Free boat! UPDATE!

[Blue Crabber]

Re: Free boat! UPDATE!

I wish SBL would read your above statement, LOL!

 

[chriscraft254]

Re: Free boat! UPDATE!

Smoke, wheres the video of the destruction??????

 

[smokeonthewater]

Re: Free boat! UPDATE!

I recorded it but the dozer pushed it so far before crushing that you couldn't even make it out in the crappy cell phone vid... sorry

 

[smokeonthewater]

Re: Free boat! UPDATE!

Hey folks, I haven't done much more on it but I have made little bits of progress.... I installed a new drain for the front fisbox and a new thruhull for it, I put a stern light socket in. I pulled the wiring for the PTT up to the helm with the 3 button switch.... Of course I've decided to pull it back out and string wire through without the switch. I'll wire that to the switch on the shifter but I'll have to add a relay for down as the 3 button systems only use a relay for up. I also removed all the existing registration stickers.
I pumped the fuel tank dry... bout 30 gallons of premix.... actually smells like good fuel but I have no idea how old it is so it's gotta go.

Today I rebuilt the boat side of the engine harness.... someone had spliced the batt cables from 4 ga to 2 ga with HUGE brass double barrel crimps and made giant balls of tape. I bet there were two full rolls of tape wrapped along the harness... The wiring was getting pretty brittle esp toward the front end and it was stretched pretty tight to barely reach the helm... I cut off the 2 ga cables and crimps which left me with about 18" of the 4 ga. I used aluminum splice blocks for from lowes and THICK glue lined shrink wrap suitable for direct bury cable. and I offset them for minimal bulk and put a 48" piece of 1" shrink tubing over the battery and 7 wire cables overlapping the rubber plug by an inch.... Then I cut off about 7 feet of the 7 wire cord to get past any cracks in the insulation. I ran 15' of new wire through black vinyl 5/8" tubing again from lowes and spliced the wires with heat shrink butt connectors. I heated the vinyl with my heat gun so it would stretch over the butt connectors and a couple inches of the rubber insulation on the original cable. Last I put about 2 feet of 3/4" shrink tubing over some of the vinyl and more of the rubber..... I could get a new boat side harness for a couple hundred bucks but that wouldn't fit the theme of this boat and I did this for under $20 using parts on hand when possible.

 

[smokeonthewater]

Re: Free boat! UPDATE!

whoops forgot to add current investment negative $90

 

[jacoboregon]

Re: Free boat! UPDATE!

All right, now you're just bragging!

 

[Maclin]

Re: Free boat! UPDATE!

That's awesome smoke!

 

[GA_Boater]

Re: Free boat! UPDATE!

Smoke - You're destroying the adage that a free boat is expensive. So far the pay back has been better than interest on a savings account. LOL

Y

 

[26aftcab454]

Re: Free boat! UPDATE!

All right, now you're just bragging!

in Texas we say " It ain't braggin' if you can do it!"

GO! SMOKE!

 

[QC]

Re: Free boat! UPDATE!

Update: I paid $30 today to drop the junk boat off at the landfill..... Always cool (but kinda sad) to watch a D-8 obliterate a fiberglass boat in seconds.

Sad, but that would be a pretty dang fun job if they give you a purified air filtered cab . . .

 

[southkogs]

Re: Free boat! UPDATE!

Sad, but that would be a pretty dang fun job if they give you a purified air filtered cab . . .

You'd start itching just watching that

Love the "budget" Smoke ...

 

[smokeonthewater]

Re: Free boat! UPDATE!

Thanks for the encouragement fellas... I pulled my new harness in along with the new wiring for the PTT, and wired up an ign switch and a choke switch today and I ran it on the muffs for an hour or so.... the engine is really running nice... in fact it actually restarted once just by turning the key to run... a plug fired and it started without even using the starter lol...

