Engine Run

Little warmer temps here the other day. hooked up the water hose and fired her up. Let her run for about 45 minutes to bring everything up to temperature. Cycled the gears and checked for leaks. All looks good. Had some rainwater in bilge. Fired up the shop vac and sucked it out. need to put some water proofing on the tarp.

First freezing night

Good thing the manifolds were all drained last night. First night of freezing temps.

4 blad prop

I installed a Solas Amita 4 blade 14x19 prop. Wow!!! She runs much better. No cavitation unless I throw the helm over hard at WOT. Here are numbers

Wot full down trim 4500 rpm at 31 kts
Wot trim up to 4800 rpm at 35 kts

All up boat weight was 1800 lbs or so.

Adjustments and a prop

Spent this weekend working on the shifter setup. Discovered that the lock plate and the rod on the shift lever were not properly aligned. Took it apart and aligned all the parts correctly. Now the lock locks when it pops into neutral and does not hang at the wrong point in the lever movement. Also increased the load on the neutral detent so that it feels a lot more positive at the neutral position. Finally, moved the control down and aft to get it clear of the steering wheel. Hopefully all of this will work out when I get her back on the water.

To work out my prop problems I purchased a Solas Amita 4 blade 14x19. Will report back how well it works out. Verified that the cavitation plate is 0.5" above the bottom of the boat. Hopefully, that is not a problem.

Water Test

Got her on the water today with the MC-1. Overall it went well. Little concerned about a couple of vibrations. Also discovered that one of the ducts in the engine compartment was jamming the steering push pull cable. Straightened that out on the spot. Going to check the prop and engine over to see if I can find any source of the vibration. Here are a couple of pictures.

Ready for water

Gimbal is installed. Motor is in and aligned. Drive is mounted. Shifter shifts and tilt trim pump works. Hopefully this week.

Engine is Installed

Ok, the installation process started a week ago. A friend of mine helped me lift the engine into the back of the boat with a forklift. After a little alignment work we got the back bolts in place and the front mount sitting on a temporary board. Next I purchased an alignment tool online and started the process of aligning the gimbal bearing with the engine coupler. Learned a lot here. First attempt nothing worked. Jacked the front of the engine up and down. Nothing !!! So I added some spacers under the back mounts. Nothing. So I took all the washers and spacers  out. Now things sort of aligned. So I added a spacer, but only half of what the double wrapped spacer would do (3/32") instead of 6/32. Now all of a sudden everything fits together !!! So later I found it in the manual that cutting the double washer in half is acceptable. Anyway, discovered that the front mount as built would not work. Madea wider one that lined up with the existing holes in the stringers. Put it all in place and bolted it down. Engine still aligns !! Now we are ready to install the out drive.

Gimbl plate is now populated

Last night installed the trim tilt pump, trim sender, shift reverse lock sector and plumbed everything up. Then I installed the battery and turned on the power ! Purged the hydraulics. Lots of old brown stuff came out of the system. Flushed it with new synthetic hydraulic fluid. Cycled it many times, watched the rams go back and forth. Finally today I installed the exhaust tube. It just fits. I think the transom is absolutely as thick as it could possibley be without causing a problem. Anymore and the tube would not have installed. See the pics below;

Trim Pump

Trim Sender

Time for an engine

Gimbal housing installed

The following sequence of photos shows the installation of the transom cover plate and gimbal housing.

This photo shows the cover plate installed on the back of the boat and the stern primed for painting.

And after paint

Everything is ready to go

And here it is installed.

Used 3M 5200 to seall everything up. This is awsome stuff. You can litterally glue everything together using this stuff. It comes in a tube and applies like normal painters calk, however, it is actually a single part polyurethane sealant / adhesive. Once it is together its not coming apart. When you look at the plate to hull joint it looks like it has been welded instead of screwed and bonded. Great stuff.

Transom is cut

So the buddy making the aluminum cover plate finished up and delivered the plate. After a little trimming it fit around the gimbal housing with no problems.

Using the template installed on the stern, I marked the holes and then started cutting. Here are the end results

Now for the moment of truth, does the gimbal housing fit?

And from the inside with the inner transom plate

So now all I have to do is start painting everything.

Drilling transom

The drill template is here. Installed it and all the alignments checked. Drilled first hole last night. Rain started so that was that. Hopefully complete the rest tonight.

Bolting in transom plate

Not going so well. Plate bolted in nice down where the engine will eventually mount, however, at the top there is a gap. Thinking about using an expanding foam to fill it for a good fit. I am not worried about the engine loads, but I am worried about that very stiff transom plate flexing the stern seperate from the stern.

More Progress

Bilge area ready for the transom plate

 

Transom plate ready to install. Just got to make patterns of the old OMC hole first. Will use the pattern to eventually build a coverplate.

