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  1. l008com

    Listing Problem

    My boat has developed an odd behavior. It lists sharply to the left when I plane out. Which is weird because I would have thought that uneven weight would have caused the boat to tip more when you're going slow. And once you plane out, shouldn't the lean tend to go away, or at least diminish? So...
  2. l008com

    Battening Down the Hatches... (kinda, not really)

    I need some hardware. I'm not sure exactly what kind. Here's the problem I'm looking to solve: I have two front seats in my bow that originally hinged up to reveal storage compartments. And under the dashboard, my boat has a pair of kick-panels that form walls to those very same compartments...
  3. l008com

    S Clips for Docking

    The dock at my local public boat launch was rebuilt this spring. The new dock has no cleats. Instead it has this funny 5" high wooden railing around the edge. Which I really don't get. So I use pre spliced dock line and now I have noplace to hook on to. And most of the time, I'm launching my...
  4. l008com

    Boat Covers

    I'm thinking about getting a cover like this for my boat, for the winter. (the top one with the 7 year warranty). Is a cover like this good for the winter & snow? Is it waterproof? Occasionally I need to keep the boat dry after working on it. AND yes I will be supporting the cover when I wrap it...
  5. l008com

    Changing Gear Oil Details

    So I googled up the procedure for changing gear oil, and I found plenty of youtube videos showing me the process. It doesn't look so hard. And so the questions I have are: What kind of oil should I use to replace it? How much oil does it take? I have an '89 mercury 3cyl 90HP
  6. l008com

    Small Boat Steering Systems 101

    I need to learn about steering systems, steering systems for ~15' boats like mine. What kind of system do I have now? What other kinds of systems are available? What are the pros and cons of each? Are there any ways I can improve my steering system, and if not, is there a better system to...
  7. l008com

    Floor Grinding - I Need A Better Plan

    I'm grinding the paint off my old floor. I borrowed my uncles air compressor and air grinder tool. What I didn't realize at the time was that the air compressor is severely inadequate for constant use of the grinder tool. I originally planed on working on it all weekend long, and finishing the...
  8. l008com

    Seat Installation: Do Bolts Like This Exist?

    Does anything like this exist? This would be a perfect bolt to attach my pedestals to the floor. I'd push these bolts through a 2 x 12, cut shallow 1/8th inch holes in the wood to sink the heads so they were flush. Then glue the flush side down to the floor to just the spines were sticking up...
  9. l008com

    Power Rating

    I'm wondering what the deal is with the power rating of my boat. That is, if I start doing major custom work, when does that plate no longer apply? This is purely out of curiosity, I don't plan on converting my old outboard into a jet boat any time soon. But lets say I did. The hull is rated for...
  10. l008com

    5200 Good for Weight-Bearing?

    My new horn has an air pump that's pretty heavy for it's size. My plan was to cut a block of wood, use 5200 to glue the block to the side of the boat (inside, in the bow below "deck"). But once cut out the block and had the pump on it, I started to wonder. Is 5200 going to be strong enough to...
  11. l008com

    Speaker Wires

    I'm stockpiling everything I need to install a stereo in my boat this spring. One thing I don't have yet is speaker wires. How can I determine what gauge wire I need? Also, do I need to use wire that is deemed "speaker" wire? I know there is a difference between marine grade cable and regular...
  12. l008com

    Island Landings

    So for the first 20 years of my boat's life, it lived on a small lake. A real freshwater lake (not what, for example, Florida calls a lake). It had it's own small dock. The water level was very steady. If I wanted to beach my boat (say i was going to move the dock), I'd just beach it on our...
  13. l008com

    Trumpet Mounting Location

    I need a loud horn for all the locks I pass through. So I'm going to get one of those 126dB AFI air horns. So I came up with what I thought was the perfect location to mount the single 9.5" trumpet (see blue oval below). BUT reading AFI's website, they mention that you should mount it someplace...
  14. l008com

    Deep Cycle Battery in a Car?

    What IS a deep cycle battery? I've always know it as simply a battery that has more capacity than a regular car battery. So, why don't they put deep cycle batteries in cars? I got my boat's battery at autozone for all of $65. And it cranked for hours and hours without a charge, it held so much...
  15. l008com

    Getting Paint Off My Floor

    Two years ago, I tore the rug off the floor of my boat. It turned into a huge project that took the whole season, the boat never even made it into the water. But eventually, I got all the rug and basically all the glue gone, and I put down a few coats of that west marine grippy paint. I'm pretty...
  16. l008com

    Source for LEDs

    I hope to install a bunch of LEDs in my boat next year. I want two kinds. I want some not-too-bright, wide angle red LEDs that i'd use to gently illuminate my whole floor. I'd hook that up to my 'night light' switch, that also controls the backlights to gauges, etc. Then I also want a bunch of...
  17. l008com

    Oil Level "Window"

    Anyone know where I can get a new oil level window? In this picture it's broken, but this picture is old. It's actually long gone. Lots of salt water spray gets in through that hole, I'd really like to replace it. But I haven't had any luck finding these parts.
  18. l008com

    Exhaust is Killing Me (Literally? Hope Not!)

    As you can see from my pic, I've got a 15' thundercraft with a 90hp 2cycle 3cyl Mercury. Engine is an '89. So it runs great. Like, really great. It really runs like new. But the exhaust is brutal. I guess that's the price you pay for a 2 cycle. Even if you're going into the wind, the exhaust...
  19. l008com

    Battery Storage

    When I wrapped up my boat for the winter, I took out it's battery (new last spring) and put it down in my basement, where it will be at a pretty steady 60-70? until spring. Is there any reason I shouldn't have done this? Fumes or anything? Also that battery was fully charged when I disconnected...
  20. l008com

    Toss Fire Extinguisher

    Can bad fire extinguishers just be thrown in the trash? Or are they like TVs and need to be specially disposed of? Also, what causes a fire extinguisher to go from full to empty? And the answer isn't "using it up", I had no fires this year.
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