I have a 4.3L Merc alpha 1 gen 2.

I have taken apart the whole shift assembly and lubricated it. Disconnected each cable and continuously pulled the lever. I wish I would have just hit the choke button from the beginning and I would have known right then it was this cable. I know its the one I'm pointing to as after I disconnected it was very easy to move the lever.

Anyways I'm about done tearing into this boat for the year and really don't want to replace this cable until winter. I used to lube shift cables on motorcycles and used my air compressor at a low PSI to get the lubricant through. I have never seen the plastic ends on cables like this in the picture. Can they be removed and if so how do you remove them? Any one have a video or pic showing how to get them disconnected? 20130522_222131.jpg

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Went out to the marina today to clean up the boat so I won't have to worry about it Friday evening when my wife and I go to stay for the holiday weekend. Gave her a good scrub inside and out and did a full systems check. While checking everything I found out that my down solenoid on my starboard drive is shot, so in a pinch just made a jumper to lower it and will deal with it properly after the weekend. Everything else checked out wonderfully and I am super excited to get this season kicked off this weekend and have a blast. :D:D:D Just curious to see who else is ready for the weekend ahead.

P.S. if anyone out on Grand Lake in Oklahoma is gonna be out this weekend hit me up and we can toast to the unofficial kick off, I am docked at Honey Creek Landing Marina image(29).jpgimage(31).jpgimage(33).jpgimage(35).jpg

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I have kind of a weird question but I figured maybe someone else has had to deal with this issue before and could shed some light on the matter. My Uncle purchased a small boat about five years ago and never bothered to register the title in his name. The reason it was not register was because the boat was to be a project. Boat was fixed up and sat in the back yard for about 4 years. I found a deal on a used outboard and asked my uncle if it was alright for me to clean up the hull, throw my outboard on it and use it. He agreed but could not find the title. After almost a weeks worth of searching he found it. When I saw the title I noticed that there was a signature in both the buyer and seller lines. I talked to my uncle about it and he said that he had bought the boat from a guy who had also bought it as a project and gave up on it. The man my uncle purchased the boat from had also not registered it in his name but the original owner of the boat listed on the title had signed it. The man who had the boat as a project had also signed under the purchaser line. I am just wondering what the best course of action is for me to get the boat register in our names. Has anyone else dealt with an issue like this before? Purchaser line has been signed by someone other than my uncle or I. Sorry if this sounds really confusing and thanks for the advice guys.

our local Coast Guard auxiliary conducted courtesey inspections last weekend at the boat club; they give you a report and a sticker so hopefully the rest of the water cops will leave you alone for the summer. In addition to the requirements, they also check for and recommend extras.

They like to see how and where you stow your stuff, rather than have you pull it all out and put it on the deck; being readily accessible is part of the requirement for much of it. For example, he commented that I shouldn't have a small plastic box on top of my pack of life preservers.

He also said I was required to have a copy of the rules of navigation (they are in a chart book). Some people have them on a smart phone.

Although not required, he asked about local charts, how long the anchor line is, suggested clothing to wrap up someone who fell overboard (I have rain gear and also a "space blanket"; it's easy to carry those ponchos, too). IN addition to the flares he suggested a signal device (I'd tie an orange PFD to the boat hook) and suggested an old CD is a great reflecting device. Also a first aid kit, and a bailer or extra pump (I have a bucket, a hand pump and an extra bilge pump on clamps I can use anywhere). He liked the fact that I keep an extra kill switch lanyard in the glove box; if I go over with it on me, someone can come get me (as if). And that I have a real compass in addition to the one on the GPS.

I have a Volvo Penta 3.0 GSM-A that I am replacing in a 2001 Glastron SX175. I bought a new long block to replace the motor with a cracked block. While I was taking the old motor out, I had to cut the fuel line going to the fuel pump as the connector was stripped. So I pinched it off, cut it and sealed it then attached it about a foot up in the air to have gravity help keep the gas from leaking.

The gas is about 18 months old with no sta-bil so I am assuming that it is pretty much varnish at this point and would like to remove it. I could siphon it out, but I THINK it might be better to do the following. My thinking is: why not get ALL the gas out of the boat, along with any debris or water that has accumulated in the tank. Then maybe run another good gallon of gas though there to make sure everything is out.

My plan is to put the boat at an angle (the bow will be higher in my pitched alley) and then jack up the front wheel of the trailer. Then attach a hose to the fuel line and run it through the bilge and out the drain hole into a 50 gallon drum.

I think that this will work. What do you guys think?

From what I am told, after all the fuel is out, I will have lost my "siphoning effect", so I will have to make sure and get fuel all the way into and past the fuel pump before trying the start the new engine.