 

Removed both manifolds off the blocks. Removed studs from the block for the manifolds. I am getting to be an expert at this process. New, gaskets are here. Just have to pick them up from Burk Marine. Spent the rest of the time studying the wiring diagram to understand how to hook up the electronic distributor to the ex...isting wiring. Think I have it figured out finally.

Finished drilling out and tapping the twisted off bolt in the gimbal housing. Went better than expected. Then installed the bell housing on the motor and started hooking up wires. Removed the thermostats and alternators to swap them from one to the other. Going to have the alternator tested prior to installing.

 

 

 

Gimbal and Engine Fun

Started stripping the parts of the engines over the weekend. The wiring harnesses are off. Front engine mount is off the donor and installed on the original engine. Bell housing removed from the donor exposing the coupling. Engine coupling looks fine on the donor. Not so good on the original OMC engine. That is where it was left on Saturday.

Today I took the gimbal to Glen at Burk Marine in Manford, OK. Glen looked over the gimbal and pronounced it old, in need of some paint, and basically ready to reinstall. Shift cable had been replaced at some time in the past. Gimbal bearing feels good and the tiller arm, which is the old style spline shaft, is nice and tight. Glen and I spent about 30 minutes with the micro-fiche and figured out what gaskets I need to put it all back together. They are on the way.

This evening I pulled the couplers and fly wheels off of both motors and swapped them. That included removing studs from the donor and installing them in the target motor. Got ready to reinstall the bell housing and it does not fit. Well it fits, but there are two bolt holes that are plugged on the OMC block that are used by the Mercruiser bell housing. I think I am going to just through drill them and install through bolts. I might try tapping them first, however, I have not always had a lot of luck with that. No progress planned for tomorrow due to other evening activities. Will probably try to get the tap during lunch at the hardware store. Other than that nothing plannned.

Fun with old boats. Oh, I learned how the warm up feature works on my throttle. Apparently the handle pulls out slightly. This disengages the gear selector cam. The throttle can then be bumped forward to start and warm up the engine. Guess we will find out when we get to the running part of this.

Transom Rebuild

Cut new ply wood for the transom yesterday and today. All the parts have been check fit. I am using Gorilla Glue to laminate the sheets together. The photo shows the first lamination in process. One of the key things here is to make sure that you screw the pieces together at about 6" intervals to make sure that you get a good bond between parts. I just dry wall screws. Once the parts are laminated I final sand the transom plate and do a final check fit. Then I drill all the bolt holes. Finally I coat the whole part with a couple of coats of West Systems Epoxy followed by a coat of paint to protect everything. I prefer white paint as it will show any leaks from the engine immediatly.

Out Come The Engines

Well I got off early today. Many thanks to David and Dan at Diehl Aero-Nautical who helped me pull the engines out of both boats. Pulled the Norseman over to Dan's shop where we pulled the engine. Then with the engine hanging off the front of the forklift we drove it back to the house. Then we unbolted the engine out of the donor boat and lifted it up.

Mercruiser Engine sitting in Garage

Donor Boat Arrives

The donor boat with the complete Mercruiser setup showed up today will be fun getting her stripped down and the engine and drive out. The OMC drive is already out of the Crestliner. Will try to pull the engine soon will start pulling the mercury components this weekend. Will need gasket kits for everything.

Blew clutch

Something slipped 5 minutes into cruise. End of day.

Morning at Beaver Lake

We got to Beaver Lake last night. This morning we went to Kozy Korner Kafe in Gateway AR. Food food good price getting ready to go launch. Hope the shift switch holds.

Failed Shift Switch

Took the boat to Keystone today. Backed into the water and nothing happened when I turned the key. Trouble shooting has found that the shift switch in the single lever control unit. Started looking for a replacement and the result is nothing. The parts are discontinued. So, I am looking for an appropriate replacement part and or if I can make something. Maybe a couple of micro switches on a plate. Not sure. Will have to work on making something up.

Boating at Skiatook today

Finally got the Norseman back in the water today. Took out some friends and the girls and we had a great time. Everyone rode the tube. Boat ran fine as well. Met the OHP and was inspected. Minor registration problems. Guess I will be putting the numbers on again. No big deal. Troop W of the OHP does a great job keeping us all safe out on the water.

Month Gone no Boating

Well after all but living on the boat during the first week of June, I have not had her back in the water. However, I hooked up to the hose today and fired her up. She lit right off and all was well. This coming weekend the plan is to head up to Skiatook lake.

No boating this week

Had to go to NU this past week. Only boating that got sone was a kayak on Sunday at Girl Scout Camp. Boat is ready to go. Maybe this coming weekend we will get her out.

Brunch Run

We all fired up and left the dock at 9:00 to go to Big Cedar for brunch. Water was nice and smooth on the way over. Boat ran good. Stacy and Bessie ditched me and the girls to ride on board a Chris Craft Sportsman. Oh well.

Big Cedar Lodge at Table Rock is a nice place. Food was good and marina is top notch.

