Re: "1986 16.5' Dateline/Sidewinder sports boat. Full strip and rebuild
Hang tight and wait for the guys in the O/B forum they will steer you straight no sence chancing any internal damage because of a pee hole!
Yeah, I got some good responses from the chaps in the Merc/Mariner section. Upon their advice I got the thermostats out, and I'm glad I did too! Check out the pics below lol
Heya kwik...that motor will get you skootin' across the water in no time flat I'd say!
Build is looking great!
Thanks Trooper! Not long till splash time now woooo. Their is a big air show on in about 3 weeks, so come hell or high water Bumblebee will be out for that hehe (hopefully without oars). It is so cool watching the air display from the water as the aircraft are quite literally going right over your head at low level. Fantastic!
That's a might fine Mariner Kwik, it'll push the Bumblebee along nicely.
Pop the boat and the trailer into the water at the slip to see if if solves your peeing prob.
also ,
give some of the guys in the prop section a shout to make sure that then engine is not being over or under worked but running exactly where it should be, follow the sitcky at the top of that forum so they can tell you if your propped right. hate to see the engine quit after a while on you esp after all the good work your after doing there.
Alas I couldn't really do that, as I can't move it with my own car. I need to rely on someone else which is a shame. I hear you about the prop. It's running a 13.5" 23p Laser II at the moment. I'm thinking of moving to a 14" 21p Trophy Plus four blade. I asked in the prop section, and the guys all said try it with the one I've got first and see how it goes. Should have some crazy top end with 23p though!!
Now the update:
Upon advice from the helpful guys in the Merc/Mariner outboard section I took the lower unit off and the water pump, gaskets, plate and housing were all brand new (as the seller had told me, I just needed to check myself or I'd have gone mad). Pickup tube was making good contact, so I greased everything up and checked the oil before refitting.
That led me to tonight's work; removing the thermostats. That in theory is easy. Four bolts out and you can inspect. First bolt I tried to loosen snapped with next to no force on it. Bummer.
I moved on to the other bolt and heated it up with a blow torch before using an impact driver to remove it. No problem, came out great with a good bit of heat. You can also see the snapped bolt in this one and a whole host of crud and salt!!
Using the blow torch and a stud extractor I managed to get the remains of the offending bolt out. Thankfully it had snapped about 2-3mm from the top of the bolt so it gave me something to grab on to.
Do you guys think these thermostats need replacing?? LOL
A friendly chap I know gave me a thermostat to try, unfortunately is was the wrong one. The one in the middle is one I cleaned up just to see if it would pop in boiling water. Needless to say it didn't! heh
I'm going to order two with seals and gaskets in the morning. Should have them ready to install on Thursday night.
It also needs a new temperature sender (port side) for the gauge. Tried testing it as per the factory manual but it is 100% dead.
So all in all not a bad night's work. I'm looking forward to fitting the new parts and firing her back up!!
