Hi guys. I'm new to the Forum but not to boats.
Recently my 25hp Tohatsu quit on me. Last year I blew the head gasket and noticed a lot of erosion in the casting while repairing it. The motor is 18 years old and has approximately 2000 hours on it and I didn't want to dump a bunch of money in it, so I started looking for a replacement. It's on a 16 ft aluminum semi-vee that I use regularly.
I found a Craigslist ad with fuzzy pictures showing a 40 Tohatsu and some sort of fiberglass boat. I was interested in the motor only but arranged to go have a look. The motor is an 3 cyl. 40 and looked almost brand new other than a little paint peeled off the oil access cover. With the cowling off it looked brand new. The owner said it had very little time on it, and it looked it. He had stored it inside his workshop and was selling it to have more space in the shop.
After looking over the hull and trailer, I made the deal and took it home. From what I found on the Forum, it looks like a mid to late 60's Arrow (dataplate is missing). 14 foot long with a short transom. The hull is in good shape with minor scratches and maybe a slight crack in the gelcoat above the waterline. The orange gelcoat is faded some and has a few chips and bubbles in it. The floor and transom are solid. The seats are sitting on a homemade base, but they are new.
The engine had gunk in the carbs, and would not run right, so I changed the plugs and pulled the carbs to give them a good cleaning. After reassembly I stuck a plastic trashcan under the lower unit, filled it with water, and it fired right up and ran smooth. After blowing the water out of the trashcan a few times, I turned to a few other little things to fix like tidying up some electrical connections on the boat and trailer. Then I blew some more water out of the trashcan.
It has a functioning horn, lights, bilge pump, power trim/tilt. I have the windshield and hardware but it's pretty scratched. I'll try to clean it up with some MicroMesh and get it mounted.
I dropped it in the river and it ran smooth. It'll do 35 mph at 5500 RPM, 30 mph at 4500 RPM, and 25 mph at 4000 RPM. No leaks that I could see, and turns on a dime.
I had originally intended to put this motor on my 16 ft. aluminum hull (need to get a steering console first) and sell the Starcraft, but I may hang onto it for a while. It's kinda growing on me.
I'm trying to resist the idea of swapping the Tohatsu for an older Merc that would fit the time period better and doing a restoration......trying to resist...but..getting weak...
Anyway, I thought you guys might want to see. I've learned a lot on this Forum in a short time, so thanks already.
Recently my 25hp Tohatsu quit on me. Last year I blew the head gasket and noticed a lot of erosion in the casting while repairing it. The motor is 18 years old and has approximately 2000 hours on it and I didn't want to dump a bunch of money in it, so I started looking for a replacement. It's on a 16 ft aluminum semi-vee that I use regularly.
I found a Craigslist ad with fuzzy pictures showing a 40 Tohatsu and some sort of fiberglass boat. I was interested in the motor only but arranged to go have a look. The motor is an 3 cyl. 40 and looked almost brand new other than a little paint peeled off the oil access cover. With the cowling off it looked brand new. The owner said it had very little time on it, and it looked it. He had stored it inside his workshop and was selling it to have more space in the shop.
After looking over the hull and trailer, I made the deal and took it home. From what I found on the Forum, it looks like a mid to late 60's Arrow (dataplate is missing). 14 foot long with a short transom. The hull is in good shape with minor scratches and maybe a slight crack in the gelcoat above the waterline. The orange gelcoat is faded some and has a few chips and bubbles in it. The floor and transom are solid. The seats are sitting on a homemade base, but they are new.
The engine had gunk in the carbs, and would not run right, so I changed the plugs and pulled the carbs to give them a good cleaning. After reassembly I stuck a plastic trashcan under the lower unit, filled it with water, and it fired right up and ran smooth. After blowing the water out of the trashcan a few times, I turned to a few other little things to fix like tidying up some electrical connections on the boat and trailer. Then I blew some more water out of the trashcan.
It has a functioning horn, lights, bilge pump, power trim/tilt. I have the windshield and hardware but it's pretty scratched. I'll try to clean it up with some MicroMesh and get it mounted.
I dropped it in the river and it ran smooth. It'll do 35 mph at 5500 RPM, 30 mph at 4500 RPM, and 25 mph at 4000 RPM. No leaks that I could see, and turns on a dime.
I had originally intended to put this motor on my 16 ft. aluminum hull (need to get a steering console first) and sell the Starcraft, but I may hang onto it for a while. It's kinda growing on me.
I'm trying to resist the idea of swapping the Tohatsu for an older Merc that would fit the time period better and doing a restoration......trying to resist...but..getting weak...
Anyway, I thought you guys might want to see. I've learned a lot on this Forum in a short time, so thanks already.
