I have returned... with a Starcraft this time!

[g0nef1sshn]

you need to shoe the admiral a nice aluminum tracker before restoring that thing! I wouldnt even make that one a flower bed haha. keep up on the progress! I like following your stuff you got goin on.

 

[BWR1953]

you need to shoe the admiral a nice aluminum tracker before restoring that thing! I wouldnt even make that one a flower bed haha. keep up on the progress! I like following your stuff you got goin on.

Yah, I really like the Trackers. Last year our plan was to get a new Magna in a couple years, then I got hooked on restoring the old Starcrafts.

In 1985 I bought a brand new Tournament TX-17 with a 50HP Mercury on the back. Just like the one on my current donor boat. Owned that BT almost 8 years and used it a TON. When I was living out west I'd use it 2 - 3 times a week. In MD I would use it 3-5 times a week during fishing season. Really great boat and the only thing I ever did with it was put fuel in it and winterize it when I was living in the cold country. Totally reliable. (My daughter on the boat - can't believe she's 32 now! )

I only sold it to move up to a more powerful bass boat.

 

[BWR1953]

Messed with the outboard this afternoon. Hooked up the battery, sprayed carb cleaner into the carb throats, pulled the plugs and sprayed carb cleaner into the cylinders as well. Then I cranked it over. Am letting it sit overnight as is then will do more tomorrow.

Also pushed the tilt/trim button on the throttle handle, both up and down. I think I heard a click on the up push but definitely got the nice hydraulic groan on the down push. I dunno anything about the hydraulics and will be asking for help as I continue to explore.

Click images below to view videos:

 

[Watermann]

Don't start or turn the motor over any more with carb cleaner only in the cylinders. You should be using fogging oil to lube and coat the bearing surfaces and cylinder walls. Carb cleaner will clean and strip the protective film of oil.

 

[BWR1953]

Yup. I hope to get some tomorrow.

 

[BWR1953]

Oh yeah, while I was messing with the motor, the boy was stripping usable parts from the donor. He really liked that and I caught him singing along to "Woolly Bully" by Sam the Sham and the Pharoahs. Amazes me what that kid picks up.

Dunno how much of the stuff will actually be usable but I do think that the air scoops may be salvageable for use on the KF when I eventually get to Phase 3. They'll need to be sanded, cleaned up and repainted but should be functional once installed.

 

[Watermann]

Yup. I hope to get some tomorrow.

If your wanting to clean things up inside the combustion chambers then Seafoam will work real well to decarb the motor but it will need to be running and warmed up to do a proper job. There's a sticky on it in the motor forum.

:lol: kids!

 

[BWR1953]

My wife stopped on her way home from work this morning and bought a can of Sta-Bil fogging oil for me.

I just now fogged the engine and cranked it over, then fogged it again and cranked it once more. That should hold it till the weather clears. Raining here today.

I do have SeaFoam already and some is mixed in with my KF fuel tank which is what I'll be using when I try to start the engine. I can see some old gas in the Merc fuel bowl so will have to drain that and the fuel lines. I'll be following the Awakening a Sleeping Outboard thread procedure as I go.

Will also need to see if I have the correct Mercury fuel connector around here somewhere. May require some scrounging. I think I saw one in the donor boat. Maybe. :indecisiveness:

 

[BWR1953]

Well, it was a good news, bad news deal today. Got started late in the afternoon.

Followed the "awakening a sleeping outboard" thread process. Started by pulling the prop and found a whole bunch of fishing line wrapped around the shaft. An inkling of things to come. hwell:

Removed all the fishing line and reinstalled the prop.

Then I checked the lower unit oil. Opened the vent and unscrewed the lower screw and water, then black oil flowed out. Sigh. :blue: On the positive side, there were no metal shavings in the oil. Hopefully it's just bad seals caused by the fishing line and not a ruined shaft. Either way, I can't do anything about it right now.

So I plugged it back up and moved on to testing the spark plugs. Used my new spark plug tester and got a nice fat spark on all 4 cylinders. Good news there.

There was no fuel line hooked up but there's a bit of leftover gas in the fuel filter. I cranked the motor over (with muffs on) just to see what would happen. It cranked fine and started making those "I-wanna-start-I-wanna-start-I-wanna-start" noises so I shut it off. I did find the Mercury fuel line adapter for the motor but don't have the correct connector to fit the 6 gallon fuel tank from the Johnson motor on my KF. Will buy one tomorrow.

The last thing I did was to test the power tilt. It worked! Really, really slow but maybe it needs hydraulic fluid. But that slow tilt is still faster than I can currently move! :lol:

From what I can tell, this 1985 50hp engine only has power tilt and not trim. :noidea: The 1985 Bass Tracker I bought new also had power trim as well as tilt. If I recall correctly, it had 2 small hydraulic rams between the main frame rails which provided the trim function. My current motor doesn't have those. So I'm not sure if it has trim or not. Anybody have a clue for me?

Here's that tilt in action. It does go all the way up but I didn't show it because it would take so long.

Click to view video.

 

[Watermann]

Yeah if it's just the single ram on one side then it's tilt only with no trim.

When I resealed the prop shaft on my Johnny (fishing line) I also did the drive shaft just to make sure.

 

[BWR1953]

Frustrating day for me today. Went to Wally World and picked up a Mercury fuel line setup for $50 only to learn that it was the wrong one. Will have to take it back and try again.

