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  1. ratdude747

    1976 Montego 16- The "Free" Puppy

    Another outing yesterday. Somewhat unplanned because of some work schedule shenanigans (needed for part of a holiday-shutdown project, but when my part takes place gets pushed back as prior steps of the project hang up). Hit up Duffy's Landing in Jeffersonville IN. Great ramp, but the docks are...
  2. ratdude747

    Broken "oddball" stern light socket- how to fill old hull screw holes?

    Ah... Gotcha. Noob ratdude strikes again. Will do some more digging... Maybe I'll get lucky like I did with the fuel filler and find something NOS that fits without redrilling. Trying to keep things looking period correct if possible.
  3. ratdude747

    Broken "oddball" stern light socket- how to fill old hull screw holes?

    What about filling the hole and putting some sort of appropriate sticker over it? By PB, you mean lead? As in pouring in molten lead the same way they pour lead into wooden fish decoys?
  4. ratdude747

    Prop questions on a 16' 1976 StarCraft Montego (Merc 888)

    Reviving this thread since I've had a few outings under my belt and on the last one (3rd), I did find some prop damage: There had been an undocking incident where my wife backed into deadwood (mostly wrecked the stern light, but that's another story). Not sure if that's what broke it or what...
  5. ratdude747

    Process for changing boat trailers?

    FWIW, I went boating at a different ramp (as Madison is all tied up with the Madison Regatta this weekend), specifically Duffy's Landing in Jeffersonville, IN. Grivances with the sketchy docks aside (they at least had something!), the ramp was both well roughened and adequately steep... didn't...
  6. ratdude747

    Broken "oddball" stern light socket- how to fill old hull screw holes?

    Had a bit of a mishap today. Wife made a boo-boo while backing out of a slip full of deadwood, and bent the stern light. No big deal (it was a cheapo BassPro one). But, the mount got snapped in half: Issue is that this mount is a bit longer than the similar 3-screw sockets I've seen for sale...
  7. ratdude747

    Process for changing boat trailers?

    Well, 12" plus not using the wrong part of the ramp did the trick
  8. ratdude747

    Process for changing boat trailers?

    Per further review, doubly no good. In addition to the lower tongue tube, the bump stop/chain attachment point also gets in the way: Looks like hitch extensions is the way to go with this trailer... Not the most convenient but it's better than having to muck with a new trailer.
  9. ratdude747

    Ford 302 issues

    I've heard ignitior II's are unreliable. Why I went with an Ignitor (I) dropped into the stock prestolite marine distributor. Also, the ignitor version needs to match the flame thrower version... the coil resistances are different.
  10. ratdude747

    Process for changing boat trailers?

    On second thought, such a thing may not work so well with my trailer due to the way the tongue is built. Instead of having a single tube tongue, it has two tubes stacked most of the way down; the lower tube stops short and only the upper tube carries the actual ball receiver. I'll fetch a...
  11. ratdude747

    No lights on the Trailer there is but power at the Wires

    This is why on all of my "good" trailers (14' 7000lb car hauler + boat trailer) I rewired them with dedicated ground wires... can't stand chassis grounds on exposed bolts. Although finding lights that don't require such can be a pain- submersible LED lights seem to be universally this way,, but...
  12. ratdude747

    Process for changing boat trailers?

    Understood. You'd think owning three trailers I'd know better... but the other two hardly see use. One was my FIL's old car hauler that he sold me for dirt cheap, the other is a cheap street-legal 4x8 that was used on the highway exactly once so I could use my '95 Ford Ranger to haul a bunch of...
  13. ratdude747

    Ford 302 issues

    I didn't bother with the I terminal since on Pertronix there's no need for a ballast wire and my ignition switch energizes "RUN" during start (not to mention my starter circuit is completely different from stock). If your ignition switch doesn't energize "RUN" in "START", then you will need the...
  14. ratdude747

    Process for changing boat trailers?

    The issue I had (and honestly, the extension didn't factor much) is that I got stuck trying to drive around and park the trailer beside my car hauler in the back yard. Same mistake I made at gas stations a couple of times on the first outing. Ended up resuming parking it in the front yard as...
  15. ratdude747

    Ford 302 issues

    It's not supposed to. The idea is that when cranking, battery voltage is going to be low, so the ballast wire/resistor needs to be bypassed (provide full battery voltage to coil) so the coil has enough juice to fire. When not cranking, it's open, allowing the ballast wire/resistor to modulate...
  16. ratdude747

    Ford 302 issues

    If the OP's 302 is like the Mercruiser 888 (302 based) in my 1976 Starcraft, the alternator is a factory-modified (1-wire) Delco-Remy 10si. No external voltage sense. Under load with engine off I do get substantial voltage drop to the gauges, confirmed by a GPS speedometer with voltage reading...
  17. ratdude747

    Process for changing boat trailers?

    Which only works if you have good and well equipped local friends... ;)
  18. ratdude747

    1976 888 Fuel Questions

    Today I burnt roughly the same amount of 89 octane E10 I pumped in on Friday. No issues. Supposedly by the 70's they already were using butyl rubber in fuel pump diaphragms, so I'm not sweating the pump. I've read that one only needs to add lead substitute 1 out of 3 tanks of fuel... didn't...
  19. ratdude747

    Lucky Day

    Or any brushed DC motor. