Fonda Jet Drive

[RobertD]

As far as I recall the drive you have is primarily a fibreglass/GRP moulding rather than an aluminium casting?
Chances of getting a spare part are rather slim unless you can locate FONDA or their moulds if they haven't been disposed of.
What is the problem with the part you have?
Is it the steering nozzle that is at fault or the post impeller tube as seen in your picture?

[martin mc]

The problem I have is with the steering nozzle which split in half, I tryed repairing it with fibre glass and moulded it to what I thought was the original shape. Then I had to keep reshaping the nozzle to get the drive to move, I eventually got the drive to work and am getting full speed out of it but I am unable to get the original acceleration out of it. Thats why I think the shape of the steering nozzle is fairly critical and that I would need some sort of drawings to attempt to manufacture it.
Thanks again,
Martin..

[dimitarp]

Originally Posted by martin mc

The problem I have is with the steering nozzle which split in half, I tryed repairing it with fibre glass and moulded it to what I thought was the original shape. Then I had to keep reshaping the nozzle to get the drive to move, I eventually got the drive to work and am getting full speed out of it but I am unable to get the original acceleration out of it. Thats why I think the shape of the steering nozzle is fairly critical and that I would need some sort of drawings to attempt to manufacture it.
Thanks again,
Martin..

Can you take the size of the broken steering nozzle, from this I will attempt to restore the orginal drawings. I have had the same problem before and made teh new nozzle that was a successfully.
Dimitar

[martin mc]

Thanks Dimtar but I think you forgot to attatch the drawing to the post

[dimitarp]

I can not attach the file, the nozzle for my boat is bigger than your and the drawings will not usefull for you. First you must to take basic dimensions, from the original nozzle.

[jetman]

Hi Martin
I have a Fonda 166 GTO with a Rover V8 driving a PP jet, I have read the reply from RobertD regarding your jet being made by Fonda themselves.The company were located not too many miles from where I live in kent, as I have been trying to find out the exact year of my boat (1970something!!).
the newest fonda I have heard of was a 1990 model running a Blown rover V8 driving a PP jet, If I find anything out I will let you know. Any chance of seeing a photo of the broken bits, as I may be able to advise on how to repair it.Also if you measure the distance from top to bottom of the hinge points i will see if it is the same size as mine as the photo that you have posted the impeller housing looks very similar to mine.If you have been repairing the nozzle with fiberglass have you been putting it on the outside or inside to repair it, if you repair it from the insid you will restrict the flow from the outlet. Hope this helps you a bit

[CORMERAN]

Hi MARTIN MC,

GRP (Glassfiber Reinforced Plastic) is the term used by older British people,
when they are referring to what Americans call " fiberglass".

- Unlike open propeller drives, it is hard to make changes or repairs
to the housing of a jet drive. (As you are finding.)
Because, very subtle changes - have large effects. All too often - with a loss
of power as a result.
- From what you report; repairs have changed the FLOW RATE.

Rules of thumb are:
1. The smaller the dia. of the nozzel - with a given hp - the higher the FLOW RATE will be, and the faster you go.
2. - However, and this is a big however - if the MASS being shoved out the
back end is not large enough........ the vessel becomes sluggish at the bottom end and load capacity falls off.

Ferry boat designers spend long hours getting this right and the have the
luxury of knowing exactly what their loading perameters are.

I would gently suggest you resist searching for jetdrive parts of questional virtue - and replace your X drive with a unit that is better known.
That you can get parts for.

[martin mc]

HI Guys,
Sorry for not replying sooner but I have been off line for the last couple of months. The larger diameter of the nozzle is 8 inches (the distance between hinged ends) and it reduces down to 4 inches and appears to be made of fibre glass. A large section of the nozzle was lost so I had to attempt molding the lost section to match the piece that was left. Here are some pictures of the nozzle as it is today (looking a bit of a mess at the moment). With regard to replacing the whole jet drive I don't think the boat would be worth installing a new jet drive in as they seem expensive new and I don't know what the chances of getting one second hand are.

Thanks again for all your help
Martin..