Sadly I also ran it for an unknown amount of time (hopefully just a couple seconds) after the muffs fell off! ugh.... I'll be pulling the LU and checking the pump. Gotta put some fresh oil in it anyhow and that's easy as heck with the LU off of the engine..... either that or put the trailer on ramps so I can get a drain pan under it.I'll have to take her to the river for a brief load test (on the trailer) one of these days. I MIGHT just get away with not pulling the carbs apart.

 

[smokeonthewater]

Re: Free boat! UPDATE!

GOOD GRIEF

I figured I'd put an hour into this and replace some rotten fuel lines on the motor. Well 2 days later I ALMOST have the engine back together. I found some corrosion on the metal links that work the float valve on the top carb.... I wasn't running lean but rather flooding at wot! then to replace those hoses I had to pull the starter. Then I decided to install the T and sending unit for my temp gauge inline with the telltale. Next I did the bb trick on the economizer hoses. Started buttoning up and decided to do link n synch. This is where my REAL adventure began..... as I was doing this I started getting erratic results with the timing light and then it just stopped flashing.... I might get one flash every 3 seconds or 5 in a row... I took the light apart, beat on it repeatedly, because we all know that violence and technology are the best of bedfellows. :facepalm: Still no joy so I tried the timing light on the tractor... worked perfect. back to the boat and nothing!! Then as I kept fiddling the engine got to where it wouldn't run worth a snot... IE I start it and it pops a couple times and then runs backwards a few revs, or just backfires and spits.... soooooooooooo nothing's wrong with ur timing light dummy:facepalm:

I pulled the coil off my parts motor.... It was bigger and mounted where the solenoid is (performance upgrade or just different year??). I had to swap the solenoid, dizzy cap n wires, hardware from the parts motor. Getting the wires off the motors required pulling the throttle linkages and shrouds from each (18 bolts 2 clamps 24 rubber grommets )..... I still have to finish the link n synch but now the engine runs really well and the timing light works perfect.

Also somewhere in the middle of this I reworked the swim platform so that it is level and is actually able to support weight without flexing.

 

[GA_Boater]

Re: Free boat! UPDATE!

GOOD GRIEF

I hate when a quick job takes two days. Been there, Smoke. Look at it like you fixed three things - Motor, swim platform and that dang timing light. :facepalm:

 

[smokeonthewater]

Re: Free boat! UPDATE!

I hate when a quick job takes two days. Been there, Smoke. Look at it like you fixed three things - Motor, swim platform and that dang timing light. :facepalm:

damn near "fixed" it into lotsa peices lol DOH!

I spend a good portion of today doing body work on the console..... the p/o was a really nice fellow and did good glasswork but he used what looks to be 4200 for body filler :facepalm: and then brush painted over it...... I was blowing through 60 grit paper to get through the previous body work.... I did a mediocre job at best as you can still see many of the flaws that I didn't work long enough on but it still looks way better than before... I painted just the top and the dash with about 3 coats of krylon so I can install the gauges... I'll paint the sides of the console in the near future, maybe tomorrow.... It'll be presentable enough for now. I don't have much patience for body work but at some point the whole boat must get painted and a better job can be done on the console then.

Also in the middle of this I had a phone call with tech support at teleflex about the binnacle not having enough throw in the throttle for my ole engine. I was looking for an adapter bracket to lengthen the throttle arm... Long story short we FINALLY came down to me needing to fabricate a pedestal to raise the unit off the dash and allow the arm to EXCEED 90 DEGREES.... ummmmm NO WAY.... I said thanks but I'd fab up a small extender and weld it on.... He explained that I would forfeit my warranty and tried half a dozen times to explain to me that it couldn't be done, there was no clearance and it would hit and bind... it just wasn't possible... I kept saying thanks but I handle it and I'm not worried about a warranty..... He REALLY wanted to talk me out of it lol..... well so I finally managed to get off the phone (I'm certain that he had only the best of intentions) and 20 minutes later I was done with my modification and it works perfectly! The handle stops at wot about 3/4" from the dash... The best part is that the original hole is still available so when/if I swap engines I can use that hole if needed. I then completed the link n synch.... everything is now spot on although my black merc now looks 10 years older... white from sanding dust lol

 

[chriscraft254]

Re: Free boat! UPDATE!

damn near "fixed" it into lotsa peices lol DOH!

