Search results

  1. H

    Hot Start/Electical Problem

    Alright electrical guru's, I have a bit of an issue. With a cold engine, everything starts up perfectly with no issues, the blower (electical bilge blower) operates, as does the bilge pump. Guages all work perfectly. After running for a bit 20-30 minutes, we shut down the engine just to...
  2. H

    Shift Cable Adjustment (not a procedure ques)

    I couldn't get the lower unit to engage both forward and reverse gears from the helm, so I took it to a repair shop. I expected to have a lower shift cable replacement since mine is likely the original 30+yr old shift cable. I was able to manually shift the outdrive into F/R, so it's not the...
  3. H

    Electrical Glitch

    Alright Ladies and Gents, I've got a small electrical gremlin to hunt down. Took the 'Twain out for the first water test since the rebuilt 351w and transom rebuild this past weekend. Boat fired up off the trailer without an issue, was a little finicky with shifting related to the...
  4. H

    Pre-Alpha (233) Lower Shift Shaft

    Anyone have a breakdown of the procedure to remove the lower shift shaft (not the intermediate shaft) from the lower unit and install a new one? My outdrive is old enough to wear it has the old-style steel shaft which has corroded a bit. I have a leak at the shift shaft as well, so I will be...
  5. H

    Drilling/Tapping of Manifolds

    Has anyone has success/experience with drilling and tapping holes in the cast-iron exhaust manifolds? I am probably going with the center-riser conversion on my engine and the water-fuel separator was mounted on a bracket to the old log-style manifolds. There is absolutely no other place to...
  6. H

    Center Riser Conversion - Studs

    Well, I'm gathering parts to add to the new long block 351 and had a question. I'm going to buy the Osco center-riser manifolds to convert from the old log-style manifolds. It appears that all of the center-riser manifolds only use 4 of the 8 exhaust studs?! Seems like that would put a lot of...
  7. H

    Rebuildable Core

    How does one know if you have a rebuildable core to send a reman. engine company? I finally tore down the engine this weekend and found much worse results than I anticipated on the 351W. Seems it wasn't one cylinder that had water intrusion, but 4; and two of them had rust/corrosion bad enough...
  8. H

    What engine route should I take?

    Well, I had the complete parts list ready for my 351W rebuild and the money in the bank ready to go. Along comes a late 80's early 90's ski nautic that the owner wrecked and wants to sell the engine, a 351W. $300 buys the entire thing, turn-key supposedly. So here's the issue, from what I...
  9. H

    Twin Controls

    I always had a question regarding boats with twin engines, especially express cruisers. Why do some models have the double controls at the helm for shift/throttle? One is usually black and one is usually red. I understand that it separates the shift mechanism from the throttle linkage, but...
  10. H

    Seen the New Cobalt A25?

    I happened to be browsing Cobalt's website and saw the new A25 model. It's definitely a bit of an odd-duck compared to the rest of the line, but the deployable swim platform definitely caught my attention! The lines are just different on the hull from what I see, not bad, just different...
  11. H

    Cam Upgrade

    I have been looking at upgrading the cam in my 351W as I rebuild it from the bottom up. I know about the effects of reversion, and I cannot use anything but the standard 3" risers due to space limitations above the engine. I'm not looking for a big loping idle, just something to replace the...
  12. H

    FI vs. Carbed 351W

    Since I am in the process of tearing down my 351 which had some water intrusion into the rear cylinder from a suspected failed riser. . . is there any reason to upgrade to FI on a 1976 351W? I plan on doing a complete rebuild of the engine: new pistons/rods/bearings, valves/seals, etc. For the...
  13. H

    Carbon Fiber Boats

    So when do you think we'll see the advent of mass production boats made from Carbon Fiber/Composites instead of the fiberglass common to today? I dunno why it popped into my head, but it seems like you could make a solid/lightweight boat out of carbon fiber just as easily as you can with...
  14. H

    Conversion from Rear to Center Manifolds

    Does anyone have any experience with swapping the log style aft exit exhaust manifolds to a center-exit manifold? My manifolds/risers are who knows how old (over 15 years for sure, quite likely original equipment (33 years). In any case, I believe that the failure of the riser or manifold is...
  15. H

    351 Rebuild - Need Opinions/Suggestions!!

    So after rebuilding the transom, all new bellows/seals/gaskets for everything, getting the linkages hooked up and the starter rebuilt: we have locked up engine! We had found water in the left rear cylinder right before we put the engine back in, but we syphoned the water out put in some PB...
  16. H

    Jumpering Trim Pump

    The issue is after a complete transom rebuild, this is the last piece of the puzzle, and I likely have one wire in the wrong place. The trim pump clicks when pressing the up/up-out (trailer) buttons, but makes no sound when pressing the down button or up button by themselves (thus no movement)...
  17. H

    Alpha I Trim "Down"

    Okay, so I have the outdrive mounted on finally, and now I need to fix the trim wiring. I have a trim wiring diagram for a single-solenoid Merc unit and am positive that 90% of the wiring is correct. However, (3-button trim) when I press the down (IN) button, there is no sound from the pump...
  18. H

    Trim Pump Question(s)

    I almost have the 76 Mark Twain runabout back together after a transom rebuild, but have a few details to work out before we try starting it up. First of all, we got the wiring back together and re-connected where I *think* everything went. This is on a 351 Ford w/233 outdrive (pre-apha)...
  19. H

    Upgraded Carburetor

    Well, while I'm upgrading everything on the 20' runabout, I thought of another item. I currently have the 351W with a 2bbl rochester carb, there were 4bbl versions made according to Seloc. Is there any real efficiency increase in moving from what I think is about a 300cfm carb to perhaps...
  20. H

    Water in Cylinder and Oil

    Alright, I have a question for the engine gurus. While prepping the engine to go back into the boat after about 2 years of sitting, we changed out all of the spark plugs on the 1976 Ford 351/Merc. The starboard rear cylinder had some water in it, and upon draining the oil, it had water in it...
Top