Project Merlin

[BWR1953]

Re: Project Merlin

Argh! I'm about ready to take a hammer to this thing!

I let my hand heal up and didn't do anything with the engine until today, when I pulled the plugs to discover that they were seriously worn. I gapped them somewhere between .065" - .080" instead of the normal .030" gap.

So off to the store I went. Bought 2 plugs, brought them home and gapped them correctly, then installed both.

Now I have new blisters. And one of the old ones broke open. LOL! Yes, after a few minutes I did remember to put on a glove.

I did manage to get it running for awhile, but it never would idle correctly. It was almost like it was running on just one cylinder, not both. Maybe because of the oily fuel in the carb bowl from the prior 16:1 tank. Off and on, I ran it maybe 5 - 8 minutes total. Dunno if that was enough to clear the bowl or not.

However, when it finally bogged down and died again, it wouldn't restart. I messed with it for quite awhile and finally shot some carb cleaner down the throat. After a few minutes, it fired up again but once more would only run at higher speeds and not at idle.

Repeated the carb cleaner. Same thing... only this time, it did start to idle down a bit, then died completely. My hand and back were sore again and I was hot, sweaty and hungry so I gave it up for tonight.

Ugh. I need the thing to be reliable.

Time for food.

-BWR

 

[asdasc]

Re: Project Merlin

I like the project!

Do yourself a favor and go to the engine FAQ on this site. There is a thread titled awakening a sleeping outboard. My guess is that the one you have has been sitting for quite some time. They can be made very reliable, but my guess is that you will have to rebuild the carb first. There are also some good articles in there about tuning the carb.

I would also check compression and spark with the respective guages. A motor that wont start on the first 4-5 pulls, will never run reliably. Once you get good spark, a clean carb and some compression, there is nothing stopping it from starting on the 2nd pull everytime.

Good luck!

By the way, the pressure tanks shouldn't be hard to find, and while they were getting $60-80 for them a while back, the prices have dropped a lot lately. I have been passing them up at $20.

 

[maxum247]

Re: Project Merlin

Rebuild the carb and fuel pump, neither should be too hard to do and shouldn't cost alot either.

max!

 

[Landscaping Wiz 808]

Re: Project Merlin

By the way, the pressure tanks shouldn't be hard to find, and while they were getting $60-80 for them a while back, the prices have dropped a lot lately. I have been passing them up at $20.

WHOA!! Where are these $20 tanks? Are you seeing them locally or someplace that ships?

BOB

 

[BWR1953]

Re: Project Merlin

Thanks for the input fellas.

I'm gonna think on it a bit more. I really don't want to put much money into this engine, since it is never going to be the primary mover on this boat. It's a temporary thing and will be sold later on down the road... err... river. LOL

I may or may not end up rebuilding the carb and fuel pump. Depends on the parts costs plus finding a manual somewhere.

I do have experience rebuilding auto and motorcycle engines, including two-strokes, but got away from that years ago when my wallet got bigger and I could just buy new or pay someone else to do repairs. Back in the 80s I rebuilt the lower unit on a 1956 Johnson 18hp, plus replaced the coils, etc. to get that motor running strong. When I sold it, it would start on the 1st or 2nd pull.

The only boat engine service I ever paid to have done years ago was

1 - tuning an old Chrysler and a couple years later having the prop re-hubbed and

2 - having a water impeller installed on a stern drive. Neither was expensive back then.

Nowadays, I'm retired, not rich, so each buck means a lot more.

The dealer I bought the Sea King from is reputable, so I may just haul my boat down there and see what he has to say.

As for the pressurized tanks... that need was eliminated when I traded the old Evinrude for the newer Sea King. And the reason I did the trade is because the tanks are hard to find for a reasonable cost. The only one I found was missing a bunch of stuff and was $100. There are some online, but they all run right around $100 plus shipping.

Stay "tuned!" LMAO!

-BWR

 

[asdasc]

Re: Project Merlin

WHOA!! Where are these $20 tanks? Are you seeing them locally or someplace that ships?

