1-31-2009 Trim Installation

Today I replaced the trim unit that jacks the front of the motor up and down. This turned out to be easier than expected. I put a bottle jack on the center stringer of the boat and supported the motor using a block of wood under the oil pan. I then removed the front mount from the motor and the hull. The new (used E-Bay find) mount bolted in the same place, however, the cross bar casting was not exactly the same. The new one is much beefer than the one removed. Once installed, the new motor was connected to the wiring and I extend the jack screw and removed the bottle jack. Final attach is waiting on new fasteners for the hull mounts.

1-11-2009

Cleaned the area around the bellows to prepare it for reseal to the hull. To cold to use sealants today.

Installed the tow rings through the transom and torqued down the bolts.

Swept the interior and cleaned up some. Installed grounding wire on fuel tank. there is 5 gallons in it so it really should be grounded

Took apart one of the foot boxes and made patterns for a new one. Cut out a new one and got it ready for assembly.

Very close to being water tight.

To Cold

Tried to work on the boat, but it is to cold !!! Even to cold in the shop !!!

Closing Things Up

Today was both rewarding and frustrating. The plan was to come out this morning and fire up the engine. Only she would not start. Cranked and cranked and cranked but no fire. Not even a sputter. Pulled the plugs and took a look. of course they were fouled. Cleaned them, but them back in and nothing. At this point I was ready to drag it to the mechanic and say I was done. However, after lunch came back to it and got some help from my daughter so that I could pull the plugs and see if they were sparking. Well they were. So, now what is going on. We have a half tank of gas and spark so next thing to check was gas flow the carb. However, before doing that I noticed that the choke plate was not closed all the way. So, while crankeing I pushed the choke plate all the way closed. The motor fired right up !!! Wow. Everything worked fine. Prop engaged correctly and there were NO LEAKS wow. we might actually have this figured out. I properly drained the cooling system in prep for tonights sub freezing plunge. After about 4 hours I decided to see if the motor would start again hopefully more easily. I also purchased some B-12 Chemtool to clean the throats and the shafts on the carb. So I hooked the cooling system back up and turned on the water flow and turned the key. She fired right up !!! Everything checked ok so I shut down and drained the system again.

Installed the boarding ladder over the transom. Next step is to install the tow rings on the back. Then have to seal up the stern drive bellows.

It Runs Again

Well I got the last of the engine mount bolts installed. Was surprised to find how much one side had fallen. Had to bring it up using a drift pin. Filled holes with J.B.Weld prior to installing the bolts so they should be in their good and well sealed.

Engine took some cranking to get started. After it got started it ran just fine and restarted without any problems. Had to let it warm up before it would pickup the prop. Not sure what is up with that. Also had a couple of minor leaks in the new exhaust plumbing. A couple of tweaks on the clamps and that seemd to clear up the problem.

Planning on starting it again tomorrow. Hopefully it will light right up with out any problems.

Transom Is In !!!

The transom is installed. All of the bolts are installed. All that is left to do is install the aft engine mount bolts. Completed the installation of the exhaust riser and the front plate on the exhaust manifold. Once the gasket sealer sets up its time to flush the system and make sure there are no leaks.