Introduction

[taholmes160]

Hi Folks:

My name is Tim, I live in northern Ohio, and we have a 1974 Winner Cobra. Nice little boat, in decent shape, and we had a lot of fun with it last summer, and plan to have more this summer. We mostly use it for inland lake (mostly Chippewa Lake and Portage Lake) fishing, and it works decent for that for 2 guys, any more and someone would get wet LOL.

Im not a "Boat Guy" yet, I love it, but dont know a lot. We dont have ANY documentation on the boat, as it came to us having been used, sold, ignored, sold, used, ignored (again). We got it all cleaned up, the motor runs good (turned over on the 2nd try yesterday) so really we could drop it in the water today and be fine, but we are going to do an impeller replacement in the next week or 2 so we know its ok.

At this point im looking for people with similar interests that I can learn from, as well as probably having some questions about where to get stuff and how to do stuff

Thanks
Tim

 

[Grub54891]

Welcome to I-Boats!
Looks like you can do basic maintenance, Yeah the impeller is a good way to start learning. You should change the gear oil every fall, if it's milky, you will have a leaky seal. Sometimes it's just the gasket on the drain/fill screw, it should be replaced at each change.
Spark plugs are a regular item to change or at least have a look, Now that you have a motor, it would be a good time to check compression, so at least you have a starting point for issues that may show up in the future. I'm sure more will chime in on more things to check, if you have more questions, fire away!

 

[Old Ironmaker]

Welcome Tim. You have come to the right place for a good education on boats. When I came here about all I knew about my boat was the pointy end is the front. Remember there are no "stupid" questions only stupid answers and you won't get many of them here. The best thing I did was to take a small engine repair course to help me understand what I had and how to maintain it. It has saved me many hundreds of dollars in Marine mechanics bills at $120.00 an hour. A 9.9 HP 2 stroke isn't much different than a 200HP 2 stroke.

Every spring I do some basic maintenance for my 15HP kicker and 115HP Mariner 2 stroke engines

Check compression.
Change plugs and wires after inspecting them for carbon build up
Check the battery
Clean all the leads to the battery
Change the fuel filter
Check that all fasteners are tight in the engine compartment
Remove the prop(s) check the spline and grease with Marine grade lube
Start her up on the Ear Muffs and let her run ensuring there is good flow from the cooling system
If you haven't last fall change the lower end gear lube, check for milky oil which may show a water leak.
I know I have missed a few things like grease every nipple if there are any, again Marine quality lube.

Put her in the water and do a Spring splash check out run. Might as well bring along a few fishing rods and wash some lures. Spring here is big Cats in the river that runs into Lake Erie.

That's about all I do. The best advise I can give you is don't cheap out on fuel. Get the highest octane available where you are, your engine will love you for it. You wouldn't feed a family pet cheap food to save a few bucks. Also check out the Fishing Forum on the site too. Good luck Tim.

By the way I went to school at Youngstown State a long time ago, a long way from Southern Ontario Canada. I still visit when I can.

 

[Scott Danforth]

welcome aboard. the only stupid questions are the ones you dont ask.

 

[Davetowz]

Good to see another Ohioan here! Welcome aboard, ask all questions and someone will probably have the answer.