Well, here goes boat year 2
It's been a long time since I have posted on here due to being very busy and not getting to take the boat out until today. I had a fear of getting it out too early and having it freeze outside again (which happens way too often in the spring here) and then having it rain every weekend I wasn't busy or working. We got it out today and spent a couple of hours on the water, my daughter is 2 1/2 now and had a great time and was much better behaved than she was last fall. Every thing went well, aside from me forgetting to drop the outdrive until it was already in the water. It still idles, which kind of surprised me, and seemed to run better than it did last year. I got it started on the first try and haven't had any problems other than the good old blowby issues from last year. Nothing much too exciting as far as projects go right now. I taped and ziptied what seemed like most of the wiring in the boat as well as relocating the batteries to opposing sides in the back and mounting my battery maintainers in the boat. Would the original gas tank have been at the back? ...and is it safe to have it next to the engine?
-I replaced the outdrive oil, which looked horrible... Shows me for trusting that it had been "fully serviced" before I bought it. I drained it after the trip to the lake today and it doesn't look too bad so I am going to try to pressure test it to see if I can find a leak. Is there supposed to be oil in the top? (I have oil and an oil port in the top) but it didn't drain when I opened the bottom and I'll be damned if I can find a separate drain plug for it? Do the top and bottom share oil? I siphoned out what I could and refilled at the top and filled the bottom from the drain until it came out the vent as I had read. By "the top" I mean "drive shaft housing" I believe.
-Hopeful Projects This year:
1. Replace old canvas top with something that isn't slowly turning to dust
2. I have a good lead on a Merc 120 with an Alpha drive at a good price
3. Figure out what to do about the cabin area
4. I'd still like to paint the damn thing, but painting season coincides with boating season around these parts
5. Possibly move/replace the gas tank (current under passenger seat)
6. Do more boating and fishing now that my daughter is being reasonable in the boat ;-)
If I get anything new and improved done I will be sure to post some more pictures, so far it has just been tons of little stuff.
