Oh boy... this will be a long one. Got the trailer brake system installed last night; been working on it since Saturday when parts started trickling in.
First, the night before last I got the breakaway box and all remote wiring installed:
Breakaway box has a solar cell on it to top off...
As far as I know the unloader works fine. We shall see when I muff test it.
Electric choke does have good power (I did have to close up the spade connections through, they were a bit loose). I actually did some rewiring to prevent the opposite issue which was an early suspicion; I moved all of...
The bottom end has never been apart to my knowledge... and it's relatively low hours. Not to say that there isn't chain stretch, but I'd be surprised if there was anything significant.
The original carb/intake is long gone (before I got the boat, at least a couple decades ago), so 4 barrel is...
A quick history on this boat engine... a lot more details are in various threads of mine, but of particular note is this one.
The boat, as received in fall 2023, had the original intake and carb (2 barrel) replaced with an Edelbrock Performer 289 intake and a cobbled 4160 off a 1970's Ford...
This is something I noticed last season (my first season of owning a boat)... it seems I had to run the idle awful fast on cold start.
Engine is a 1976 Mercruiser 888 (302) that has been swapped to a Holley 4160 (4 barrel) marine carb.
It would only start if I gave it enough throttle to get...
I'm pretty sure I had one donut on the water tube, and another on the input shaft itself. The shifter (at least on my MC-1) was outside the outdrive casing, using a slotted slip joint that had to be lined up for the lower unit to fully seat on the upper (drove me nuts the first time, I tell you).
Nope. You want the engine up to operating temp. Oil thins with heat; what oil to use is partially based on what temp the crankcase will be operating at, hence old engines like my 1976 Mercruiser 888 (302) calling out three different weights depending on water temps (as back then, good...
Parts have been purchased. Going with TruRyde brakes, but the "pro" kit with Timken bearings and seals. Also using new chrome bearing buddies as the existing clear plastic loadrite ones I have doubts about holding up on a brake hub. Finally, I am trying a solar breakaway battery system as the...
Other trailer sold... so I now have $400 to go to the brake and ladder fund. Will focus on the former since it's a bit of a safety item (I.E. not replacing wheel seals in hubs that I was going to swap for drums anyway)...
Agreed. With tapered roller bearings, always go loose rather than tight.
Also why regular nuts with sheet metal retainers are better than castle nuts for tapered roller spindles:
These are available at most auto part stores. But the shorter nuts... I don't know. Never tried the swap.
The...
Came home from lunch to find my wiring being inspected:
The inspector says I'm nuts. Well. He has a point... Ok, you can stop booing now!
Anyway, I wasn't happy with the section by the jack mount, so I redid it:
I'll probably replace the spacers as white nylon and UV don't mix. But it's...
I have plastic "off brand" bearing buddies on my trailer. Installed by the previous owner a long time ago. Top them off every season, no issues. But when I add drum brakes, I'll probably swap to name brand metal ones since I don't think the plastic will agree with brake heat.
Tied up the wiring better:
(Also got the reflectors installed... easy and cheap fix)
The main cable will be locked in place with a zip tie or two once I have the truck hooked up to it next so I can get the length dialed in. A lot of this intentionally "loose" due to all the changes yet to...
Technically my front marker light swap last year was illegal as those lights don't have a reflector element (I was looking for lights with dedicated ground wires, oblivious to the lack of a reflector. Not the end of the world... just use separate reflectors, right? That'll also cover up the ugly...
7-way cable/junction boxes were on super sale the other day, so I ordered one... and it came in. So, I decided to install it:
Seeing this (and how terrible my old install of the the marker lights was got me thinking... could the lights be part of the box. Well, a couple of 5/8" holes with a...
