The 2010 FrankenMerc Project

[Titanty]

Re: The 2010 FrankenMerc Project

OP,

Just skimmed over you thread and got brain overload.

Thanks for all your work put into the thread. I will have to come back to it to read in detail, I believe you have inbedded more information about a boat motor then I will be able to comprehend..

Thanks

 

[sschefer]

Re: The 2010 FrankenMerc Project

OP,

Just skimmed over you thread and got brain overload.

Thanks for all your work put into the thread. I will have to come back to it to read in detail, I believe you have inbedded more information about a boat motor then I will be able to comprehend..

Thanks

Thank you.. FYI - Feel free to call me Steve.

 

[will941s]

Re: The 2010 FrankenMerc Project

Very interesting post. I keep looking for it when I go on this site, very informative. Either, can't wait to see it back together....and see pics of this beast running!

 

[sschefer]

Re: The 2010 FrankenMerc Project

Very interesting post. I keep looking for it when I go on this site, very informative. Either, can't wait to see it back together....and see pics of this beast running!

Thanks, it's a learning experience all the way. If you see something that doesn't sound right, keep reading. Rather than going back and doing a bunch of editing I correct my mistakes when I discover them.

 

[sschefer]

Re: The 2010 FrankenMerc Project

Carb kits came in today and had everything but the floats and butterflys. My floats are O.K. I soaked them in E-10 gas and then float tested them and they survived so we're good to go.

Heres the new parts and cleaned carbs.

Remember I told you about the fine wire from a wire brush. Well here it is -

And this is what you do with it -

The first thing I do is put some 2-4-C on the throttle shaft then put the butterflys in. I don't tighten them down I just snug them -

Then I go to the bowl and put the needle seats in. Make darn sure that there is no gasket material left on any of the surfaces. The seats are new in the kit but if your not replacing them they could have old gasket material on them and that will throw your float settings out of whack -

Next I install the needles and floats -

I set my floats two ways. In the above picture I use a punch as a weight to hold the needle in the bottom of the seat and then I look at the out edge of the float seam and line it up with the edge of the bowl. This is what is sometimes referred to as a level set.

Continued in next post ....

 

[sschefer]

Re: The 2010 FrankenMerc Project

Next I turn the bowl upside down and see where the end up. I then adjust as necessary, (rare) to make both floats hang exactly the same. Take your time here, this can cause you a lot of grief if you don't get it right.

Now I put the bowl on the carb body. Notice that the gaskets go on the body so that the alignment pins hold the gaskets right were they are supposed to set.

Now I put the bowl on the body.. I torque the screws to 8 in lbs in a cross pattern then come back and go to 20 in lbs in the same pattern. This ensures even compression of the gasket -

Now I put the idle circuit gasket and cover on and use the same torque process -

The next thing is the jet. I have a screw driver that I've ground to fit the slots in the jets perfectly. You'll want to do this also because if the screwdriver slips and you burr the jet you might as well throw it away. I put the main jet holders in a vice and tighten them. You don't need to get carried away with tightening them but they should be firm. FYI that vices jaws have been filed so they don't damage soft metals. I kept loosing my pads so I just made it permanent.. Ha..

Finally I install the linkage and just hand tighten the fuel fittings. I don't know exactly how I want them but want to keep them with the correct carb -

Continued --

 

[sschefer]

Re: The 2010 FrankenMerc Project

Now I go back to the butterflys. I remove one screw at a time and put a small spot of 271 (red) loctite on them then I put them back in - The small spot will wrap itself around the threads when properly applied -

Now I set the butterfly's permanently. The reason I don't do it earlier is because you don't know exactly how they are going to want to lay until everything is screwed together. This way you know that this is the way the will sit permanently so they seat properly and operate smoothly. Trust me on this one, it's a good plan -

And that's it -- Here it is sitting on the newly painted intake and front halve -

Yep, you caught me, that's the #1 carb in the #3 spot and upside down to boot. Hey, it was a photo op!

 

[Faztbullet]

Re: The 2010 FrankenMerc Project

You actually going to try and get some hp out of them stock 40's??

 

[sschefer]

Re: The 2010 FrankenMerc Project

You actually going to try and get some hp out of them stock 40's??

Yep... They'll pull their weight. I've got a set of WMH's and WMV's if I don't like these.