BOB

craigslist in Detroit area. I heard that this area in Michigan has more registered boats per capita than anywhere in the world. Also, since a lot of early development of motors and boats occurred here, we have lots of them around. I don't think I would want to ship a gas tank though. It might be ok.

 

[Landscaping Wiz 808]

Re: Project Merlin

Any luck with that Seaking? I thought your hands would have healed by now.

BOB

 

[BWR1953]

Re: Project Merlin

Any luck with that Seaking? I thought your hands would have healed by now.

BOB

Yep, my hands have indeed healed. But my brain is too smart to let me go out there and get into self-abuse with my hands again! LOL!

I did search a bit for carb and fuel pump rebuild kits, but didn't find anything quickly, so I put that on the back shelf for the moment.

I'm currently working on a barter deal... tryin' to upgrade a bit. The guy is very hard to reach, but I've made a little progress.

Will keep ya'll posted once I make some real progress. Baby steps are okay with me, although I'm gettin' pretty antsy to get out on the water. The weather is great and the fish are migrating back into the area!

 

[BWR1953]

Re: Project Merlin

Well, the barter deal seems to have evaporated.

I just got a quote of about $90 plus shipping for a carb rebuild kit, fuel pump rebuild kit and a waterpump impeller.

I REALLY don't want to put that much money into this old Sea King motor. With the trade-in of my old Evinrude, plus the $100 I added, I'm easily $200 - $250 into this motor already. Adding another hundred doesn't make much sense to me. But maybe I'm wrong.

Any suggestions on what I can do instead, or maybe where I could get the parts cheaper?

Thanks!

 

[maxum247]

Re: Project Merlin

You could part it out on Ebay or maybe Craigslist and recoupe some of your loss. I've been where your at with an old motor, I put $200 and more in it just to realize it wouldn't start and keep running because of a bad piston.

 

[BWR1953]

Re: Project Merlin

I was chatting with a neighbor tonight who suggested that I take the carb off, take it apart and just thoroughly clean everything. Then reassemble. I suppose that won't hurt... assuming I don't tear up any gaskets in the process.

If that doesn't help, I suppose I could try taking the motor back to the dealer from whence it came and see if I can get a refund or something. He was a nice enough guy.

 

[Shizzy]

Re: Project Merlin

have you tried draining the carb and runing it wth the 50-1 mix? my old 6HP johnson doesnt run very well if I mix the oil incorrectly. its worth a shot if you ask me.

 

[BWR1953]

Re: Project Merlin

Tonight I sold the little Seaking motor. I'll be going back to my ORIGINAL plan of mounting the electric trolling motor and using that as the interim test engine while doing deck configuration evaluations. I got a bit greedy (power-wise) when I was trying to use the gas engines for evaluation purposes. Sometimes, simpler IS better.

Eventually, I'll put a decent sized motor on the back. Something on the order of a 40 or 50hp engine. My cousin up in NC found out about a two year old 25hp Nissan for sale in perfect condition for $400. A steal. The owner was in a legal jam and HAD to make the sale. (Bail money?) Anyway, I asked my cousin to find out if the motor is still available. It'd be worth a trip up there to get it at that price!

 

[BWR1953]

Re: Project Merlin

This project is still alive. I've just been considering and exercising options.

Today I sold my big 115hp Mercury and will use part of the funds to purchase an outboard in the 40hp - 70hp range for this little boat.

Any recommendations on brands? I've been a Mercury guy, but am open. I already know to stay away from Force, Chrysler and really old engines due to lack of parts availability or costs.

I also totally missed out on a chance to buy the prebuilt center console shown below. The guy only wanted $50 for the whole thing, including the wheel, gauges and control cables. It was sold by the time I called. Dangit!

Here are a few ads for engines in my size (and price) range. Whaddya think?

http://tampa.craigslist.org/hdo/boa/1130026793.html

http://tampa.craigslist.org/psc/boa/1137611397.html

http://tampa.craigslist.org/psc/boa/1146763847.html