OK, ready to put my restored 1988 Cruisers Inc. 3370 back in the water after I think 6-7 year on land. Previous owner spent a ton and never got the drives working right. I just finished getting that done, seems to run fine now going to launch. Totally rebuilt engines, and trimmings, etc.
So, the marine mechanic who did the drives for us said I'd be better off bypassing the inboard water strainers because they are old and untested - he also is concerned that they are above the water line but I think that's OK. Also no gasket seal left as best I can tell. He says in our part of Lake Ontario they really aren't needed and each intake has a strainer on the hull intake. He had the hoses off after the strainers to put the garden hose in to run the engines. My son and I are finishing the plumbing now.
Now, IF we bypass the strainers, we have two options. One way is to just turn the seacock valve about 50 deg. and it would fit right to the strainer outlet hose - easy. However, it was a salt water boat and sat for many year, soI have a fear that when I try to wrench that valve i could break something! I did spray penetrating oil on it yesterday in case I go this route today. Can the valve be turned 50 deg. without leaking? Any tips?
Option 2 is to just add a hose and nipple to connect to the existing intake hose. We tried this yesterday, but too short a hose so we had to bend it too sharply and it leaked - too tight a bend radius. If we get maybe an 8 foot hose we can put it in so as to have a much larger bend radius. This adds 8 feet to the intake, and could be hard to keep under the waterline completely (although I have no idea how to tell where the WL is from in the engine compartment).
Thoughts?
So, the marine mechanic who did the drives for us said I'd be better off bypassing the inboard water strainers because they are old and untested - he also is concerned that they are above the water line but I think that's OK. Also no gasket seal left as best I can tell. He says in our part of Lake Ontario they really aren't needed and each intake has a strainer on the hull intake. He had the hoses off after the strainers to put the garden hose in to run the engines. My son and I are finishing the plumbing now.
Now, IF we bypass the strainers, we have two options. One way is to just turn the seacock valve about 50 deg. and it would fit right to the strainer outlet hose - easy. However, it was a salt water boat and sat for many year, soI have a fear that when I try to wrench that valve i could break something! I did spray penetrating oil on it yesterday in case I go this route today. Can the valve be turned 50 deg. without leaking? Any tips?
Option 2 is to just add a hose and nipple to connect to the existing intake hose. We tried this yesterday, but too short a hose so we had to bend it too sharply and it leaked - too tight a bend radius. If we get maybe an 8 foot hose we can put it in so as to have a much larger bend radius. This adds 8 feet to the intake, and could be hard to keep under the waterline completely (although I have no idea how to tell where the WL is from in the engine compartment).
Thoughts?