72 Thunderbird Formula w/twin 165hp Mercs

[kcassells]

All I want to remeber is what you said to me way back in the beginning......
"We use to dive and get shovel nose lobsters."
I llooked them up way back then and sure do want you go back and get em!! Good work Mark!! You will certainly work out the kinks on a boat passed down from 1 dad to the next!

 

[Njbassman48]

any news on the block? Read the whole thread today, such a beautiful boat! Great work!

 

[Mark72233]

Hey everyone sorry I have been out of pocket. I took a vacation with the wife up to Gatlinburg,Tenn all last week and just got back to the real world yesterday. No news on the block yet, went by there today because he said it was going to be a week before he could get to it but I guess he meant to say it will be 2 weeks before he gets to it so nothing on the block yet. The head guy did call me last week and he found a pin hole leak around the seat of the exhaust port in #3 so the head might be the issue. I know the manifold is not the problem its the brand new one and for the heck of it I pressure tested it with no issues found so still hoping the block is good because those are brand new bearing, pistons and rings. Anyway still just waiting and taking a break from working on the boat.

 

[hogbare35]

Mark
If the head is the problem you should be able to find one pretty easy . If you cannot find one ,there is a cylinder head shop in Bham Al that I bought my last heads from . I had them build the heads for marine use , so they came with brass freeze plugs and harden valve seats . Let me know if you need the phone # . Good luck!!

 

[Mark72233]

hogbare thanks for the offer. So far the guy I have been using is treating me pretty good. He rebuilt the head that failed and I think felt bad for the head failing. I told him I had no issues with his work considering I gave him a very used head and in my opinion the failure or pin hole just recently occurred and only after about 20 hours of use and it was located under the valve seat from the water jacket rusting through. Anyway he found me a good truck head and cleaned it up and installed the brass plugs and other items needed for marine use and didn't charge me much for it so now just waiting on the other machine shop to get the block checked so I can put it all back together and try again.

 

[hogbare35]

Mark that's good to hear. I'm going to be starting on my Stamas soon ,it has 2- 165 mercs and my old Searay had them also . I do like those set ups . They are old like me but real easy to work on . Do you have electronic ignitions on you engines ?I changed mine on the Searayo electronics years ago and had great luck with them .

 

[Mark72233]

I love the looks of the older Stamas boats in the range of 24 feet with the hard top. One of my favorite older style boats. As for the ignition I had just the standard distributor with points no fancy anything. I did change those out with the Pertronix ignitor and coil which so far has worked out well. And I am 53 years old so I like old school stuff. The simpler the better I like it which is why I love these Chevy 250 engines, simple tough work horses.

 

[Mark72233]

Machine shop for the block finally called me today and he cant find any issues when he Magna Fluxed the block and the deck is level as well so he is going to install new cam bearings and hone all the cylinders and hopefully will have it done by 4pm Friday just in time to take it home and put the engine back together on Saturday and back in the boat Sunday.

 

[hogbare35]

Mark what type primer did you use on the hull of your boat ? I'm going to put bottom paint on even though it will be on a trailer most of the time . There is a little bottom paint still on the bottom or it is still tinted like the old paint . I hate to just keep sanding on it . What's your suggestion ?

 

[hogbare35]

Oh by the way I have 6 of these 165 merc setups . Hope I can make 2 go ones for my project .

 

[Mark72233]

hogbare, I used Rustoleum paint thinned down with acetone, paint thinner, and an added hardener. I used the primer on everything and Navy blue and the Gloss White. The hardener I got from Tractor Supply Co. I bought the paint from Lowe's.

 

[hogbare35]

Mark that's great news on the block , hope you get it going soon . Thanks for the paint info . I don't know what im going to use . I may start a thread to get input .

 

[Mark72233]

The block got done and I picked it up Friday so Friday night and Saturday was spent rebuilding the engine so here is a pic of the rebuilt, rebuilt engine.

I did a compression check and all the numbers were very good pretty much 160 across the board. Sunday I spent the morning wiring and installing the 2 electric fuel pumps and fixing some other issues I found once the engine was out. Monday I installed the engine and got it fired up but decided I wasn't about to test run the boat on the 4th after already testing it out the first time on Memorial Day. Anyway both engines seem to be running ok on the hose so maybe Tuesday after work I can put it in the water for a test run. Hope everyone is having a Happy 4th.

 

[alldodge]

There going to be no problems this time

 

[hogbare35]

Way to go Mark . Engine looks good . I wish I was where you are on my boat . Keep up the good work .

 

[archbuilder]

Sorry you had problems, but I'm glad you got it back together Mark! By the way, do you have a pic of the back location where you are attaching your chain? Mine always wants to hit the valve cover. It looks like yours maybe clearing it? I'm wondering if I have have the wrong lift hook on the motor.

 

[ahmincha]

I am amazed you pull the motor rebuild and back into boat quicker then I can launch my boat. Glad to hear your about to resplash. Good luck but you will not need it

 

[Mark72233]

Thanks guys and yes I hope it will be many years before I have to pull any more motors out of this boat like 20 years, knock on wood. Arch I have the same issue with mine I have the small engine lift ring with the one bolt. If you are standing behind the engine I bolt it to the high side hole just left of center but I turned the lifting ring to the left at about the 10 O'clock position if that make sense and tightened it down. I used a large threaded shackle so the chain could flex out a little. It was still putting pressure on the valve cover and had me worried the entire time it was in the air.

 

[Mark72233]

Well I took the boat out after work last night and both engines ran. The right one that was just rebuilt did fine, tweaked the timing and carb adjustments a little and so far its running ok, max rpms about 3800. The problem now is the left engine wont go over 3100 RPMs which is way the right wont max out to 4100 rpms and I have not done anything to this left engine besides change it from a mechanical fuel pump to electric fuel pump so I think something up with that. I had to add some fuel lines and a in line filter but cant see why any of this would be the issue. I tweaked the timing while I was running at 3100 RPMs and that was the max I could get out of it. I wonder about the fuel pump placements and the fuel system after the fuel pumps. The manual for the Marine Holley Red fuel pumps stated put the pumps as close to and as low as I could from the fuel tank so they are both mounted as low as I can put them in the engine compartment without getting them down into the bilge and they are connected just after the "T" connection where the one fuel lines comes through the bulk head from the fuel tank. The manual also said the pumps are designed to push fuel from the pumps not pull fuel that well so the pumps are before the water separators so the pumps push the fuel through a couple of feet of 3/8 fuel line to the water separators and than about 4-5 feet of 3/8 fuel line up to the carbs. I did place small glass in line fuel filters just before the pumps so at least the raw gas was filtered before going into the pumps. There are no fuel pressure gauges on the pumps because they are preset from the factory to pump at 4-7 PSI which is what the engine or carbs are supposed to have. I don't know maybe the carb needs adjusted again if the carbs needed adjustment would this account for the 3100 RPMs? Anyway I will take it back out Thursday or Friday afternoon and tweak it some more.

 

[alldodge]

Dang Mark you need to catch a break.

While the pumps are not designed to pull fuel they should have no issue pulling thru the antisiphone valve, once the canister filter is full there should be no issue. Adding another filter might cause a slight issue at WOT but IMO not now with everything new. I don't think its the fuel pump because there is no backfire fro running lean.

Need more investigation, and while this would be yet another bad blow id correct, but I would check compression