where to get transmission parts

[skier2788]

I have an 86 American skier with 2330 hours on it. All summer it has been slowly driving itself in nuetral. I have come to the conclusion that the one way clutch in the torque converter must be getting stiff. I want to rebuild it but don't know where to get parts at. It is a velvet drive 10-17-004 with 1:1 gear ratio. I was also thinking if I could find a reasonable 1.25 or 1.5 to 1 trans that would fit I might swap out to that and reprop the boat. Gas is killing me at 36 and dropping some rpms would help that. Thanks for any advice.

[SM]

skidim.com I rebuilt a velvet drive myself, Vince new everything I needed for my boat and it wasn't that big of a job. Propellers are a cheaper way to lower RPM's. Good Luck.

[RichardDoane]

smart guy just buys an identical, complete transmission that's already been rebuilt and does the swap, then re-props for RPM fine tune, less headaches are best...

[skier2788]

Thanks guys appreciate the advice. I will check out that site SM. I was thinking of just rebuilding mine cause I am a mechanic and was a auto trans specialist when I was with Chrysler. I figure that if I can rebuild a six speed automatic I should be able to rebuild a one speed with relative ease. I do agree if I can find one just swapping is easiest.

[RichardDoane]

back when I had the old 92 MC, upgrading to a Stainless 4 blade lowered my rpm almost 200 at 34 mph, the old nibral 4 blade had been repaired a bunch of times and had lost most of it's bite. Every time it got fixed, resetting the baselines for PP classic would result in a +50/60, so after the third fix it was "down" almost 200 from where it was originally

[skier2788]

I am currently running a 3 blade 13x13 prop the boat is powered by a new 5.7l vortec still carburated. I tack almost 4300 when I slalom at 36. I worry if I change to a higher prop I will lose a lot on the hole shot which isn't an issue for lake setup just tireing me out getting up all the time. Would a 4 blade prop help? like a 13x15.5?

[MCskiFreak]

The guys above are right, 4 blade prop to get those RPM's down rather than switching to a different tranny. There is no way that boat should be running 4300rpm at 36 regardless of engine with a 13x13. With the number of hours and age of your boat I would not be suprised if your flotation foam is saturated and you're carrying around several hundred extra pounds of waterlogged foam, or you have a tuning issue with your engine. 4300 RPM with a 13x13 should have you in the 42-44 mph range.

 

Have you joined the American Skier owners forum? The man who designed the boats in the mid 80's and owned the company from 95-01 posts there often and is a great source of knowledge.

[skier2788]

Thanks MCskiFreak I did not know there was an owners forum. I will have to check it out. I don't know I skied a set behind a SN200 the other day with a 6.0L and the guy said when ZO hit it was taking it over 5,000 to hold me at 36 boat still ran 16.12. I can't say I have ever been accused of being light on the line. My boat is full throttle to give me a solid time. I am thinking that with it still creeping forward when in nuetral there is something wrong in the transmission. From the suggestions above I think this winter I will look for an identical tranny then buy a new prop. Oh I forgot I also ski in Colorado at about 5,000 feet. That doesnt help either.

[MCskiFreak]

Well altitude changes things up alot! Yes the 200 does turn a lot of RPM's because it has a lot of wetted surface area. 20% more than the 196, and much more than an Advance with a foot less beam, 1.5 ft shorter, and 600 lbs. lighter.

[skier2788]

Did you buy that 85 Advance you were looking at awhile back? How is your own boat design coming? I remember reading that thread a lot.

[skier2788]

I love my boat just wish it didn't have to be wide open to hold me at 36. I take six passes and burn an 1/8 of a tank. With the creeping problem I am still hoping that there is something wrong in my tranny and it will lower the rpm's. It is kinda weird if you are sitting on glass water with the pin pulled out in nuetral it will start creeping forward fast enough to steer the boat. The engine is set at idle at 720 so its not too high. I am now seriously thinking of a new prop.

[MCskiFreak]

No I didnt find anything that was either a worthy project or a good deal on a good boat so I am just going to continue looking. The boat design got moved to the back burner for now, I got volunteered to design a new hull for the schools electric boat project. Once that is done I can resume my own project.

 

Moving to a 4 blade prop will help with the holding ability of the boat because you are going to gain alot of swept area with a modern CNC 4 blade, you will also experience a modest reduction in the propeller slip which means slightly better efficiency.

[boarditup]

You need to increase cup and go to a 3-blade prop. For a specific recommendation, let me know if you have a 1" shaft (normal) or the 1 1/8" shaft (later models, typically). The increase in cup will give you more top end without damage to the hole shot.

[SM]

The transmission creep is sort of normal in old transmissions. I haven't found a solution for that anywhere.

[DW]

At 5000' your engine will have 86% of the power compared to sea level, so a significant hit. The easiest way to alter performance is with a prop, what prop do you currently have? If an older nibral or stainless 3 blade prop common in that era, a new CNC Acme or OJ would improve performance simply due to more blade area the newer 3 blade props use. They also tend to offer more performance due to surface texture, accuracy and blade area. A four blade prop will cost you 1-2 mph on top end but offer very good hole shot performance characteristics. At sea level either will offer good performance when at a 100rpm/1 mph ratio. For altitude you might have to run a bit more rpm to get decent acceleration performance.

 

Not sure on calibration, but if you feel your fuel consumption is high, you might want to look at (I am guessing carbed) main jet calibrations and determining if you are running rich.

 

Concerning the waterlogging comment, you could take the boat to a set of scales and see what it reads to see if off significantly. You could also see if you can find a similar boat and see where the waterline is and compare. If the boat lists to one side, that would also be a clue.

[skier2788]

@boarditup. I have a 1 in. With a 3 blade 13x13 right now but I don't think it is cupped.

@sm mine just started it about mid July. I hope I can fix it. It is annoying.

 

[elr]

Sounds like your prop may have been reworked to a lower pitch. We did it in the old days when we went to higher elevation lakes to allow enough RPM to yank us out.

[skier2788]

@dw I run a 650 holley. It is tuned fairly well. Starts fine and I don't notice high fuel consumption when towing wakeboarders or other slalom skiers. It is only when I slalom because they bring me in at 36 then at the gates they go full throttle and run with it. Gives me a 16.04 time.

[Jody_Seal]

Transmission creep can be caused by a worn selector valve. Let me know what parts you need I will be more than happy to quote on the parts. I would just get a rebuild kit and a speedy sleeve and get on with it!

floridainboards@msn.com

Jody

[SM]

@Jody. Do you have to pull the transmission to replace the selector valve?

[Jody_Seal]

SM:

On a Borg it is kinda pain because their is a spring at the end of the assembly that has to be in the right spot, but it can be done!

 

[SM]

@jody I'll get the details and contact you directly. Sorry for the thread hijack.

[grab2go]

When I was in school we had an American Skier that had trouble reaching 36 mph. We had converted a pie shaped pond that a farmer had into our ski site. One end was very shallow and we finally discovered that we had worn an inch off the diameter of the prop. Put a new prop on and we were skiing 36 again.

[mwetskier]

velvet drives are easy to rebuild. heck back in the day i rebuilt one 19 times before i traded it in for one that worked!