Free boat! UPDATE!

[chriscraft254]

Re: Free boat! UPDATE!

Smoke, when I get mine done, you can drag that thing over here and we will get the glass work done. won't take long. Maybe just a year or two,lol

You trying to get my phone number, your pretty sweet for such a big guy,lol

 

[smokeonthewater]

Re: Free boat! UPDATE!

Be careful what you offer, I might just have to take you up on that.....

what have you heard ?! LOL

 

[smokeonthewater]

Re: Free boat! UPDATE!

I put the gauges in and hooked a couple of them up... but RATS I have no tach signal now!... The tach DID work but now it doesn't.... The rectifier tests good and I pulled the stator last night to splice good wire on the the old rotten wires.....

I get a/c voltage from the stator wires, about 14 volts at idle and as much as 46 volts with rpm's raised..... likely more at wot but that's not happening on land.... the voltage doesn't seem stable though, seems to jump around like 20, 8, 20, 2, etc....

When I hook the dvom to the bat I get ac voltage there too but not as much..... The dc voltage measured with the dvom at the battery is 12.7 with the engine off but jumps around 14, 2, 8, 12, etc with the engine running?! The volt gauge on the dash shows just under 13 key on engine off and just over 13 at fast idle.... I fiddled till 7AM last night and my brain power was running really low by the time that I finally went to bed but I'm thinking that I have a stator issue and/or a switchbox issue.

I gotta say, the dang force motor is starting to look like an option more and more.... I LOVE the sound of the old merc but if I end up having to dump several hundred dollars into a 35 year old motor it sorta derails the whole idea of building a dirt cheap boat.....

 

[smokeonthewater]

Re: Free boat! UPDATE!

Well I don't know the why behind all of the crazy readings on the dvom... perhaps this time it IS the tool.....

I also don't know why my oem merc tach wouldn't read tho it did dust fine before building a new harness (harness is not the issue)

HOWEVER after doing some research here at iboats, I discovered that the old merc tach uses a pulsed dc signal generated in the switchbox and that modern tachs need an ac signal from the stator..... the fix was to move my tach signal wire from the tach output on the switchbox to one of the yellow wires from the stator on the rectifier.... now it works perfectly....

At some point I'll test the charging system a bit more but for now, since voltage DOES go up past 13v on the dash at high idle and below with engine off I'd say that it is PROBABLY fine.


She purrs at 500 rpm out of the water now.... we'll see what she does in the water.... I MAY need to raise the idle but so presently I'm back in that happy place again...... 'cept for my darn 'puter.... tho I suspect that I'll get that going eventually too.

 

[chriscraft254]

Re: Free boat! UPDATE!

Hope you got it all rectified,lmao. Your speaking french to me now, have no clue about that stuff. :facepalm: I'll stick with the woodwork.

Would n't be water testing it in the next couple days, I went out today to retrieve a floating dock that wasn't suppose to be floating. Little 13 whaler had a good time trying to pull 1000 pounds worth of deck around. Water shot up over night like 5 feet.

 

[smokeonthewater]

Re: Free boat! UPDATE!

yeah I'd say that the river will be a bit nasty for a while after these storms....

 

[l008com]

Re: Free boat! UPDATE!

I hate when a quick job takes two days

I was going to grind all of the paint off my floor one weekend, so I could have some more fiberglass laid down. 3 months later, I was done grinding!

 

[smokeonthewater]

Re: Free boat! UPDATE!

Well some folks seem to think it's raining but I dunno..... I've been outside working under a clear starry night sky..... I DID see several flashes off to the southwest.... maybe that was the lightening Budd spoke of or maybe it was the LED's firing up LOL

Anyhow I dropped the lower unit and swapped in a new (slightly used) impeller and impeller housing (yes I know get new ones BUT I'm poor and these will work for quite a while). I put the lower unit back on and now the free boat is one step closer to actually seeing the water..... May even take a road trip to cincy and get her titled/ registered in the next couple days.

 

[chriscraft254]

Re: Free boat! UPDATE!

Well some folks seem to think it's raining but I dunno..... I've been outside working under a clear starry night sky..... I DID see several flashes off to the southwest.... maybe that was the lightening Budd spoke of or maybe it was the LED's firing up LOL

Anyhow I dropped the lower unit and swapped in a new (slightly used) impeller and impeller housing (yes I know get new ones BUT I'm poor and these will work for quite a while). I put the lower unit back on and now the free boat is one step closer to actually seeing the water..... May even take a road trip to cincy and get her titled/ registered in the next couple days.

This thread is worthless without pics That was lightning, I promise,lol It was raining here for about 3 hrs. Did get a little break late, but I was soaked by then.

Sounds like your gettin her done. When are you dropping her in the drink? What are you up to now, $1.59 on this project?

 

[smokeonthewater]

Re: Free boat! UPDATE!

well I guess O spent about $10 on some spot filler for the dash so current investment is still negative $80


If I get her registered she might see water this weekend..... CUNNINGHAM'S!

 

[GA_Boater]

Re: Free boat! UPDATE!

What are you bartering for the title/rego? Does the state take old parts or chickens? You gotta get legal on the cheap.

 

[smokeonthewater]

Re: Free boat! UPDATE!

LOL I'm sure it won't be as much on this boat but on my montecarlo I save more than $1000 over 3 years by registering in ohio.

It was $68 for 3 years in oh vs @$400 for 1 year here.

 

[smokeonthewater]

Re: Free boat! UPDATE!

Baby steps.... today I wired up the ptt..... the oem mercury system uses a relay for up and just a switch for down.... since the tiny switch in my shifter is nowhere near up to the task of full down amperage I wired it up with a $5 relay (same as a foglight kit would have) under the dash. I haven't reg'd her yet but soon.

 

[smokeonthewater]

Re: Free boat! UPDATE!

Still having computer issues but here are a few pics for y'all

the engine harness I made, a couple shots of the dash, and before and after of the stator.

 

[Mikeyboy]

Re: Free boat! UPDATE!

That's looking good smoke. So all that and your out less than I paid for my manual after you register it. Man I'm jellous.

 

[scoutabout]

Re: Free boat! UPDATE!

Been dropping by occasionally to check out your progress, smoke. A most awesome project. LOL - those crispy wires you posted pics of look suspiciously like the junk I've been pulling outta the cowl of the '74 merc 7.5 I'm trying to resurrect for my kid. What did merc make that insulation out of anyway - licorice ??

 

[DBreskin]

Re: Free boat! UPDATE!

Man I'm jellous.

Yeah, you and Bill Cosby.

 

[Andy'sDelight]

Re: FREE BOAT! :screams in terror:

Re: FREE BOAT! :screams in terror:

Nice scalvage.

you are going to want the 175, at least 150 or you will feel like you are dragging.

When I read this I though you may have also got a potential girlfriend out of it: "P/O was great (also a member here and may check in) She definitely needs some love but is a REAL solid starting point"

Not true, I had the cuddy V20 which I am pretty sure is heavier than the CC. I had a Johnson 130 and she went 40mph easily.

 

[Mikeyboy]

Re: FREE BOAT! :screams in terror:

Re: FREE BOAT! :screams in terror:

Lol. So spelling may not be my strong suit. :facepalm:

 

[smokeonthewater]

Re: FREE BOAT! :screams in terror:

Re: FREE BOAT! :screams in terror:

lol... just friggen LOL