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  1. J

    Centering boat on trailer (solo) without trailer guides? or DIY guide advice

    I have a 22' starcraft islander and a trailer without side bunks or guides or anything. I'd really like to be able to get out into the harbor the day before a fishing trip and catch baitfish, but I've found that when I'm solo, it's extremely difficult to center the boat on the bunks if there's...
  2. J

    early 70's Mercruiser 165hp inline 6 w/ MC-1 drive not going into gear (sometimes)

    Hello all, just following up on this. I still have not found either the problem or the solution. It has still been happening, and I'm a bit worried that I could get stranded or something. Could it just be that sometimes the gears don't line up and grind, like in a car? Is there some way to help...
  3. J

    early 70's Mercruiser 165hp inline 6 w/ MC-1 drive not going into gear (sometimes)

    Wow, first, congrats on 69000! Pretty wild how much knowledge shared and advice given that represents. I can shift the drive by hand pretty easily. Had a friend at the helm while I tried it. Problem is, I this issue is very intermittent. So I can't tell if this fixed it entirely, or if it...
  4. J

    early 70's Mercruiser 165hp inline 6 w/ MC-1 drive not going into gear (sometimes)

    Finally had a chance to test this and unfortunately the handle does not pull out from the body. I also had a moment where I was able to get it to not go into gear again, and for the first time, I gave the controls to someone else and had them work the throttle while I went to the stern to...
  5. J

    early 70's Mercruiser 165hp inline 6 w/ MC-1 drive not going into gear (sometimes)

    ahhh interesting. THAT i did not try. I'll give that a whirl and report back again. Thanks!!
  6. J

    early 70's Mercruiser 165hp inline 6 w/ MC-1 drive not going into gear (sometimes)

    Thanks. Yeah, that's a little hard to see and get a photo of. I actually don't think it's a button, that looks like the sticker that says "morse" but it doesn't seem like it pushes in at all like a button (if this is what you were talking about)
  7. J

    early 70's Mercruiser 165hp inline 6 w/ MC-1 drive not going into gear (sometimes)

    So my controller is made by a company called "morse" and here are some photos. I did not see any kind of button or anything that would put it into throttle only mode (last one is with the plastic cover off): So maybe that's not the issue, unless anyone knows whether this controller has a...
  8. J

    early 70's Mercruiser 165hp inline 6 w/ MC-1 drive not going into gear (sometimes)

    Mine definitely does not look like that. I'll grab a photo and share, thanks
  9. J

    early 70's Mercruiser 165hp inline 6 w/ MC-1 drive not going into gear (sometimes)

    Hm... I did not know that, but this seems like the simplest (and most likely) explanation of what's happening. This matches the symptoms exactly... I assume if it were more of a shifter issue or cable issue, I would hear or feel something but since it throttles up so smoothly with no noise, it...
  10. J

    early 70's Mercruiser 165hp inline 6 w/ MC-1 drive not going into gear (sometimes)

    Good enough for me. Really appreciate you taking the time to explain all of that, very cool to hear all of this history that is probably extremely rare knowledge nowadays
  11. J

    early 70's Mercruiser 165hp inline 6 w/ MC-1 drive not going into gear (sometimes)

    Thanks, that's good context. Sorry for being a pain here but I'm a little confused and I'd like to understand. If Merc just shipped the drives out with no decal and it sounds like any drive could go behind any motor, it kind of sounds like there's no way to tell the ratio from the sticker...
  12. J

    early 70's Mercruiser 165hp inline 6 w/ MC-1 drive not going into gear (sometimes)

    Right, I means smaller as in lower horsepower (confusing phrasing, my fault). They have different ratios but I really only meant HP rating. thanks!
  13. J

    early 70's Mercruiser 165hp inline 6 w/ MC-1 drive not going into gear (sometimes)

    Thank you, I will check these out!
  14. J

    early 70's Mercruiser 165hp inline 6 w/ MC-1 drive not going into gear (sometimes)

    Ah, thank you. That makes sense. Do these often have a "throttle only" mode? How would that engage or disengage, is there usually like a button or something that typically does that? It's possible I'm accidentally pushing a button or hitting a switch or something?
  15. J

    early 70's Mercruiser 165hp inline 6 w/ MC-1 drive not going into gear (sometimes)

    Thanks, the cable seems fine and the shifter seems fine (shifts by hand). Is there a good video explainer on how the shifter on these old units works? I've only seen inside the drive a few times and I'm still mystified about how the shifter actually operates :/
  16. J

    early 70's Mercruiser 165hp inline 6 w/ MC-1 drive not going into gear (sometimes)

    Hi, thanks... I guess I'm not sure what the controller is (is that something that would be on an old engine like this?). I also just replaced the lower shift cable pretty recently (a few months ago) but only noticed the problem in the last week or two
  17. J

    early 70's Mercruiser 165hp inline 6 w/ MC-1 drive not going into gear (sometimes)

    Hi all, I have an older mercruiser 165hp from... my boat is late 60's but the engine was replaced. I think the engine is early 70's somewhere? It's an inline 6 cylinder GM. It has an old pre alpha drive (MC-1, to be exact). So my problem is, everything works great 98% of the time. It pops right...
  18. J

    22' starcraft islander, crack(s) in hull -- aluminum repair options?

    Wow, thanks, @BWR1953! These photos are really helpful. If I need to use solid rivets... I'm guessing that there's no magic way to do this without access to the back of the panel. So I'll need to take out my carpet, floor, side panels, etc.? Just for my own knowledge, why are solids preferred...
  19. J

    22' starcraft islander, crack(s) in hull -- aluminum repair options?

    also, thanks for the threads, @Rasdiir they were really helpful. Those patches look really nice, I'd be psyched for an outcome like that. Three more quick questions to add to my list, above. 4) Given that I have what seems to be two cracks that are about 4-5 inches apart, is it better to do...
  20. J

    22' starcraft islander, crack(s) in hull -- aluminum repair options?

    Thanks all. Riveting a patch down from the outside seems like the agreed-upon best fix, so I'll likely do something like that (but will continue to get advice for a few days while I mull it over). I think the big outstanding questions for me are: 1) How do you "form" it to the hull? Do you...
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