kirkll
Cadet
- Joined
- Jun 9, 2020
- Messages
- 27
This is my 1st post on this new project. My wife and I bought this old boat in what we thought was in pretty good shape. Slowly but surely over this last month I’ve found myself elbow deep in one project after another I never thought I’d find myself doing.....
her she is. https://photos.app.goo.gl/Tddtn6QfWQcT3yvS8
After getting some basic education via you tube and other marine mechanics forums I took care of the basic maintenance items first, and it’s a good thing I did. There was little to no oil in the lower unit, and the water pump impeller was very old and cracked. Now the next step is getting the bellows and gimble bearings replaced? I’m going to take her to the shop for this one.
our old boat has a 4.3 Alpha one /gen 1 , with a new two barrel carb. She runs like a top, and has very little oil leaks. I had to work on the whole battery system and replace all the cables and BSS , and there are still other bits and pieces I can se were not done right when they put this “new” motor in it.... the definition of “New engine” should have been “different engine”. Trying to get any background info on it was a waste of time. The previous owner says, “I can remember the guys name I got the motor from, but it runs good.”..... So much for back ground eh?
https://photos.app.goo.gl/Hq8UFGZJpZyT33896
1st issue I had besides maintenance, was a shift/throttle control that came disconnected at the engine. Being inexperienced I instantly got on eBay and started looking for a replacement. I found one relatively easy and proceed to change it out. That was a learning experience. After I had the old one completely disassembled, I was told that I needed to disconnect the shifting cable at the engine to hook the cables into my new controller. THAT is when I found out the cable was already disconnected and the cause of my problem in the first place..... boy talk about feeling stupid... As it turned out the newer used control was in much better shape than my old one, so I used that fact as my justification for not wasting time and money.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/j35QuDwjgnH6UandA
the next step was to get a trolling motor mounted on something else besides this rickity old bracket that was on the boat when we bought it. Of course I tried it out, and that motor was moving all over the place, and would not raise up easily at all.
so I upgraded to this one....
https://photos.app.goo.gl/Wnuch55Eo2d1aLrk9
The next adventure was pretty easy. The existing bilge pump was shot, and it was hooked up to a switch on the dash. It was a itty bitty pump too with a 3/4” line. So I upgraded to a 2000 GPH unit and ran an additional 1 1/4” discharge line through the hull on the starboard side right below the existing 3/4” line. My plan is to have two pumps. One big and one small. I set it up using an electronic water sensor rather than using a mechanical float. I still haven’t installed the smaller pump, but the discharge line is already there when I get around to it.
So we finally got her where I thought we were ready to start using it a bit. And we did..... But..... you know there is always a butt for some reason running an old boat.... I found out the the trim switches were not getting a proper ground, and stalling the engine out. That was what instigated replacing all the battery connections and BSS switch. but it was a beautiful day on the lake that day.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/JqPQt1je95BCkZsa6
So our next excursion was back to the lake with the kids. We finally got a boat big enough for 4 people and two dogs! Wow, what a treat...... but...... here comes that butt again...... Trying to get that poor girl out of the hole and up on plane took forever.I mean she struggled for 50 yards before she came up and leveled out. Once on top, she wound up pretty good, but it was obvious I had the wrong prop , or a bad prop.... it’s always something eh?
So I went to the dealer and they looked at it and told me it was in pretty rough shape. I didn’t think it looked THAT bad. But I had it replaced and we gave it another go with the whole family..... WOW! Huge difference that made. This thing just leaped out of the water instantly with the whole family and dogs and gear too....... I was very happy about that...... but..... here we go again.... My WOT throttle rpms were way too high and I lost a good 10 mph top end speed. It was like running down the freeway in your truck in second gear. Something wasn’t right. So I found out Thai had a 21” prop , and the dealer sold me a 17”. Hey.... I loved the responsiveness getting out of the hole, but the high rpms I couldn’t live with. So rather than going back to the 21”, I traded that for a 19” prop...... no more butt’s on this issue. Next time out I had good hole shot and plenty of speed. I was getting about 42 mph top end, but the rpms were still a bit high at 5200 at WOT. But she does a nice 35-36 mph at 4200 and I like that a lot. So I’m going to stick with the 19” prop.
The next outing was the run up the Columbia River with just my wife and I to go chinook fishing. It ran good, and crushed nice..... but..... here we go again. The bilge pump kept kicking in about every 30 minutes, and it was pumping quite a bit of water out. I never noticed any leaks before, so this was kind of strange. The only thing we did differently was raise the outdrive into trailer position so I could get better response from my trolling motor. So we did some testing at the dock before I pulled it out. Raised and lowered the outdrive first, and no leak. Then raised it up and turned the wheel hard over both port and starboard. BINGO! Found the leak. Now I’m not certain, but I think it’s my shift cable bellows that has a small tear in it, and it only opens up in trailer position and hard to starboard..... So I’ve got it scheduled to go back to the shop for that project. I’m not quite ready to pull the outdrive and install new gimble bearings...... btw.... the new bilge pump worked excellent. That date is set for the end of the month, so I rolled up my sleeves and decided to polish this old girl up.
this brings us up to date now.
