Hi guys!<br /><br />Finally good news! Had the boat on the dam yesterday, and we're just about done! Thanx a mil for all the inputs from you guys!!!<br /><br />Here's the update...<br />After my last post a lot has happened and nothing has happened. I still didn't know whether I had 1150 or 1350 and even calls to Mercury South Africa didn't help. What they did give me was the max advance BTDC for both motors 23 deg BTDC.<br /><br />The parts I ordered finally arrived. Had to be flown in from the US. Full carb gasket kits, needles and seats and fuel pump diaphrams and gaskets. I was also lucky enough to find a colortune in Johannesburg and had that couriered in. Brought a clock guage from my office, and we were all set.<br /><br />Now the boat pretty much became a pet project for me and my dad. So we spent every weekend around the engine. It almost became an obsession (To show "it" that we can beat it). And as we're working and drinking and chatting about the good old days we had, when I was very small, on the previous 2 boats my dad owned. (Both fitted with Mercs). The were red band 80 or 85hp. Going through our combined mechanical experience and trouble shooting each part as best we know how. We both pretty much suck at electronics and electrics.<br /><br />Every week we'd each take something of the boat to our jobs and have parts made or something done. <br />The fork in the top cowl that operates the latch broke. <br />The electrics looked suspect in general. I had a new fork machined on our CNC milling machine at the office, and my dad had all the wiring redone/tidied up. <br />I stripped out the steering rack and cable re-lubed and had the steering cable repaired/relubed.<br />The power trim/tilt died on us last weekend so dad had that reconned this week (Worn brushes).<br />The rectifier/regulator was also faulty. It rectifies, but doesn't regulate. Bought a second hand motorcycle unit.<br /><br />So everything came together on Saturday. <br />Re-measured and punched TDC and 23 deg BTDC on the flywheel.<br />Then a start-up and quick run to check the combustion color on each plug.<br /><br />Smoke!!! Disconnect battery in a hurry. The "new second hand (tested)" rectifier/regulator is burning up! Take a drink break to think. Drink some more. Phone a friend who's an auto electrician. Tells us that the type has to get power through the ignition key. Can't have 12V DC on the output side continious. Change the wiring. Pull 12V down from the white tab on the ignition. But now the rectifier might be blown, if it wasn't before. So we decide to disconnect it completely and continue. Test the stator. Checks ok.<br />Back to the startup and test run with the colortune. We did this to determine if the current main jets are too big, using the colortune. You can't do this with the earmuffs because you have to get the engine labouring and off the idle jets. The 5000l water tank worked like a charm here. You can't open throttle all the way, but you can get to 4000rpm. Combustion was orange. So too rich.<br />Carbs off. New needles and seats. Check float level. New gaskets. New smaller main jets.<br />Meantime I was replacing the gaskets and diaprams in the fuel pumps.<br /><br />Assemble. Link and Sync. Colortune run again to make sure we're not running too lean. All good. Still a little on the rich side, but much better than it was. So it's safe, and purrs like a kitten. Set idling neatral and in gear. Both good and under 1000 rpm. I should rather say "Sounds like". My tacho is the altenator type, but doesn't work at the moment. Close everything up. Measure battery voltage. Run at around 3000rpm for 10 minutes, measure voltage again. We're running all the electrics off the battery and we don't want to get stranded in the middle of the dam without power. Grab an extra battery from a car and load it up.<br /><br />The moment of truth! Get the family together, hook the boat, and set off to the dam.<br /><br />And finally, after weeks of labour, everything sounds good!!! Couple of spins around the dam. throttle pickup timing cou;d use a little work since the hole shot ain't that great, but all in all it really sounds and feels good! Did some low speed cruising and everything really sounds great!<br /><br />But alas, we're not all done yet. After shut off or long low speed runs you really battle to get her going again. The primer bulb goes soft aswell. She runs really great at full power and has no problems. We feel it's probably and air leak in the fuel line between the tank and fuel pump. The quick couplers at the tank and engine are our main suspects. Like everything on the boat and engine, nothing has ever seen maintenance, so the seals are all probably perished and hard.<br /><br />The boat will go to an auto electrician this week to sort out the regulator/rectrifier. I'm hoping that with a new one installed my tacho will also start working again? It's wired from a yellow wire from the stator.<br /><br />So all in all we're 99% there! Full power seems sorted, fuel consumption is heavy, but ALOT better than what it was. We'll also be checking the state of the plugs after yesterday's runs to make triple sure that the mixture is fine now.<br /><br />So here's a list of my questions:<br />Should my tacho work again when the regulator/rectifier has been sorted?<br />Above the prop the previous owner fitted 2 large "wings". They seem to be for anti-cavitation. Shouldn't they be running just ontop of the water at full power? These are running "in" the water, which doesn't make sense.<br />How high/low should the motor be mounted in relation to the water? Is there any way I can tell if the motor is maybe too high or too low on the boat?
