Update: Cowl air inlet, '86 1.6L, 115hp Sea Drive

[Auxlarry]

I've been running sea drives for years and have dealt with the unruly design of the mount but I have a question for those familiar with them. In normal seas she does great but in heavier seas 2-3 foot I have always had an issue when I trim down all the way to take off she has a tendency to ingest copious amounts of water into the rear upper air intake thus soaking my electronics. Has anyone ever modified the cowl for forward air intake or is this not an option? I've never seen a forward air intake and wondered if it would cause an issue with forcing to much air into the cowl and causing a lean run issue. The cowl still has the original baffle which does divert the water intake to the lower pan but it's in trained in the air and goes wherever. Any suggestions?

 

[Auxlarry]

Any ideas!!

 

[Auxlarry]

Been doing some research and OMC had a forward entering air system on the '82 2.6L Sea Drive and you could buy the kit to do that on the 2.6's! Good idea but never put it on any of 1.6L?
Time for a modification to my 1.6L for forward air intake!!

 

[boobie]

I've see those forward air intakes on the Sea Drives and they really worked good. See if you can find the kit and modify it if you have to.

 

[Auxlarry]

Boobie
It seems it was only offered on the 2.6L for 3 years and then OMC went to the internal baffle in the cowl like the one I have in my 1.6L. Doing what research I can find, the 2.6 cowl and lower pan are quite a bit different than the 1.6 and the air intake kit won't fit the 1.6 cowl. Plus, can't find any of the kits, been obsolete for years. I'll have to come up with something on my own and don't have a lot of space to work with. Like I said in my previous post, the set up is fine in calmer waters but once the seas churn up she has always had problems with ingesting water through the rear air intakes when trimmed all the way down during power up.
I've only got 3 inches between the cowl and transom mount and with the rotation of the motor I don't think I have enough room for a bellows style intake so I think I'll have to fab a fiberglass cowl intake and see how it works.

 

[Auxlarry]

No Title

Thought I would post an update as to what I did to this old Sea Drive. I opted to go a full duct system taking my combustion air from inside the hull to eliminate engine flooding. It is my new "85 Star Wars Drive....

 

[Auxlarry]

Took it out yesterday for a hard run and was surprised at how quiet the motor was....ran great and even purposely swamped the motor with wake after a quick power down...water covered the motor but not a drop under the cowl!!