Lucky 13 cone install question

[Ribs77]

Apologies if this is buried in another thread, but I've read a lot of them and can't find the info.

Are the hex bolts that hold the stock cone (and the Lucky 13) in place 5mm? And are they easy to strip, or should I not have to worry about that?

I pulled the boat out of the water the other day to take a look (I'm wet-slipped for the season). I'd really REALLY prefer to not remove the pump as a whole and just swap out the cone, so I put the throttle forward to scope it out, and I feel I should be able to get a long hex bit in there. I didn't have quite a long enough extension the other day, so I didn't try very hard to remove the bolts, but I was a bit nervous about stripping the bolt with the 5mm. It didn't necessarily feel like there was much play in the fit, so maybe it was some wobble from the two shorter extensions I was using on my socket.

The bolt on the nose of the Lucky 13 seems to be 6mm, so I assumed the bolts at the base would be the same size, but the 6mm definitely didn't fit.

Secondary question - I'm hoping to reuse the o-ring from the stock cone, but I wouldn't mind having a backup. I've seen links to a few different model numbers and I'm not sure which one is right for my cone. I have the SVHO engine, so I got the SVHO cone - with 4 bolts. Can anyone link the correct O-ring part number?

Thanks in advance!

 

[Ribs77]

Well, if someone finds this thread later, I can now confirm that the smaller bolts, at least on the 2021 AR195, are 5mm. The larger center bolt on the Lucky 13 is 6mm. And I was able to complete the install without pulling the whole pump out. I just trailered the boat and opened the throttle fully (with the boat off, of course).

Used a long hex bit plus one 12" extension and a regular wrench and I was able to break the bolts free without too much strain. Then I was able to squeeze my hand in there and wriggle the OEM cone off. It took a little bit of wriggling. Some kind of long cat's paw or similar would probably be useful, but I didn't have a lot of visibility to determine what could be pried against and I just played it safe by wrestling the thing with hand strength.

Getting the new cone lined up and threaded was also slightly tricky, at least for the first bolt - a little bit of the epnoc grease that I pre-filled into the L13 cone dripped out while I was undertaking this process, but I'm sure a good amount remained inside. Once that one bolt was lined up and threaded it was smooth sailing.

I took the boat out for a brief spin afterward, but couldn't really test the use case I'm looking to enhance as it was just me and I didn't have time to fill up 1,000 pounds of ballast . I did still experience some cavitation by opening the throttle fully from nearly a stop, but hammering it hard once I was moving a little bit seemed improved. I didn't take it above 40 as I had the bimini out and stuff in the boat that might go flying, but it got to 40 in a hurry and felt like it had a good amount more to give, so I don't expect I've lost any top end. I'm hoping this will improve the situation where I've got a surfer up and I'm going like 8mph but the boat starts cavitating as I try to nudge the throttle to achieve 10.5.