RK-24L questions

[foobear]

I just bought a boat at a yard sale. <br /><br />Now, my wife tells me that what I really bought was a $250 planter on a trailer, but I'm hoping to prove her wrong, despite the fact that the closest I've ever come to small engine repair was to change the oil in an old Triumph Spitfire I used to own.<br /><br />If I've read the various identification plates right, what I have is a 1967 Glastron SkiFlite with a 1962 Johnson 40 HP Super Sea-Horse Electramatic outboard engine.<br /><br />The hull does not have any visible gouges, dings or holes in it, the deck appears to be pretty good as well. There are a couple of small spots on the deck that look sort of like the crazing you get on an old piece of pottery, and one or two small (1/8 - 1/4 inch wide) shallow pockmarks. The floor does not appear to be squishy anywhere, and even the upholstery seems to be in fairly decent shape.<br /><br />On the other hand, there is a 3-inch long or so split in the transom area. Also, the boat does not appear to have been in the water for several years. I bought it from a lady whose son-in-law wanted to store the boat in her driveway for a couple of weeks -- three years ago.<br /><br />With that long, drawn-out introduction out of the way, I have some newbie questions:<br /><br />First, am I going to have to saw the back-end off of my boat and replace it, or is there something less extreme I can do to repair what I am seeing in the transom area? The gap in the split is pretty small; I'm thinking 1/32 of an inch or less, but I don't know how likely it is that the outboard might suddenly fall off the back of the boat. The transom itself looks to be pretty solid. I'd be happy to post a picture, if anyone thinks it might help explain things better.<br /><br />Second, where do I start in regards to working on the outboard engine? What does 'electramatic' mean, anyway? I have ordered a set of service, owners & parts manuals from Ken Cook, but once I have them, what do I do first?<br /><br />So, can anyone help me, or is my wife right --should I head down to Lowes for a few bags of potting soil and some flowers for my new planter?<br /><br />-- Tony

 

[jfm1]

Re: RK-24L questions

Hi Tony first you should post the transmon question under boat restoration and building you can more help with that there on the motor end of things you should do a compression test all cyl. they should be 10-15% from the highest to the lowest do a spark test you should strong spark you need to check the lower unit oil make sure its clean and no water in it if all is ok you will need to change the water pump I would also clean the carbs fresh gas 24:1

 

[Paul Moir]

Re: RK-24L questions

Welcome to Iboats, foobear!<br /><br />I'll leave the boat questions to experts on them. You might want to post that half of your question down in 'Project Boats / Backyard Boatbuilding'. You'll find quite a lot there.<br /><br />Electramatic refers to how the lower unit shifts. The electramatic gearcase doesn't work like a normal outboard with a shift lever on the side of it but rather there's a pair of shift solenoids in the lower unit itself (bottom section of the motor that the propeller attaches to) that do the job. There's two shortcomings with these 'selectric' shift outboards - which is why they eventually abandoned the idea. One is that when they break, they're very expensive and tricky to fix. The other is that if for some reason you loose your electrical system, you're left stranded in neutral.<br />But don't let that scare you off. As long as the lower unit currently works properly and you do your regular maintanance, it won't be a problem. The most important thing is to fill the lower unit with the proper lube, which is OMC/BRP (Bombardier Recreational Products took over from a bankrupt OMC) 'Premium Blend' brand lower unit oil. Nothing else will do.<br /><br />As a 'Fresh' Big Twin owner, you'll want to go over the regular things first. Make sure you've got spark (~3/8" arc indicates good), compression, that the starter works and such. Once you know it's healthy, you'll want to replace the water pump impeller (at a minimum), run through a tune-up (link & sync as explained in the manual, lubricate everything) and perhaps rebuild the carburetor. Nice thing about these old engines is you hardly need anything special to work on them. A puller for the flywheel is a must so you can service the points and rest of the ignition system.

 

[foobear]

Re: RK-24L questions

Thanks a bunch for the tips. I'll cross-post my transom question to the old boat repair / restoration forum.<br /><br />This should be quite an adventure...<br /><br />-- Tony

 

[itstippy]

Re: RK-24L questions

Scroll to the top of this page,look about 2/3 of the way down in the center of the screen, and you'll see a red "SEARCH" button. Click it and you can search through thousands of Evinrude/Johnson posts. Use the search word "electramatic" or "selectric" to learn everything about your lower unit drive system. Search "40HP" and you can read forever. Be sure to also search "transom repair" in the boat restoration forum.<br />This site is an incredible treasure-trove of knowledge. The is nothing about OMC outboards that can't be found out here. Be sure to read through the "FAQ's" forum. Watch out or you will become addicted like me.

 

[CATransplant]

Re: RK-24L questions

Also, when you're searching, use the search terms "Lark," "RDS" (the Johnson RDS and RDSL and RK series were the same motors). You'll find tons of info here, along with a growing group of owners of these Big Twins.<br /><br />There isn't much about them that hasn't been written up on the forum, and those of us who own one have fixed just about anything you can imagine on them.<br /><br />They were just about the top of the line of motors in their day, and are sturdy, quiet, powerful outboards that will put to shame some of today's outboards with similar horsepower.