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  1. tpenfield

    Oh what a feeling, to fix a Toyota . . .

    2009 Corolla S . . . my kid's car that we bought new on her 16th b-day. She announced recently that the radio was not working properly. So, I checked it out and it appeared to be the head unit. Virtually no sound, right front speaker not getting anything, etc. I ordered a used refurb unit...
  2. tpenfield

    Smokey - 1980 Johnson 4.5 HP

    I just picked up a 1980 Johnson 4.5 HP ( model J5RLCSS ) and have run it a few times in a barrel. Probably a total of 1 hour of running. The engine runs well, idles well, shifts well , etc. The only thing I noticed is that it puts out a tremendous amount of smoke from the 2-cycle fuel mix. I...
  3. tpenfield

    Mercury 7.5 HP 1969 Spark Plugs - at end of season

    The boats came out of the water yesterday and I am checking the plugs on my 1969 Mercury 7.5 HP outboard (serial # in my sig below). I noticed the lower plug was very clean versus the upper plug. I am thinking that I am getting water in the bottom cylinder, since the plug is so clean...
  4. tpenfield

    O'Day Mariner Sailboat Restoration

    We don't often see sailboat restoration work on this forum, but since I'll be restoring my newly acquired O'Day Mariner sailboat (Sail #3224), I thought I would run a thread for those who may be interested. The boat is a 1976 model and has the "2+2" design which means the cabin has aft berths...
  5. tpenfield

    O'Day Mariner (sailboat) Wet Foam . . .

    I did some cleaning and checking through everything on my new-to-me O'Day Mariner (Sail #3224) over the past few days. The boat has 'positive flotation' via foam-filled chambers in the bow (v-berth) and the aft-berths. V-berth area Aft-Berth area (one on each side of the hull . . . I...
  6. tpenfield

    Comcast doing away with Personal Web Pages

    I think that I might be one of the few folks that use Comcast web page hosting on these forums instead of photobucket or similar. Anyway, I got notice that Comcast is discontinuing their web hosting services as of October 8, 2015 . . . Much of my picture posting on my threads are from my...
  7. tpenfield

    Mercury 'Gnat' 4HP (1980-81 ish)

    I came across one of these engines on CL and noticed that it was only in production for a few years. Also, I have yet to see a positive comment about this model. What's the story on this engine? Should I not bother and keep looking ??? (this would be a kicker motor for my newly acquired 19...
  8. tpenfield

    Thinking of getting a sailboat . . .

    I had a Catalina 22 for about 7 years (1997 - 2004) and sold it to buy my Formula 242 powerboat. There are days when a couple hour sail would be nice, so I have been thinking of getting a smaller sailboat . . . 17-20 foot range. Something that would not be a lot of hassle to use. A couple of...
  9. tpenfield

    Long Term GPH Realization

    When I went from a single engine sport cuddy to a twin engine day boat a few years ago, I was a bit concerned about the increased fuel usage. I was getting about 6 GPH overall on my 24 footer and was thinking double on my 33 foot twin engine boat. Now that I am 3 years into the 'new' boat I...
  10. tpenfield

    Lower Oil Pressure as the season goes on . . .

    I've been noticing that the oil pressure on my port engine has been looking lower as the boating season goes on . . . It started out as being 30 psi minimum at idle and maybe 45 psi at cruising speed. . . . Now it is looking more like 20 psi at idle and 35 psi at speed. more noticeable when...
  11. tpenfield

    First day out with the expanded family fleet

    My brother picked up his 'new to him' Grady White 222 today and despite the rough water conditions, we had a good day on the water. As we were traveling to the area where we would raft up for the day, we each got some decent pics of out boats going through the choppy waves. My brother's GW...
  12. tpenfield

    New (to me) towing vehicle. . And question

    I just got a 2004 Cadillac Escalade w/ 6.0L 345 HP AWD. Towing capacity is 8100 lbs. not that I have anything to immediately tow with the thing . . . I was planning on getting an F-250 or 350 to tow my Formula 330. My local boat ramp is about 1 mile down the road (30 mph) . . . The boat is...
  13. tpenfield

    Boat Buying Pickle . . . Info or Ideas??

    My brother who has not owned a boat in about 25 years has now become interested in getting a boat. He has found a pretty nice boat (center console), put in an offer, and I got him lined up with a good surveyor in case it moves forward. A wrinkle to the deal is that the boat comes with a...
  14. tpenfield

    JBL Marine Speakers

    The nearly 20 year old stereo speakers on my boat have seen better days and barely work. So, I bought a pair of JBL MS9520 marine speakers, which I plan on installing this weekend. I only noticed a couple of consumer reviews on the web, so not much to draw on as far as making a good choice...
  15. tpenfield

    'In water' cooling system maintenance . . .

    My port engine is showing signs of a cooling system issue, so it looks like I have to do some maintenance while the boat is in the water, as pulling the boat and re-launching it is wicked expensive. Some Info & Symptoms so far are: Twin engines per my sig below . . . FULL closed cooling...
  16. tpenfield

    Structural Moisture Remediation - something I came across . . .

    I know that the topic of resolving structural moisture ( in transoms, stringers, bulkheads, foam chambers, etc) in a "pre-rot" situation comes up on this forum from time to time. I myself have raised the issue with my current boat. Conventional wisdom is to cut & gut the affected areas and...
  17. tpenfield

    Too much Seafoam in motor oil ?

    OK, I went to change the oil on the Mercruiser 7.4's this weekend, and had some extra Seafoam. So, I added a can (16 oz) to each engine before the oil change and ran them through a 30 minute warmup, then pumped out the oil. To my surprise the oil came out foamy. So, initial thought was "oh...
  18. tpenfield

    Bravo 3 Bellows Replacement - Times 2

    As I prepped my boat for seasonal launching I noticed that the u-joint bellows are showing signs of wear from chaffing along several ridges of the bellows. At least from what I can see with the outdrive tilted up. I have not known chaffing to be an issue, at least based on my previous Bravo...
  19. tpenfield

    Question about filling Bravo III outdrive w/ Gear Lube . . .

    Yea, so I filled my twin Bravo 3 outdrives with gear lube yesterday, and that was a lot of 'fun' :rolleyes: In doing so, it has prompted some questions. I recall reading through the service manual a couple years ago and if I remember correctly, 1) I take the upper plug out, 2) fill from the...
  20. tpenfield

    Subscription Notifications not going away after delete

    I am noticing that the subscription notifications in the message center are not going away when I click to delete them. They used to, no problem. This just happened with the recent site maintenance.
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