I did pick up 4 new spark plugs and installed those. While doing that I popped the top cover off the motor and realized that it wasn't secured. Looks like a hold-down may be missing or broken. :blue:

Am seriously thinking of just flipping this motor. I really, really do want power trim. If I get it running okay, I'll have to make a decision.

And the pollen count here over the last few days has been very high and really affecting my vision, along with all the other medical stuff I have going on. :crutch:

 

[BWR1953]

So this happened today...

 

[BWR1953]

I have a little more time now, so can add info about today's work.

After reading my service manual this morning, I found out that the 1985 Mercury 50 HP outboard I have does indeed have power trim as well as power tilt. Good news, that!

So I went outside and rigged up the fuel line and tank from my Kingfisher to work with the Merc. Pulled the fuel filter and cleaned that nasty thing with some paper towels at first. It had green mold inside! Ugh. Hit it with some carb cleaner and got it spotless. Hooked up the fuel and pumped the bulb till the filter was full. Connected the muffs to provide water to the engine next.

Then I hooked up the battery and did a full up and down test of the motor. The result of which is in the video and I was pleased to see that it worked just fine! The throttle lever has two separate buttons; one for trim, the other for trailering.

So we turned on the water and cranked it up. It spit and sputtered a few times then finally started. One thing I learned was that the "throttle only" button on the throttle lever was not only missing the button cover, but was broken and didn't work at all. I couldn't increase throttle speed without putting the motor into gear. While I was fussing with that, I missed something important. No water coming from the telltale! So I shut the engine off.

All in all, I'm satisfied with the results. However, the engine will need the carbs rebuilt and the lower unit prop shaft seals replaced (as a minimum). Not to mention a new water pump/impeller. Further, the throttle lever needs to be completely replaced. It's actually broken and taped together with electrical tape. Plus, the trim button end is missing, the trailer button is broken and the "throttle only" lock out is also broken. Finally, the top cover on the engine can't lock into place because the latch is broken and there appears to be a part missing. Will need to investigate that further.

But it runs!!

Now the question becomes... fix it and keep it or sell it for a 600% profit? It's the right time of year here to be selling boat stuff.

 

[g0nef1sshn]

nice work BWR! I wouldnt know what to do with 3 boat projects at once. When I get moved out of this HOA my yard might start looking like yours does though.

 

[classiccat]

I can only imagine your reaction when you discovered the T&T! I bet you double-timed it through the yard that day!

The deficiencies are very minor / basic PMI. My vote is to slap that bad boy on the KF and hold on!!!

 

[Watermann]

Hey that's super! Glad the ole smoker coughed and came to life. I noticed too that there was no water flow out the tell tale, it could just be plugged up but I'm sure a water pump kit is in order too.

 

[BWR1953]

nice work BWR! I wouldnt know what to do with 3 boat projects at once. When I get moved out of this HOA my yard might start looking like yours does though.

Well technically it's only 2 boats. The donor boat is simply providing the motor. Once off, the boat will be scrapped and the trailer sold. However! I very nearly bought an additional donor boat 2 days ago! That would have made 4 boats in the yard. Only out of concern about flying frying pans did I hesitate. And that hesitation caused me to miss out on the deal, albeit probably saving me a lump on the noggin. :lol:

And 2 days ago I also missed out on another motor. It was a good running 25HP Johnson with controls for only $300. I could have dropped that on the KF, sold my 50HP Merc for a tidy profit and had the completed boat for free. Again I hesitated and that motor was gone in less than an hour. Ah, well. At least I'm still in one piece. :laugh:

I can only imagine your reaction when you discovered the T&T! I bet you double-timed it through the yard that day!

The deficiencies are very minor / basic PMI. My vote is to slap that bad boy on the KF and hold on!!!

No double-timing around here since I finally escaped from the wheelchair just a few weeks ago. I'd lost a bunch of muscle mass and about 90% of my strength due to medication side effects. :blue:

And only a couple weeks ago I tried to climb up into my Chieftain using the trailer step and fender. Took me 5 tries to finally get in there! And I was exhausted after achieving my goal.

But I'm doing better now. Getting stronger. I was able to climb into the Chief a couple days ago without issue. At this point I'd say I've only lost 75% of my strength. Slowly getting better but a far cry from normal. Still, it's good to be able to get outside and do some work, even if it's minor and slow. Progress is progress... on all fronts!

Thanks for the vote! Haven't made up my mind yet... hoping others will chime in as well.

 

[BWR1953]

Happy Birthday Kingfisher! One year ago today was the big splash.! arty:

And then my health slowly ground use and rehab of the little boat to a halt. :crutch: Dang it all. We haven't used the KF for 8 months as of today. Had hoped to get out to go fishing last weekend but the weather didn't cooperate. Hoping this weekend will be better and we can get the boat wet again!

Recently I started doing some paper reconfiguration of the interior in anticipation of getting my shelter project completed in the not too distant future. I'm thinking of moving the twin seat/storage box from the port side to the stern area. I could then use one of the seats for controlling the tiller and the standalone seat would be moved up to the console. I'd thought of moving the storage seatbox twice but I may be able to do it only once. Will need to get out there and do some actual measuring before making a final decision.

HOWEVER!!! While discussing this stuff with my wife, she said that if I wanted to just sell the KF and buy something bigger, nicer and less tippy, she's okay with that idea too! :faint2:

What's a guy to do? :noidea: :lol:

 

[dozerII]

Okay, so why is the KF not cleaned up and sitting with a for sale sign on it?? You should have no time at all for anything but Clist looking for the bigger S/C

 

[Watermann]

Sell it! naw row it out in the boat lot and get a 18'r added to the fleet.