2003 Honda 9.9

[setadrift]

I answered an ad on CL today for a 14ft aluminum boat and motor. the ad said the motor is 'seized' and no good but he'll take $200 for the boat and trailer.

I go look at it, the boat is a 1993 Starcraft SF14, on an unknown trailer.
The boat had a title but the registration was expired 10/2003. On the back is a 2003 Honda 9.9hp. The guy showed me that the rope wouldn't budge, he said he bought it new, let it sit in the barn over the winter and it was seized the next spring. For $200, I didn't pay much attention to the motor, just the hull. I handed over $200, took the title and left.
I got the boat home and took a closer look at the motor. I gave it a pull and the rope didn't budge, I then shifted the motor up and down and back to neutral, and the motor suddenly turned over fine. It likely wasn't in neutral when he pulled the rope.

Looking the motor over, I see a few issues, first is that its missing the cover, the guy said it blew off on the road day one and he never found it. Another is that the choke cable is rubbing the flywheel and is nearly cut through.
I choked it by hand and it started right up on fresh fuel but the carb needs cleaning.

I found a used cover at a local boat yard but its rough, someone painted it with camo paint. Who ever painted it must have sanded it with 36 grip sandpaper.
Will regular paint stick to the plastic cover? I can sand off the camo paint, which all but flakes off the roughed up cover.
I was going to just order a new cover but they wanted way too much, but the carb, choke cable, water pump impeller, and a spare prop were very affordable, all less than $100 and all were in stock. They wanted over $400 for the cover but said it was no longer available.

 

[roscoe]

Use Krylon Fusion paint, made for plastic.

I would test an area on the inside first.

 

[mirrocraft16]

I had a Honda a few years ago, it lost most of its paint on the cover in the first year. It blistered off in spots leaving it speckled in blue/silver and white where the paint was gone. I tried sanding it smooth but it just gummed up the sandpaper. I finally ground off the original paint with an air sander, feathered over all the bad spots and treated it like a soft bumper cover on a car.

I see a lot of Honda motors with bad paint in their covers, you would think that after all these years they'd have gotten that part right?

I painted mine, then sold it. It was a great running motor but it was heavier and a bit slower than the Yamaha I bought to replace it.
The Honda however was easier on gas and a bit quieter.
I just could never figure out why they put so much attention into building a really good outboard then stuck a cheap plastic cover on it.

 

[setadrift]

I'm not too concerned about weight or how it compares to other motors.
I was glad to find a motor that runs without a two month wait or thousands in repairs. A few pounds either way makes little difference. 10hp won't plane out the boat regardless of the motor weight. I'd need 20hp to get the boat on plane with two grown men in the boat. I'll be happy so long as it gets me out and back.
The main concern is simply making it look better, the mismatched cover looks terrible.
I gave some thought to the Krylon Fusion paint but it doesn't come in the right color. I picked up two cans of OEM Honda spray paint, it smells like lacquer, so painting it first with Krylon to achieve a bond won't work as the Honda paint attacks the Krylon paint. I also need to use some sort of filler/primer to fill in some of the deep sandpaper scratches in the plastic.

 

[reelfishin]

Honda motors were always decent motors, they just never had the dealer network around here that the other brands had. Yamaha and Mercury were always king here.
I've owned, and still own several Honda motors, the earliest being from the early 80's, the newest a 2005 9.9hp.
Like any motor, its got its strong points and its weak points.
The older models had issues with exhaust leaks, the newer models had issues with ethanol fuel, cheap plastic covers that don't fit well, and expensive, hard to get parts. (Pretty much if its not Yamaha here its a matter of mail ordering any parts you may need).
Weight wise they're pretty average, give or take a few pounds depending on the model. I wouldn't want to carry any four stroke 10hp very far. Weight wise, they tend to be closer to the weight of an older 18-20hp 2 stroke, but the very latest motors have gotten better.

The way things have been lately, any half decent four stroke 10hp motor will fetch at least half of what a new one sells for, sometimes more.

 

[setadrift]

I swapped over the new carb, new choke cable, and gave it a new prop and ran it three days this weekend. It runs great, but I feel its too heavy for the boat, with the weight of the motor, (close to 100lbs or so), and my 400 lbs at the stern the boat has only an inch or so of freeboard at the top of the transom. It moves me along at about 14 mph on the river and more than once I had to bail water after larger boats went by.
Yesterday I pulled the Honda and hung my old 9.9hp Gamefisher motor.
I get a few more MPH and at least 2 inch less draft at the stern.
Dropping 44 lbs off the stern made a huge difference overall.
Some of the weight loss is offset by having to carry a second 3 gallon tank since the 2 stroke burns more fuel but I can store that in the bow.

Anyone know what a 2003 Honda 9.9hp tiller short shaft will bring if I decide to let it go? I see a few listed for close to what a new one sells for but they don't have a mismatched cover either
If the boat was a bit deeper it would be a better match but it being a narrow 14ft boat, the heavier four stroke is just not a good idea with two guys nearly 400lbs each in the boat.
The only thing I'll miss about the Honda if I sell it is how quiet it is.