Any thoughts, opinions, or ideas are GREATLY appreciated. Thanks for reading.
Rob

...sorta.
So I put in 87 capri in her slip las t night but we've had severe weather warnings here in MA Suomi did t get to take her for a run. Skies looked favorable today Suomi ran up the river for a while till it was time to go in and then all of a sudden I lower down and stall out. Lift the engine bay and the block is smoking. The belt hat runs the alternator and water pump snapped. I flag down a guy fishing not far away but he says "sorry guy I'm super low on gas". So I'm sitti there listening to the radio station talk about tornado warning in the Teton right off the river a out 5 miles up when z guy in a pontoon comes by. He says he's headed o my marina to gas up and doesn't k one if he has enough to et us both in but "he'll here guys swimming is more fun than two". So he pulls me in and we make no problem . Refuses gas money says just don't be "that guy"

Now that I have your attention does anyone have a diagram or a pic of the alternator belt for 1987 volvo pen aq131a I/o? Got the belt but need to know how to put it on.

My 1998 4.3 v-6 was winterized by "---- EDIT----" Ryan the owner. He was upset that he had to pull the boat out of winter storage this February after I purchased it from the owner off of Ebay. Ryan had to move other non winterized boats out of storage to get to my 1998 270 Sea Ray Sundancer then he was supposed to winterize my new boat before i came to pick it up from Illinois.

How ever now i have a cracked block and my pressurized water system has leaks all over and flooded my Cabin on the boat. My local shop looked at my boat he is 100% sure it is from freezing and a bad winterization.

Any tips how to handle this situations? It is obvious that Ryan did not want to do the work and im sure he did a crappy job because of that.

is it safe to haul my boat with bimini top open and front window &side windows snapped and zipped in to connect to the windshield and boat sides? Don't want this too get torn off going 55mph done the road.

Is the government of Canada or the USA planning to change the capacity plate ratings for max motor size to reflect the weight different between the 2 stroke and 4 stroke engines?

Trying to find one of these inside eyes for my boat top and where I can purchase one?

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as i have bought a new boat, I plan to stay a few nights and evenings in it and would like to install a dieselheater/Webasto etc in it. but wondered where to install it..? got a 22ft daycruiser with a I/O. should i install the heater in the enginebay, then just one outlet in the cabin? easy and quick..

ideally i would love to install it in the "center" of the boat, and have two outlets, one for defogging the windshield and one for the cabin.. so neither outlet is to far away from the heater. but placement of the heater is problematic then, other than under the floorboards in the stow-away compartment..

what have you done? or have any thoughts to share?

will take better pics tomorrow. its bedtime here! good night gurus of the sea..
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rearranged my instrument layout today so I could flush mount my chartplotter.

now I`ve done it so that I have an option for a 6th instrument on the port side of the steering wheel.

I have;

rpm with hour counter
mph
fuel level
coolant temp
oil pressure
volt meter
trim gauge

I use faria instruments.

So I just sold my 18ft boat and moved up to a 20ft Crownline. It's about 1000lbs heavier than my old boat. The marine rail system I use is rated for 4000lbs and it is able to pull it up the track. The concern I have is the type of cart I have on the rail. I did some research about how much overhang is ok at the transom and came across all kinds of posts about putting a hook in your hull if you have an overhang. For the record my 18 footer sat on this cart for 13 years including winter storage and I didn't notice any difference or problem with the hull. But now with the new heavier boat I want to make sure it is supported properly. The problem is that with the current v bunks you have to have some overhang, becuase if you have it too far forward you risk the boat being pulled out resting on the outdrive in rough water. I always thought it was ok to have some overhang because the motor is being supported and since it's an i/o most of the weight is in the block not the outdrive. Regardless I am comtemplating change to two long bunks running front to back pretty much the same as a trailer. The other option that is used around here is a cart that has two yolks with slings, it is definitely more gentle pulling the boat out, but not sure I like the idea of the boat sitting in slings for most of its life and the sling still needs to be forward of the transom as well. Here are some pics to give you a better idea of what I am talking about..

The first lift is the type I have with the v bunks.. Notice how the boat sits with the transom overhanging. That is my current setup.



The second is what I am considering doing, removing the vbunks and running some 2x6s or 2x8s either upright or flat using trailer bunk attachments.




The third is another system that is commonly used on my lake. Altough no one makes them anymore. I don't know if it is because the cart is to difficult to transport and everything these days needs to be modular, or whether the industry has moved away from slings for a reason. My neighbor has the sling setup and loves it and says I should do it but I have my reservations for the reasons noted above.



Welcoming opinions on what I should do..

16 foot aluminium runabout deep v hull it wrote starcraft islander on it but i dont think is a starcraft if somebody can help me to find what it is475266_10150681650706403_731512828_o.jpg

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I will use this thread to update our travels around the "Down East Circle Route," a 3,500 mile boating trip. Visit our blog for daily updates and pictures. We'd love to hear from you as well.

Here is a video of us leaving Cape Cod on the first day. The seas were a bit choppy:

http://boatingtales.com/wp-content/u...5/IMG_0390.mov