 

[sschefer]

Re: The 2010 FrankenMerc Project

Finished up the carbs and then looked at them on that black painted intake and said "No ffff way, that looks just like every other Merc on the water..." So I stripped and blasted them again..

I also hate casting breaks that weren't cleaned up so the heads got cleaned up and blasted as well as the divider plate and a few other parts. Yeah, I know, I'm nuts.

And look, who the heck polishes head bolts!!.. I do, they're 18-8 stainless.... ta...da.. Nuttin but da best for Frankie...

 

[sschefer]

Re: The 2010 FrankenMerc Project

The block boring is finally done. I ran a bore gauge down the cylinders every which way I could and when the machinist said he could bore it perfectly he was right. 3.1550 dead on the money.

When I picked it up they bagged it saying it was really clean. I said thank you but by now you know what I call clean and what they call clean are probably gonna be two different things. Here's what it looked like when I got it back --

Not exactly what I would call clean but that's o.k. I cut a 30 degree chamfer on the ports before it went out for boring but after boring the edges on the ports were pretty sharp so I did them again. It's pretty risky doing this after boring and honing because one slip and you can screw up really bad.

I then blasted the block with Aluminum Oxide and cleaned up the machined surfaces with a green scotch brite disk on my 1/4" angle grinder. It's starting to look a little better -

Now it's time to clean it. The one and single most important thing to remember is that when you clean the cylinders you're going to make them susceptable to flash rust. It is very important that you have everything you need ready when the block is being washed and final rinsed.

I have a large bag of freshly washed and dried shop towels, all the scrub brushes I can muster up, Dawn dishwashing soap (no parafin), my Makita to put the tube brushes in when cleaning out bolt holes and a machinist pick to break loose anything that might be stuck at the bottom of a hole. Here's the block ready to take a bath -

After scrubbing for what seems like hours it's ready for it's final power wash rinse. I use a inexpensive power washer with 1800 psi. That's all you need if you scrubbed it well...

The minute you put that powerwashers down, run, run, run, and grab those rags and stuff the holes. If you're fast enough you won't have to worry about flash rust but if you're not.... well, it aint gonna make you happy...

Now, the compressed air comes in, you need to blow out everything and use that machinist pic to scrape the bottoms of every bolt hole and blow it out again. You need dry air when you're doing this so if you don't have a dryer on you system, get one of those one time use dryer's and put it inline with your blow tip.

The last thing you'll do is oil the cylinders. Because my hands are too big to fit down these holes I make several wraps of white paper towel around a dowel and then saturate it with Mercury Premium blended two cycle oil. I never use a synthetic during assembly. When you oil the cylinders check the towel. It should remain greenish blue. If you see any sign of a dark stain appearing just stop. You did not get the cylinders clean and you need to start all over.

And here's the final product --

And this is from the front side.. You can see here where I opened up the rod slot ends and stuffed the case to make up the difference. I also glass blasted the areas after I stuffed them because you really don't want this to be smooth or you risk having the fuel/air move too fast and fuel droplets will drop out. The 70grit roughness is just enough to keep that from happening and is why Merc does it also.

 

[sschefer]

Re: The 2010 FrankenMerc Project

So, there you have it, the block is cleaned and prepped for the build. I'll bag it now to ensure it stays clean.

The block was the determining factor in this build. If it came back from boring and I was happy with the results then I would continue if not, then I'd go look for another block and start over.

Over the next few weeks I'll be ordering bearings, gaskets, etc., to finish out the project. I changed my mind and instead of using the SeaCross Japanese rods that I had balanced, I'm going to use the rods out of the 200. I've already lightened them and I'll send them to John Marles for balancing when I send the pistons for top pinning.

I've also got my annual fishing trip next month so I'll be getting ready for that but when I get back it will be full steam ahead and we'll finsih this litte rat of a motor. Hopefully we'll be breaking it in before the end of the boating season this year. In the mean time, I'll be cleaning and bagging the rest of the parts that I've already blasted. I'll also show you how to setup a set of reed blocks and prep a crankshaft.

 

[madgadget]

Re: The 2010 FrankenMerc Project

Love it. This project is awesome

 

[sschefer]

Re: The 2010 FrankenMerc Project

Thank you..

