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.

Starting Relay

Just read back over and realized I left the starting relay saga un-resolved. Well, it turns out I was able to track the part number down to a Sierra number. O'Riley's auto carries Sierra parts. Turns out they had the relay in stock and it was less expensive than originally advertised. Long story short, problem was fixed in about an hour for less than $20.

Labor Day

Ok, its been a while, but I have been busy. Finally got to the lake today. All ran well. Little swimming and tubing with the kids. Accidentally ran the lower unit into some mud. Little disappointed that the clutch did not kick out and let the unit swing up. No damage seemed to come from it so all is well.

I modified the trailer with some V-Bunks on the second roller, the idea being to lift and center the boat as she comes on to the trailer. This worked like a charm !! Just kept her roughly centered as I approached the trailer. I felt her hit the bunks and then slide down on to the rollers and just coasted right up into the forward rest. WOW, no fussing and wrestling. Just hook up the winch line, snug it up, shut down and jump in the truck. Think I am going to add some stern guides to help center her up there. She is sitting a little to the left on the trailer.