Yeah, I see a lot of things that can be improved on.

- take the transom mount pickup off and throw it away. Huge drag right there. The single pickup from the rudder is sufficient for all your cooling...go to engine then to pipe then out the boat.

- The prop is stock and has not been sharpened or balanced from what I can see...huge performance loss there too. Most of the gains you will see in rc boats come from well done props. Worth investing a few bucks if you can't do it yourself or aren't comfortable doing it. At least buy one that's done by a good prop guy so you can see the difference and what needs to be done to a prop.

- The strut is too low. I would start at least 1/4" above the sponsons and work from there.

- Hard to really confirm, but it looks like there might be angle in the strut, pushing transom up and nose of boat down. Not good. Set strut flat with setup table.

- Wrap to center headers are known for not tuning to the best of the Zens' potential... this could be swapped for a 100 or 105deg header and some gains will be had there also.

- the pipe coupler (part of tuned pipe that slides over header) should be water cooled. There should be orings in there and water running through it...unless it's been welded on, or is using something like Teflon orings (which I doubt) it will burn out the orings and leak exhaust like crazy... probably happening already...

the water cooled pipe....well your right it leaks like heck, i actually wrap it with a rag to prevent all the oil spitting out, its not welded on. so your saying there should be 2 nipples/inlet/outlet on the pipe where it meets the header?

I'll eliminate the extra transom water pickup. raise the strut. and yes the blade is stock as heck, never balanced /sharpened a blade.

If i can get this to go about 50 i'll be very happy with it, but now its a slug.
I'll update when i get those done.
I appreciate the feedback.

thanks alot. i'll keep you guys posted.

Yes there should be two water nipples on the pipe, and two Orings inside to seal up against the header. The water circulates between the header and the two Orings keeping that area cool.

You will have to sharpen and balance that prop, otherwise you will never get the performance you want, it will also propwalk a LOT as it gets faster, and it will probably destroy the strut bushings in little time.

I'm sure if you talk to a prop guy and tell them the boat/engine setup they can get you a good prop in your hands fast enough.

where can i get a prop without spending a fortune?
would anybody trade a prop, i have 270, 275, 280 prather. new in packages.

thanks

Your rudder looks like it is not mounted right too - needs to come up so 2 holes line up right now bottom hole (where mounts to bracket) the slot is hanging below rudder mount. the slot is for bottom bolt so rudder kicks back if hits something

Marc is rirht about o rings - looks like ur pipe has holes for nipples

and most definitely look at a good prop

Rsndy

Where do u live?

I live in illinois 1 hr west of chicago

Talk with Chris at Dashboata Props - close to you I believe and great guy -- always willing to help new guys

www.dasboata.com/

Yepper! She needs work! That strut needs to go way up! The prop needs to go away. So does the wrap to center header. Just in case you have not noticed, this is NOT a cheap hobby. Speed cost's money. It's that way in just about anything I can think of. A good 3 blade prop sharpened and balanced and pitched will set you back around $80.00 from Bob Austin. mysite.verizon.net/resrrsmy/th...pworks/id1.html A stainless steel 100* header goes for around $20.00. The list goes on...
I'm not trying to sound like a jerk telling you this, but unfortunately that's the way it is. Fix the water lines everywhere like Marc said. Do a new prop and header raise that strut WAY up and you should see a BIG difference!
You think I'm kidding about raising the strut? Here are a couple pics of the strut on MY Stryker with a 4 blade 6516 prop.

So you live 1hr west of Chicago, huh? I was raised in Naperville and moved from Aurora to Denver, Co. in 1997. Good luck, Brian

Unless you are doing some serious running you do NOT need a 80.00 prop . Yes Bob's props are worth it but you are looking for a Prather 270 which is around 55 finished and 25 of that is raw prop cost

This hobby is only as expensive as u make it. I do a lot of props for myself and buy a lot but for a first time boater don't be fooled by money is end all

I added a picture of what your rudder mounting should look like and one bare so u can see slot i was talking about for bottom hole

Ok i seen the pics of the rudder, i'll fix that. The prop on there now is a prather 270, will that be sufficient if i get it sharpened a bit and tweek it.
$80 for a prop is not in my forecast at all.

All your guys' input is great, i really appreciate it.

I seen the previous pics of that F41 and your right, yoru strut is way up there, probably 1 inch above mine.