I spend a good portion of today doing body work on the console..... the p/o was a really nice fellow and did good glasswork but he used what looks to be 4200 for body filler :facepalm: and then brush painted over it...... I was blowing through 60 grit paper to get through the previous body work.... I did a mediocre job at best as you can still see many of the flaws that I didn't work long enough on but it still looks way better than before... I painted just the top and the dash with about 3 coats of krylon so I can install the gauges... I'll paint the sides of the console in the near future, maybe tomorrow.... It'll be presentable enough for now. I don't have much patience for body work but at some point the whole boat must get painted and a better job can be done on the console then.

Also in the middle of this I had a phone call with tech support at teleflex about the binnacle not having enough throw in the throttle for my ole engine. I was looking for an adapter bracket to lengthen the throttle arm... Long story short we FINALLY came down to me needing to fabricate a pedestal to raise the unit off the dash and allow the arm to EXCEED 90 DEGREES.... ummmmm NO WAY.... I said thanks but I'd fab up a small extender and weld it on.... He explained that I would forfeit my warranty and tried half a dozen times to explain to me that it couldn't be done, there was no clearance and it would hit and bind... it just wasn't possible... I kept saying thanks but I handle it and I'm not worried about a warranty..... He REALLY wanted to talk me out of it lol..... well so I finally managed to get off the phone (I'm certain that he had only the best of intentions) and 20 minutes later I was done with my modification and it works perfectly! The handle stops at wot about 3/4" from the dash... The best part is that the original hole is still available so when/if I swap engines I can use that hole if needed. I then completed the link n synch.... everything is now spot on although my black merc now looks 10 years older... white from sanding dust lol

Sounds like you have been busy, ohh the joys of working on an outboard.

Its funny, everytime someone tells me something is impossible, it just makes me want to do it even more,lol

Krylon on the consol, your fired!

So what your saying is your merc looks more like an etec now, that may be an improvement.

By the way, the lack of pictures of work being done on this thread is really p*ssing me off!

 

[ezmobee]

Re: Free boat! UPDATE!

By the way, the lack of pictures of work being done on this thread is really p*ssing me off!

This

 

[BlkY2k]

Re: Free boat! UPDATE!

 

[GA_Boater]

Re: Free boat! UPDATE!

This thread was loaded with pics until THIS. I guess no one gets a break around here, Smoke. Phptobucket can save you from the wrath of iboaters. Maybe.

 

[smokeonthewater]

Re: Free boat! UPDATE!

Sounds like you have been busy, ohh the joys of working on an outboard.

At least I'm not having to hang upside down in the engine room balancing on my ear.

Its funny, everytime someone tells me something is impossible, it just makes me want to do it even more,lol

Yep.... the teleflex guy is by far NOT the first person to doubt me LOL

Krylon on the console, your fired!

You may recall that I once told you I don't have much patience for body work..... lol Hopefully I at least get a couple points for KNOWING I did it wrong......... :redface: or does that just make me a bigger jerk? lol

So what your saying is your merc looks more like an etec now, that may be an improvement.

EH well actually I was thinking it looked like a white merc from the 60's...... those are even HARDER to get parts for than mine.

By the way, the lack of pictures of work being done on this thread is really p*ssing me off!

what does it mean to get passed off? or did I buy the wrong vowel

Yeah I have been taking pics but the comp I'm using now can BARELY run pdanet, (I use my cell for internet) and firefox at the same time... I actually have to raise the priority of the firefox process with the windows task manager just to get it to work.

I spose could text you a couple pics if you wanna post em up for me.