Kinda neat, think I'd give this a try if they had big block TPI units.-----> TPI Malibu Skiboat

 

haha nice

 

Too bad when he gets pulled over by the coast guard he's gonna get a huge fine.

-- Joe

 

Why would he get pulled over? I do know that his air filter is not correct but other than that why would the coast gaurd have any reason to pull him over?

 

id like to do that on my new boat. even tbi some form of EFI would be nice

 

They do it all the time. The fuel system would need to be marine approved.

-- Joe

 

What do you have to do to put a "Marine Approved" fuel system?

I picked up a Ski Centuran ski boat at an auction. The engine needs to be rebuilt so I got the boat cheap I have my old TPI since I purchased the stealth ram for my camaro. I replaced all of my sensors and such via painless wiring kit when I put the stealth ram on my car. Now, I have all of the sensors from my old tpi and would consider using my tpi on the boat if possible. I do want my boat to be legal, would hate to get a fine from the coast guard. Granted, we only use the boat on a lake, not sure if the Coast Guard patrols the lakes or not? But I would feel better about having my boat legal!

 

I agree. I have a few friends who have similar ski boats and it seems the carb units seem to foul plugs all of the time. My thoughts would be maybe a computer EFI system would omit this problem. My boat is a older (mid 90's) boat. It's in perfect shape, just needs a rebuild on the engine. And maybe TPI is needed.

 

atleast yours is a mid 90s mine is a late 80s sea ray with a mercrusier 4bbl. atleast better then my old 85 celebrity with 2bbl no cracked blocks on this one.

 

You should goto boatus forums and post around there. Talk to a certified marine mechanic. I know from years of boat owning, I've talked to guys that were cited for running automotive alternators, fuel pumps, starters, carbs, etc. Big time tickets!

-- Joe

 

My 19ft cuddy has a 260hp merc, 4bbl carb. Goes about 55mph with two people.

Boat originally had a 4cyl. Yanked it sold it, bought the complete 1987 merc setup.

-- Joe

 

Joe,

Do you know of any "Good" boat fourms? This boat has been in our garage for the past 2 years. I pulled the engine and have it on a stand. Now that we are going to be moving...I want to get it up an running for the summer. I can just slap the engine together, but if..IF I can use the TPI, I would like to do so!

TY for the help.

 

www.iboats.com is what I used. Lot of friendly guys on there.

-- Joe

 

well in the 22 years of ski boat operating I have never had the DNR ask to see my engine. if you are running on a county lake the DNR handles police activites, not the coast guard. even if they did ask to see the engine as long as you didn't run it with a cone filter on it they would never know it wasn't orginal as the marine engines use the common car EFI systems. my Ski Nautique uses a mustang 5.0 system. my neighbors Malibu uses an LS1 injection style. hell the malibu corvette edition had an LS1 right out of a vette. I am not saying skirt the law by any means, but the DNR only care about life jackets, registration, overloading, and operating under the influance.

 

the main thing he could get ticket for is a lack of a spark arresstor/backfire protection.

 

I suggest you wander over to a boating forum and ask how many guys get tickets yearly for the alt/starter/carb thing.

-- Joe

 

Im in nj and own a boat. I can tell you I have been pulled over a few times by coast guard and state police for various BS reasons - none of which I was ever charged with anything. They just like to check everybody out and make sure everybody is safe. One of the first things they check is the flame supressor.... With a regular air filter like that, you would have big fines on your hands. It doesnt matter if your not doing anything wrong, they can still board your boat and do a random safety check. Its a nice TPI setup, but Id rather go with something made for marine like by mercruiser so I wouldnt have any problems. Im not sure what the deal is inland in america on lakes and whatnot, but on the coast, they dont take any crap. Even fish and game will board your boat packin glocks to see the size of your fish. hehe

 

and i suggest you read what they did to it and realize the only thing changed on the engine is the induction system.

the alt/starter thing hasnt even been touched.


and while you have said that about 5 times in this thread, and perhaps they're just lax here or **** there, i live on the coast


im currently sitting about 1/2 mile from the ocean (i can smell it outside) and am surrounded almost completely by water.
almost everyone i know has a boat/jetski/watercraft of some sort.

hell, my boss lives on a 3/4 million dollar yacht.

im surrounded my marine people. boating/fishing/ect.

and charleston is a international port. there are several coast guard stations.

my dad is currently contracted to writing software for the coast guard to keep track of container ships.

all that said, and all the people i know


ive NEVER in my life heard of ANYONE, even a friend thru a friend thru a owners brothers cousin, heard of someone getting a ticket for a alternator or starter.
my boat, a mercruiser inboard/outboard i inherited from my dad, has a car starter. it gets replaced once a year since the salt gets to it, but since the marine one is about 5 times the cost, and it still needs replacing, im going to stick with my autozone special.
ive been boarded 3 times. every one of thoes times, i have my shiny black mercruiser motor, with a obviously "look at me" new starter on it.

not a word.

i also happen to know my dads friend, and a few others, all with "improper" car equipment on the boats.

yes, they could spark if you're stupid enough not to clear the bilge. same with their marine counterparts, thats a moot argument and its WHY you clear it.

yes, they wear out much quicker. thats why we choose the car parts. autozone has lifetime warrentys. boaters world doesnt.

frankly, i want a link to these "boaters" forums... because im calling bull**** on it. and frankly, if they are discussing, it, i want to know the name/numbers of the law.

 

Check out www.iboats.com and talk to a few of the folks on there.

-- Joe

 

hmmmm so far im finding the basic normal "i dont know how this works, but this is "right" and this is "wrong" responces from the usual non-thinking parrot like repeating.. like all car forums have.. (get a K&N! its better! i dont know why!, oh! a catback!, ect..)


this thread is a little better

http://www.iboats.com/cgi-bin/ubb/ul...=009346#000001


notice the words avoid.
notice that while its mentioned they are diffrent.. and the spark thing (that i already touched on) but theres no law agienst it.

there are USCG requirements for it to be marine rated, but no law agienst using non USCG approved parts.




frankly, while i cant "prove" myself right, im further convinced my first post was accurate.

 

http://www.uscgboating.org/regulations/statutes.htm

For CMVI stuff I have a handbook I get from the state listing the infractions and fines. However, I'm a "small time cop" as another member put it and "not a member of real law enforcement" as he added, so I don't have the USCG citation fee schedule, sorry.

Edit: I also checked the MGL (mass) and NH law index, and theres a ton of additional laws that are even more strict than coast guard regulations. I don't have time to review them right now, but feel free yourself.


-- Joe

 

The best performance boating forum I found is speedwake.com There's another one called offshoreonly.com These guys are always changing from carb to efi and vice versa.
As for the legality, the only thing the coast guard might look for in a safety check would be a flame arrestor. K&N makes a full line of them. Flame Arrestors Probably one for an Indmar engine would work since they marinized LS1 and LT1 motors. Other than that, the coast guard requires fuel systems to leak and vent internally. The question then becomes, does TPI do both of those things? They used LT1s and Cadillac Northstar engines in brand new Mastercrafts- how different can those be?