Search results

  1. natemoore

    What's your stupidest mechanical blunder?

    When I was a junior in college, I bought a Triumph Spitfire to restore. I needed my "Red Barchetta." ;) I had a really hard time getting the center oil ring compressed onto the piston, so I just assumed it was too long and I trimmed it to fit.:rolleyes: Sunday afternoon I had to report back...
  2. natemoore

    Carrier assembly o-ring replacement

    I recently pressure tested my lower unit and found that the o-ring behind the carrier assembly was leaking. I dropped it off at my local shop and the owner said that to replace the o-ring, he'd have to pull the shifter then pull out the prop shaft, emphasizing that he had to get it extremely...
  3. natemoore

    Yet another Alpha One leaking

    I got curious about the state of my lower unit lube after a several trips out onto Santa Rosa Sound. Milky oil! I pulled the outdrive. No water or oil in the u-joint bellows. Short shaft seal is good. I pressure tested the unit assembled. Saw bubbles coming out of the exhaust hub and up...
  4. natemoore

    Proper adjustment of bunks and rollers

    I need to adjust the trailer's bunks and rollers. I can never get the boat completely on the trailer while it is in the water because the the bow stop/wench is so much higher than bow eye. So, I pull the trailer out a foot or two, the jump out and wench it up some more, jump in, pull up, jump...
  5. natemoore

    14" wheels on a trailer for 17' boat?

    Hey guys, Well, I worked my way through a complete boat engine/bell housing/outdrive rebuild, now it's time to get the trailer safe and serviceable. First off, the tires that are on them seem way too big. The boat is a Four Winns Horizon 170, but 14" tires? This of course makes it harder to...
  6. natemoore

    What exactly is "trimmed all the way down"?

    I'm now adjusting my trim limit and sender switches. I'm not really sure what "trimmed all the way down/in" means. I know what it literally means, but it seems I have three choices: 1) trim it down until it bottoms out completely (which looks like it would drive the bow down into the water)...
  7. natemoore

    shift cable wows 470

    I've got a single shift/throttle lever. I'm going through the procedures to adjust the shift cable (engine to drive unit) and the remote shift cable (throttle lever to engine) and I'm stumped. I pushed in the shift cable while my son rotated the prop CCW. It stopped, I measured 6" from hole...
  8. natemoore

    470 cylinder head re-torque SCREW-UP?

    I was re-torquing the bolts on my cylinder head last weekend. I turned the first bolt about 1/16th of a turn before I realized that I was going the wrong way (too much sun, I guess):( I immediately corrected and re-torqued to 130 lbs-ft and proceeded with the rest of the bolts in the proper...
  9. natemoore

    Shade-tree mechanic horror story 5.7L

    My next-door neighbor used a laid-off boat mechanic to do some work on his boat. I originally hired him to replace a couple of seals in my lower unit since he had access to all those expensive tools. Not sure if he's "certified" or whatever, but he did work at a real boat repair shop. Well, on...
  10. natemoore

    Pertronix ignition conversion on a 470

    Has anyone recently completed this conversion? I remember reading a post (here or on some other website) regarding this, but I can't find it again. There was some debate over the ballast wire with the Flamethrower coil. Wish I could find it again. Anyway expert opinions out there? Okay...
  11. natemoore

    How 'bout some good news for a change!

    Finally! After almost a year spent on this 470 engine rebuild (as well as bell housing and outdrive rebuilt), and after dealing with the frustration of the machine shop doing less than a perfect job on the head (sticky valve/bent pushrods), I got everything reassembled and even fixed the carb...
  12. natemoore

    470 graphite exhaust gasket w/ perfect seal?

    Quick question. I decided to reinstall my cylinder head with OEM intake and exhaust gaskets. I see that the exhaust gasket is graphite, just like the one in between the manifold and the riser. The last exhaust gasket was a fiber/cardboard aftermarket type, so I used the perfect seal on both...
  13. natemoore

    470 2b carb flooding/starvation problems

    Uh...is it normal to see gas dripping down from the venturi into the intake manifold just after the engine is shut off? I'm thinking not. I double-checked the float level and float drop settings, then blew into the fuel inlet side of the float chamber to verify that the valve would shut off...
  14. natemoore

    470 push rod length questions

    First of all, I'd like everyone to know that I've successfully recovered from hip resurfacing surgery and that I am "born again hard" (I'm only 47). I'd like to give a special "shout out" to BZtugger1960 for coming all the way down from Minnesota to cut my grass while I was recovering from...
  15. natemoore

    470 bent pushrod

    Tomorrow I'm going under the knife to get hip resurfacing (the Birmingham Hip) on my left hip. One of the things I wanted to do before being laid up for a few weeks was get my boat motor running after a summer/fall-long complete rebuild. Well......a few minutes after startup--after verifying...
  16. natemoore

    lubing shift cable core wire?

    Should I oil or grease the core wire before I re-insert it into the shift cable outer casing? Manual is silent on it, but it seems like a good idea to me. Nevermind. Found the answer: do not lube (according to sterndrives website).
  17. natemoore

    Merc manual wrong on 2bbl Mercarb float drop?

    Happy Thanksgiving, everyone. Just killing some time before I start the turkey on my new Charbroil Big Easy "oil-less" fryer, so I'm piddling on my Mercarb 2bbl for my 3.7L. I'm checking the float drop before reassembling it. The Merc #8 page 5C-6 shows how to measure the float drop: from...
  18. natemoore

    Converting Mercarb 2bbl (5.7L) to Mercarb (3.7L)

    My existing Mercarb 2 bbl on my 3.7l needs a choke plate and an electric choke, but otherwise works 4.0. I saw a Quicksilver factory remanufactured Mercarb for a 5.7l on ebay for $100 starting bid. Saw that many parts were the same, particularly the gasket set. I put in a "what the heck" $100...
  19. natemoore

    470/Alpha One shift cable routing

    Didn't take enough notes before pulling the cable. Can't find anything in either of my manuals (sterndrive or engine). My only clues are a diagram that shows a shift cable attaching clamp (part no. 54-61001) on the right lower part of the flywheel cover and the shift bracket on the left side...
  20. natemoore

    Mint Julep

    Having grown up in the south, I'm appalled that I didn't discover the Mint Julep until recently. I knew of the drink from the movies, but never knew what it was, exactly. Here's how I make mine. Make a syrup with about a cup of hot water and about two or three tablespoons of sugar. You want...
Top