The boat thread

In reply to Brett_Murphy (Agent of Chaos) :

The annual spring fling. Cleaning is always fun when they sit outside. 

I brought the cylinder head off the Mercruiser 120 in my 16' starcraft to the machine shop a couple weeks back.  I had an exhaust valve (#4) that wasn't sealing.  I hope to hear it's ready to pick up soon!

The 19' Islander got new numbers last weekend.  Trailer light wiring is next.

It's definitely time to start the prep work for the boating season around here as well!

I need to redo the steering cable on the Herter's and find an unmolested timing plate.  Current one has boogered up threads where the screws that adjust the opening of the points go.  No wonder it barely ran on 1 cylinder

Acquired another outboard for my hydroplane. Same model as my other motor a Yamato 80. This one has never been raced by the looks of it so there's a little work to do to it after I refresh the motor I raced last year. 

Weather is chilly today, and I don't feel like laying in the cold mud at the junkyard or trying to get paint to cure on my second set of Subaru wheels.

So, I may go "easy project" hit Bass Pro Shops and get a new set of horizontal rod holders for the boat.

I've definitely got the itch. I've been cursing myself for not moving faster on my boat projects but really boat season starts pretty late here. 

Wiring on the Shamrock starts tomorrow. Should be a good day for it since the temps will be in the 40s. 

I'm spending a lot of time reviewing fiberglass repair videos.

I'm also trying to figure out how to move my batteries.

I got the Cylinder Head back for the Mercruiser 120 in my Starcraft 16' SuperSport last week.  It's back on with a fresh valve job (including a new valve in #4 Exhaust):

Just scheduled to pick mine up from her winter slumber. 

I replaced the "sea pump" (or whatever it's called) in the lower unit today on my 16' Starcraft and then fought with it for the better part of 2 hours trying to get the lower unit reinstalled.  I'm tired now.

I also have buttoned everything back up from having the head off.

Another project on that boat is to replace the mechanical fuel pump.  A previous owner had bypassed the (presumably-failed) original mechanical fuel pump with an electric clickety-clack pump.  A couple years ago I wired in an oil pressure switch for the electric pump but I really wanted to do it right with a mechanical pump.  I'm just a couple pieces of hose/hardware away from having that finished.  I plan to leave the electric setup in the boat as a contingency plan.

ClemSparks said:

  I plan to leave the electric setup in the boat as a contingency plan.

Who are you, and what have you done with Clem?

psteav (Forum Supporter) said:

ClemSparks said:

  I plan to leave the electric setup in the boat as a contingency plan.

Who are you, and what have you done with Clem?

That would be *Captain* Clem

I hope to get my sailboat out this year.  Last summer both of my elderly parents had major surgery.  Dad had open heart and Mom had a lobe of her right lung removed.  While I am more than happy they are still with us,  my summer was shot and hit I never even bothered getting the boat repainted for the season.  It's still sitting in storage all sanded down and waiting for me to get out there.

In reply to mad_machine :

I've been trying to replace an engine in the Shamrock for 2 years. The last couple of years have been a little screwy to say the least. This is the year of the boat though. Nothing else gets touched until the boat is in the water and running. 

I've been fighting with my FIL that we need to put a floor in his boat, for at least 5 years. He's now in the hospital, has been for weeks (months?), and we're not sure if he'll get out and rehabbed in time to go fishing, but he's realized he needs a floor in his  boat and has agreed that we should take out the bench seats and do it.

I've never had less time to work on a project like that. Oh well, he probably won't be using it this summer anyway. Goal for next summer.

Still waiting on rings to arrive for race motor number one. I was close to the my fathers place this weekend where the boat is stored so I popped in to grab a few things and have a motivational look.

The 16' Starcraft Supersport made it's maiden voyage for the 2022 season last night.  

After a fair bit of maintainification this past winter/spring, everything seems to be working at least as good as it was last year.  Valve job, new fuel pump, new raw water sea pump, fluid changes in engine and outdrive, and a few other minor things.

GRMer Psteav, his kid, and my kids joined in the adventure.  (we have to leave some loved ones at home to rescue us someday when things go sideways.  "Hello dear...yeah...we're adrift and halfway to the Mississippi River by now.  Can you bring more snacks?")

On the sandbar in the middle of the Big Muddy: 

The only part of me that made it into the photo is my shadow.

I was out doing some minor tinkering on the boat a couple of evenings ago and decided to start it up on the earmuffs for a few minutes. The outboard pee stream was weak. It was there, but way down from usual.

I got the complete impeller kit for my motor. As with many others, COVID years screwed up my sense of time and I realized the impeller was installed in Spring of 2019.

On the list:
Impeller and lower unit maintenance
More cleaning
Relocate batteries
Replace fuel lines
Fix rod holder 
Fiberglass, gel coat and upholstery work (most likely off season)

 

Oh, and apparently rehab the springs and axle on the trailer.

I'm going to have to figure out how to do this without getting crushed or anything.

This followed me home this week:

Purchased relatively cheap without a title.  Now I get to see if I can make it legal.  And then still it's a pretty significant project.  

I bought this boat mostly out of nostalgia.  The boat I learned to ski behind was very similar.  I also got my first experience piloting a boat around on my own with that boat...back in the '80s/'90s. 

I have a 55 horsepower Johnson outboard to put on it and the trailer it's on was one I dragged home with an old dumpster boat (fiberglass).

I don't need it...not even a little...but I think it will be fun nonetheless.  Kinda weird that I am not a fisherman.

In reply to ClemSparks :

The only fish I care about comes with a side of chips.

But man I love boats. The two are not mutually exclusive. 

1SlowVW said:

In reply to ClemSparks :

The only fish I care about comes with a side of chips.

But man I love boats. 

This is me completely. 

It's definitely not a popular concept around these parts where fishing is the only thing most people do with boats or lakes/rivers.  Granted, most people don't appreciate my cars or what I do with them either.   

When you're trying to keep a two stroke with a megaphone exhaust quite because the kids are sleeping in the house. 
Just couldn't stop myself from making sure it would run. 

Today I changed the impeller. It was pumping water, but it was pretty weak. 

Ugh. That's cruddy. I cleaned that up as well as I could. 

Got everything in properly, fired up the engine on the earmuffs and... it's not pumping water to the engine. I have no idea why. I took it apart once already and made sure the key was in the impeller and the impeller was pointing the right way, all the regular stuff. I even walled out the place for the alignment pins in the plastic housing to make sure that wasn't leading to a little gap that was letting water out.

The only thing I can think of is that the water tube isn't connecting or there is some kind of blockage in the engine itself. 

Nothing. I'm going to try the old plastic housing with the new O-ring tomorrow.