My back ground is mainly carpentry, but I spent a bit of time building boats. Mostly wood boats, but I’m no stranger to fiberglass and bondo either. But working with gelcoat and doing repairs to a glass hull I ave no experience at all..... Good old you tube and several hundred dollars later, I’m set up with every kind of rubbing compound known to man, a new buffer, and a good attitude to start out..... After day 4 of sanding and buffing, the novelty has definitely worn off.
to be continued...... more butts to come.... Kirk
her she is. https://photos.app.goo.gl/Tddtn6QfWQcT3yvS8
After getting some basic education via you tube and other marine mechanics forums I took care of the basic maintenance items first, and it’s a good thing I did. There was little to no oil in the lower unit, and the water pump impeller was very old and cracked. Now the next step is getting the bellows and gimble bearings replaced? I’m going to take her to the shop for this one.
our old boat has a 4.3 Alpha one /gen 1 , with a new two barrel carb. She runs like a top, and has very little oil leaks. I had to work on the whole battery system and replace all the cables and BSS , and there are still other bits and pieces I can se were not done right when they put this “new” motor in it.... the definition of “New engine” should have been “different engine”. Trying to get any background info on it was a waste of time. The previous owner says, “I can remember the guys name I got the motor from, but it runs good.”..... So much for back ground eh?
https://photos.app.goo.gl/Hq8UFGZJpZyT33896
1st issue I had besides maintenance, was a shift/throttle control that came disconnected at the engine. Being inexperienced I instantly got on eBay and started looking for a replacement. I found one relatively easy and proceed to change it out. That was a learning experience. After I had the old one completely disassembled, I was told that I needed to disconnect the shifting cable at the engine to hook the cables into my new controller. THAT is when I found out the cable was already disconnected and the cause of my problem in the first place..... boy talk about feeling stupid... As it turned out the newer used control was in much better shape than my old one, so I used that fact as my justification for not wasting time and money.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/j35QuDwjgnH6UandA
the next step was to get a trolling motor mounted on something else besides this rickity old bracket that was on the boat when we bought it. Of course I tried it out, and that motor was moving all over the place, and would not raise up easily at all.
so I upgraded to this one....
https://photos.app.goo.gl/Wnuch55Eo2d1aLrk9
The next adventure was pretty easy. The existing bilge pump was shot, and it was hooked up to a switch on the dash. It was a itty bitty pump too with a 3/4” line. So I upgraded to a 2000 GPH unit and ran an additional 1 1/4” discharge line through the hull on the starboard side right below the existing 3/4” line. My plan is to have two pumps. One big and one small. I set it up using an electronic water sensor rather than using a mechanical float. I still haven’t installed the smaller pump, but the discharge line is already there when I get around to it.
So we finally got her where I thought we were ready to start using it a bit. And we did..... But..... you know there is always a butt for some reason running an old boat.... I found out the the trim switches were not getting a proper ground, and stalling the engine out. That was what instigated replacing all the battery connections and BSS switch. but it was a beautiful day on the lake that day.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/JqPQt1je95BCkZsa6
So our next excursion was back to the lake with the kids. We finally got a boat big enough for 4 people and two dogs! Wow, what a treat...... but...... here comes that butt again...... Trying to get that poor girl out of the hole and up on plane took forever.I mean she struggled for 50 yards before she came up and leveled out. Once on top, she wound up pretty good, but it was obvious I had the wrong prop , or a bad prop.... it’s always something eh?
So I went to the dealer and they looked at it and told me it was in pretty rough shape. I didn’t think it looked THAT bad. But I had it replaced and we gave it another go with the whole family..... WOW! Huge difference that made. This thing just leaped out of the water instantly with the whole family and dogs and gear too....... I was very happy about that...... but..... here we go again.... My WOT throttle rpms were way too high and I lost a good 10 mph top end speed. It was like running down the freeway in your truck in second gear. Something wasn’t right. So I found out Thai had a 21” prop , and the dealer sold me a 17”. Hey.... I loved the responsiveness getting out of the hole, but the high rpms I couldn’t live with. So rather than going back to the 21”, I traded that for a 19” prop...... no more butt’s on this issue. Next time out I had good hole shot and plenty of speed. I was getting about 42 mph top end, but the rpms were still a bit high at 5200 at WOT. But she does a nice 35-36 mph at 4200 and I like that a lot. So I’m going to stick with the 19” prop.
The next outing was the run up the Columbia River with just my wife and I to go chinook fishing. It ran good, and crushed nice..... but..... here we go again. The bilge pump kept kicking in about every 30 minutes, and it was pumping quite a bit of water out. I never noticed any leaks before, so this was kind of strange. The only thing we did differently was raise the outdrive into trailer position so I could get better response from my trolling motor. So we did some testing at the dock before I pulled it out. Raised and lowered the outdrive first, and no leak. Then raised it up and turned the wheel hard over both port and starboard. BINGO! Found the leak. Now I’m not certain, but I think it’s my shift cable bellows that has a small tear in it, and it only opens up in trailer position and hard to starboard..... So I’ve got it scheduled to go back to the shop for that project. I’m not quite ready to pull the outdrive and install new gimble bearings...... btw.... the new bilge pump worked excellent. That date is set for the end of the month, so I rolled up my sleeves and decided to polish this old girl up.
this brings us up to date now.
My back ground is mainly carpentry, but I spent a bit of time building boats. Mostly wood boats, but I’m no stranger to fiberglass and bondo either. But working with gelcoat and doing repairs to a glass hull I ave no experience at all..... Good old you tube and several hundred dollars later, I’m set up with every kind of rubbing compound known to man, a new buffer, and a good attitude to start out..... After day 4 of sanding and buffing, the novelty has definitely worn off.
to be continued...... more butts to come.... Kirk