain more clearance from the motor mount and even tho the motor was out of alignment towards that side i like all the space i've got in there now

[32DegH2O]

All good stuff Doug thanks! I did think about the water jacket pisser and I believe it will shoot more water than the others...a lot less flow resistance than the pipes. So I will make sure there is an accessible spot in the water jacket line so that I can add a jet works to it and I'll just add shims inside till I get them even enough. As far as the fuel line stuff, I know a number of people have added pick-ups and fuel pumps and it was mentioned to Baxter. It shouldn't be a problem in my case cause the Keihins don't flow more than what the water separator can handle. I was told that at 7420rpms, they use 60.4 liters per hour. Conversion is 3.785 liters per gallon...so that comes to 15.96 gallons per hour...so if the separator does flow 19gph it should be ok...but I will try to find out for sure what the separator rate is...I hope you are right though.

[TxVirageTx]

pipes

the water flow rate for the pipes is determined by the brass at the manifold where the 6 lines split off.the pipes are restricted there only,everything else is opened up.the factory elbows on the water cover are even smaller than that which will lead to a weaker stream from that pisser,a very reliable source clued me in on the water seperator flow rate,he was trying to run 48's thru a single and burning stuff up

[32DegH2O]

My water jacket fittings and the tee coming off the main line do have a little bigger dia. than the fittings for the pipes so it should be close in the end...we'll just have to wait and see. The more I thought about it, the water sperator at 19gph sounds familar so if you trust it than I'll go with that...which is cool, makes things much easier. For the air inlet, I remember back several years ago back at Polaris.net, you and Chris were talking about air induction and getting more air in the hull and talking about where and how you would do it. Then another time, it was you and Brad I believe mentioned it real breifly here when the Polaris guys first came over here to the hulk...but I didn't recall any pictures. So with that and the fact that my SLX had one on both sides of the seat, I thought it would be a good thing to do...so thanks!

[TxVirageTx]

like this

pic like this???

[PolarisNut]

Looks good! I just left the oil fill cap off, and used that as an extra air inlet...Think I got that idea from CrazyA. FWIW, I never had the engine out of that ski. I wasn't the original owner, so it is possible that the previous owner did, even though he said it had never been touched. I did notice that the mold quality on the inside bottom of the hull was less than perfect...I got a few nasty slivers from working in there. The hulls never been pounded in rough seas, so I'd hope there aren't any stress cracks. I put the pissers up front after seeing Dougs ski. I wanted to be able to keep an eye on them without having to look back at 70mph. Keep us updated on the progress.