 

[sschefer]

Re: The 2010 FrankenMerc Project

Reed Block Assembly - The first thing I do is put down a fresh layer of paper and then blow and wipe it with a tack rag. I then lay out all my parts and tools. -

I wear nitrile gloves and change them often when I do this and I always blow everthing off one last time as I'm assembling. -

The next step is to put a little Merc Premium Grade Blended Two Stroke oil in a container so it's ready for me. I'll use this to coat the reeds and blocks just prior to assembly -

With the reeds and blocks coated I'll now begin assembly. I'm using Chris Carson Marine reeds on this engine in a stock semi sport cut, not race.

These are not the same reed blocks that I lapped and polished in my earlier reed block posts. Those were showing signs of blistering so I gathered up 24 more and ended up with 6 really nice ones. It's the price you pay if you want the better breathing blocks and don't have the option of a 7 petal front half.

Here's the final product. All the screws got torqued to 12 in lbs. These will now be sealed in this container until it's their turn in the assembly process.

 

[sschefer]

Re: The 2010 FrankenMerc Project

Rod Lightening and setting up the pistons and rods for balancing.

Here you can see that I've removed the casting breaks to help lighten the rods. When my scale gets back from calibration next week I'll weigh them and adjust as necessary so they are all equal in overall weight. This is not balancing but some consider it good enough in these motors.. Notice that I did not remove any material from the rod ends. I'll need that when I get the the real balancing.

Here's a mock up of my balancing setup. I put the support bolt on the scale and then zero it. Notice the piston on the pinacle that's pretty darn good for right out of the box.

Here's a shot of the pinacle -

Here's where you locate center of the piston from the underside. I once made a jig to fit a piston and mark dead center. After about 5 hours of work I never made a mark that wasn't dead center of the factory marks. I checked it on several different piston makes so I stopped using it and just use the factory marks.

The idea with the pistons is to first find the lightest piston and set it on the pinacle. Take off enough material so it balances level on the pinacle. Then you do the rest bringing them all to the weight of the lightest piston and level balanced on the pinacle. Yes it's the harder way do it and much more time consuming but when you don't scuff piston because they don't woble when they float you'll be glad you did it.

Here's the tools of destruction for the balancing process. When removing the larger amounts of material always try to use the die grinder and move along the length of the piece. DO NOT let the rod get hot. Stop frequently and work on the next rod. My method is to take material off until it begins to feel warm then move to the next rod. By the time I cycle through, the first rod has cooled down enough to continue.

Heat is not usually a problem with pistons because you rarely take very much off them. As little as 1 gram is often enough to balance it up on the pinacle.

Notice the dremel tool. I usually use it on the pistons.

Next week I'll get my scale back and we'll go through balancing a rod and a piston. It's really pretty easy and once you do it you'll wonder why you didn't do it before.

 

[sschefer]

Re: The 2010 FrankenMerc Project

I put together my balancing station. You can buy one for about 200.00 or you can make your own.

Mine is made with a magnetic base on a piece of 3/8 steel I had laying around. Found a Greenlee 1-3/16 punch half that fit the big end and 1/2 punch half that fit the small end and wah-la.. a rod balancing station with re-usable parts that cost me zero...

I also pulled a stock Merc piston out to show you the centering point.

And look at this, with the rings on the stock piston and set relatively close to the final resting place, the stock merc piston pinacle balances better than the Pro Marine Pro.. Of course it's quite a bit heavier so the Pro Marine makes up for it in reciprocating mass weight loss.

If you're wondering if this all makes a engine faster.. Sometimes, mostly, it allows you to reach higher rpms with less load on the engine and less stress on bearing surface. If the pistons and rods are balanced they are less likely to produce power robbing flutter or wobble. Where you really notice the difference is in the smoothness at speed and at idle.

 

[saumon]

Re: The 2010 FrankenMerc Project

As it's obvious that Frank will be a clean, balanced, tight fit, at how much do you plan to set the ?redline?? Will you prop it to turn 6000, or even 6500?

 

[Faztbullet]

Re: The 2010 FrankenMerc Project

Aint you forgeting a important part?

 

[saumon]

Re: The 2010 FrankenMerc Project

I'm not a crazy nuts like you guys hanging at screamandfly and i'd like to ask you something: i understand that ?theorically?, 2-stroke OB doesn't have a set rpm limit and can go as high as load allow it. So, in real life, if you take a ?no load? situation (no prop) and open it up until self-destruction occur, what are the first parts to give up? Crank bearings, piston seizure due to expansion, or anything else? (I'd better like to ask than try it on my engine )

Thanks.