The run back was uneventful. Loaded the boat on the trailer and headed for the house. Got back to Tulsa uneventfully.

Cricket Creek

Made the run to Cricket Creek at 10am with the club. Water was very rough coming across the main part of the lake. Became nice and smooth in the creek. On the return we stopped ad Chateau on the Lake for lunch. Ouch!!! Expensive. Came back to Rock Lane after lunch. Claire fell a sleep on the short ride over. Bought my last gasoline on the water. Glad I will not need $3.30/gal gas anymore.

Claire slept in the boat for a while. The rest of the crew went up to the room for a nap. I played with the Garmin GPS trying to figure out how to save my route. I think it is saved in memory. I need to write it to the card and see if I can save it on the desktop software.

Sunrise cruise

Well only 3 boats made it away from the dock at 5:30. Water was smooth. Actually put up the stern light and turned itbpn. First time I have run with the lights on. Got back to the dock at 6:30. Time to find some coffee.

Sun came out.

Went onto Branson. Had our required lunch at Cracker Barrel. Drove to historic area of town walked the shops. On the way out of town we stopped at the Butterfly Palace. Perfect for kids.

Back at the marina we took the boat over to the floating cafe for dinner on the pier. Girls had fun feeding the ducks and fish. Not sure they actually ate anything.

Storms Storms Storms

Nothing but rain and thunder this morning. Decided to go into Branson to see what is there.

Back at Rock Lane

Long run back from Eureka Springs. Stopped at Campbell Point for fuel and potty break for the kids. Just before that we had a good scare. Engine RPMs suddenly went up and thrust was lost. Thought the prop pin had sheared or the clutch had gone out in the lower unit. I shut her down and raised the out drive. All looked ok. Suddenly a large plastic bag floated out from under the boat. Not sure how long that had been there. With it gone things returned to normal.

The rest of the trip was uneventful.

Tied her up in a slip at Rock Lane marina. Discovered I needed more lines to properly center her in the slip. Purchased additional lines and secured her for the night.

After dinner went back and checked on her. Water in the hull was high enough for the bilge pump to engage. Pumped out a coupl of gallons.

Eureka Springs

Spent the morning in Eureka Springs. Breakfat at the cafe followed by walking the streets. No need for a car here. Shops open around 10am. Check out the sock shop for a unique souvenier. Lunch at the Balcony and time to load up to go back to the boats.

Cruis'n Table Rock 6-9-2010

Got up this morning and put the boat in the water. Engine started right up and all is working well. Joined the Heartland Classics at the Rock Lane Marina. My own private slip for the week. Wow!! We gathered up the group and the lead boat headed for Eureka Springs at about 11:30 am.

New Valve Cover Gasket

Ordered a new valve cover gasket from E-Basic Power (www.ebasicpower.com). Went on faith and just ordered a gasket for a 140 HP GM engine. When it came in everything looked good, however, it had one extra mounting hole. Everything else lined up nice so pulled out the Ultra Gray. Put some on the engine block. Put the gasket in place. A little more Ultra Gray on the valve cover and set it inplace. All the bolt holes lined up. So snugged it up finger tight and waited an hour for the silicon to setup. After it had set, snugged up the bolts and all looks good.

While the cover was off the motor the valves looked good. Everything was really clean and the oil looked nice and clear. Engine appears to be in really good condition on the inside. Will have to see if the leak is cleared up and no more oil coming out the valve cover. If that is fixed, then we may actually degrease the bilge.

First Time out 2010

Took her out to lake Muskogee south of Tulsa, OK for the first time in 2010. Motor and drives ran fine. Ramps were too shallow and ended up banking the prop. Will get to go to the prop shop and have the prop dressed out. Check out this web site for more information on Okmulgee State Park. Boat launch is free, just keep the lower unit tilted up and till you have backed off the ramp. The lake is about 30 feet deep.

http://www.travelok.com/listings/view.profile/id.5520

Painting

Moved to the hangar for painting. Going to use the topside paint from Interlux, Bright Sides. Cleaned up all the metal on the decks, sanded and taped. Will need to remove the dust and get ready for the paint.

Tried painting the cabin in a couple of spots to see how the paint would work out. Seemed to work out ok. Will try to paint the rest of the cabin in the next few days. Will post pictures after I get some pictures posted once it is all done.

March 28, 2010

Changed the lower unit fluid. Lower gear case fluid looked good. Upper case showed some signs of water getting in to it. Talked to the mechanic at a local shop. He said it is almost impossible to keep water out of the upper case on the older units. Next weekend trying to get the engine oil changed and finish working on the new seat covers.

Getting Ready for 2010

Pulled the cover off to see how she made it through the winter. Looks like the tarp worked. Tried to start the motor. After a little cranking she fired right up. Removed interior component to find out how to take the windows out and replace the plexi in them. Painted the lower unit and the prop. Also cleaned an area on the upper cabin and experiment with painting it as well. Will see how this goes.