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  1. jtexas

    Fish jumping in the boat

    I swear I am not making this up. Three-day camping trip with my nephew Jake, 10 years old, at Fairfield Lake, a powerplant cooling lake, year-round temps high enough to support a stocked population of red drum. I got several nice tilapia while castnetting for bait. And about a 3 pound bass...
  2. jtexas

    Stupid CAT trick

    Keep the boat at a storage yard. Behind a local-family-owned vacuum cleaner repair shop in an old part of town. Some of the family actually live on the premises. A lot of cats in the yard, which I never complain about, because I've never seen any evidence of rodents around inspite of all the...
  3. jtexas

    Why did my boat shock me?

    Just curious, mostly. I had a 12V accessory socket clamped onto the battery posts, using it to power a compressor to top off the trailer tires. As I was removing the neg clamp I felt a little bit of a jolt in my fingers. The insulation is gone from that one. Pos was still attached. I was...
  4. jtexas

    Why am I stripping threads and breaking screws?

    1979 rude 70 Lower unit drive shaft & shift shaft seals. I've broke the threads out of 3 holes and the heads off 3 screws. These are all 1/4-20 7/16" hex head screws. Manual says "secure cover assembly screws to torque specified in section 2." Torque values for 7/16" screws is 28-30 ft. lbs...
  5. jtexas

    Stupid tool tricks

    Torque wrench: Specs said 28 to 30 ft lbs. Suspected I passed 30lbs but having no formal training, I stuck with it until it got looser instead of tighter. I was going to say it was cause the new torque wrench is way more subtler when it breaks over, but I'm tired of covering for stupid tools...
  6. jtexas

    shift rod bushing o-ring - the rest of the story.........

    1979 rude 70. removed shift rod cover - there was a remnant of what might once have been an o-ring coming out the bottom. the advice from the manual: "Replace shift rod cover "O" ring." that's it. So I got this fat little o-ring to go in this little hole and up into that groove somehow...
  7. jtexas

    Trolling Motor Opinions, please.................

    Shopping around online for the best prices on brush sets & seal kits for my old 36lb motorguide (crowleymarine.com is about half everyone else), I discovered that for $144 I can get a complete 43lb lower unit assembly, and a 52lb lower unit is only $161. Put the parts lists side by side...
  8. jtexas

    What is this "VEHICLE ACQUISITION NOTICE"?

    Recieved in today's mail, a 1 page, glossy flyer with the Toyota logo at the top with the words "TOYOTA VEHICLE ACQUISION NOTICE". It starts out with, "The Authorized Toyota retailer named above is allowing a test-market vehicle acquisition sale that allows for the reimbursement of up to 90% of...
  9. jtexas

    Need some gearbox seal advice

    1979/70hp. Found a tiny bit of water in the gearcase, underwater pressure test indicated driveshaft seal. Removed bearing housing, found 2 damaged shims. These are the shims that ride underneath the bearing housing. The guy at the parts house calipered 'em for me, 1 @ .002 and 1 @ .001...
  10. jtexas

    How does the AP Poll work?

    Curious about the logistics. Like for example: how points are assigned. how voters are selected. what the "(11)" in "LSU (11)" means. thanks,
  11. jtexas

    couple quick questions about gearcase seals

    little bit of water in gearcase, new drain & vent plug washers didn't help. If I'm reading this manual correctly, seal replacement doesn't require removal of propshaft or driveshaft - but the bearing housings have to come out - does that sound about right? Or do you always completely...
  12. jtexas

    Left Truck in Reverse on the Ramp? Here's the Solution:

    last winter (I may have reported this already, if so, I apologize for the redundant posts), as I was lining the boat up with the trailer to load, I noticed the reverse lights were on (did I mention I was alone?)........luckily the parking brake held, I very nearly panicked......I was afraid that...
  13. jtexas

    caught my own marker

    drifting with the wind, big clouds of bait on the graph, bouncing a slab off the bottom, chatting with a couple in another boat - we're all jigging so you can get close enough to talk without crowding each other - bam! hooked a nice 4 lb hybrid striper. got 'im in the boat, glanced at the...
  14. jtexas

    Ran out of gas....................

    Headed back to the ramp Saturday after getting brutalized by high winds all morning (National Weather Service blew the forecast yet again), a bass boat with a couple fathers & young sons (maybe 5 or 7 YO) flagged me down, about a quarter mile from the launch. Out of gas needing a tow, no prob...
  15. jtexas

    Found & Lost

    Found floating on Lake Ray Hubbard, last Saturday: One bright yellow PFD, size 4X - 7X. Lost on Lake Ray Hubbard, last Saturday: One bright yellow PFD, size 4X - 7X, escaped from the back deck where it was left to dry. That's only the 3rd item of value I've found over 25 or so years of...
  16. jtexas

    Unknown metal, preventing rust

    Fabricating a switch panel from scratch (just for fun), cut from an old stereo component case (pioneer, circa 1983), the outside cover has a pretty neat flat black finish, but I'm using the inside, polished it up real shiny, but I don't know what kind of metal it is - is there a clearcoat-like...
  17. jtexas

    Which LED's for indicators?

    Any LED experts on board? Making a switch panel from scratch, JFTHOI (just-for-the-H-of-it), and want to add indicator lights, LEDs obviously being the most energy efficient - but I'm so confused.....colors, brightness, viewing angles.......which ones have the best visibility in direct...
  18. jtexas

    Which LED's for indicators?

    I want indicator lights on my switch panel and I want to use LED's cause of low power consumption, but I'm having a hard time figuring out what to buy, need something visible in direct sunlight. Any advice? thanks,
  19. jtexas

    Why DVA meter?

    Another thread I asked why we test powerpacks by measuring "peak AC", when a capacitor discharge is always DC; this is the answer I got, which totally makes sense to me (a non-engineer): Which begs the question: why would I need anything but a capacitor across my DC voltmeter leads to...
  20. jtexas

    Livewell fill pump wiring idea - opinions?

    Typical livewell fill pump, through-transom intake - who among us hasn't burned one up by forgetting to turn it off while underway? The other day it occurred to me - if I connect the ground from the pump to my outboard kill circuit, the pump will go off when I start the motor, and come back on...
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