Ok, ill try to make this as short as possible. After receiving my 79 Welcraft, with a small block chevy 350 and a volvo penta from my father as a gift, i quickly learned that a lot of work as needed to get this puppy up and running. i am NO MECHANIC and a wont pretend to be one. i do know that there was water in the engine, which was fresh water, not salt, the fuel pump was shot, the water pump was shot, tones of electrical shorts, mis-wiring, etc etc etc... the volvo 280 outdrives lower end was shot because a gasket that held back some oil from the top end to the bottom end deteriorated and was then ran, buring up the lower unit. Anyways, the 350 is now running like a beast, the outdrive was replaced and works like a champ.
Here is where the story gets interesting and SAD.
I decided to take the boat out this sunday . But before, i was to meet up with a friend and change the oil and oil filter at 9am. Well, after arriving to my friends place, we heard that a really close friend of ours took his life at the age of 24. (NEVER TAKE YOUR LIFE) Well, after a couple hours, we decided that the best thing we could do was to get this boat running, go out and see if the boat floats, drop a couple crab pots and take our sadness and anger out on the fish. The problem was, when we went out, we werent starting the engine right, LIKE IDIOTS, and the battery died on us. Since we were on shore, we could have went to the truck to get the truck battery, but like I said, WE'RE IDIOTS. So we drifted the boat back to the launch ramp, backed the truck up and got the boat on the trailer/. The only problem was that the outdrive was lowered in a locking unti, and the manual release for the outdrive to release it back up was on the bottom of the outdrive, IN THE WATER. We would of needed scubagear to release it. The trailer is real low and long so thats why the outdrive was hard to reach. it was decided that we just drag the outdrive out. with the truck. Well, we did that idiotic idea and not the outdrive has somewhat seperated from the transom. When i say partially, i mean on the lower part of the outdrive, the two bolts that connect the transom to the outdrive are pulled out. The bolts on the top are just fine. The seperation between the transom and the outdrive on the bottom is around 1/4th of an inch, and yes, water was pouring out of the transom as we pulled the boat out of the water. Yes, the engine still runs
I have not looked at the boat as it is at my friends house right now, but my questions are.
1. Have you seen this happen before.
2. If the transom was rotten, wouldnt the whole outdrive be torn out with the dragging? only the bottom part seperated
3. what are immmediate steps i can take to dry this sucker out.
4. should i just rebolt the outdrive to the transom and just resin the heck out the bolts
i guess this is a good start to a forum topic
Here is where the story gets interesting and SAD.
I decided to take the boat out this sunday . But before, i was to meet up with a friend and change the oil and oil filter at 9am. Well, after arriving to my friends place, we heard that a really close friend of ours took his life at the age of 24. (NEVER TAKE YOUR LIFE) Well, after a couple hours, we decided that the best thing we could do was to get this boat running, go out and see if the boat floats, drop a couple crab pots and take our sadness and anger out on the fish. The problem was, when we went out, we werent starting the engine right, LIKE IDIOTS, and the battery died on us. Since we were on shore, we could have went to the truck to get the truck battery, but like I said, WE'RE IDIOTS. So we drifted the boat back to the launch ramp, backed the truck up and got the boat on the trailer/. The only problem was that the outdrive was lowered in a locking unti, and the manual release for the outdrive to release it back up was on the bottom of the outdrive, IN THE WATER. We would of needed scubagear to release it. The trailer is real low and long so thats why the outdrive was hard to reach. it was decided that we just drag the outdrive out. with the truck. Well, we did that idiotic idea and not the outdrive has somewhat seperated from the transom. When i say partially, i mean on the lower part of the outdrive, the two bolts that connect the transom to the outdrive are pulled out. The bolts on the top are just fine. The seperation between the transom and the outdrive on the bottom is around 1/4th of an inch, and yes, water was pouring out of the transom as we pulled the boat out of the water. Yes, the engine still runs
I have not looked at the boat as it is at my friends house right now, but my questions are.
1. Have you seen this happen before.
2. If the transom was rotten, wouldnt the whole outdrive be torn out with the dragging? only the bottom part seperated
3. what are immmediate steps i can take to dry this sucker out.
4. should i just rebolt the outdrive to the transom and just resin the heck out the bolts
i guess this is a good start to a forum topic
