Well, after reading the post and links in OUTBOARD JET HELP I decided to get off my butt after work tonight and work on the boat.

I started the project by taking the pump off my outboard and removing the impeller. I was amazed how rounded and dull the leading edges on the impeller were. The grates were a little bruised as well.



The first objective was to cut a sharp edge on the leading blade of the impeller. I set the impeller up on a mill. One thing that surprised me was the inconsistent heights of the blades. One blade was doing the grunt of the pulling.



After about an 90 minutes I now have an impeller that should cut water with little resistance.



The next step was turning the grates into a tear shape. I cut a radius on the leading edge and brought the trailing edge to a point with a 20 degree angle.





Here's a pic of the finished parts.



Tomorrow I will shim the impeller, assemble the grate parts, put new plugs in it and try her out. I hope the project improves my fuel economy. I don't know how many more $35 dollar days (gas only) of fishing I can handle.

LT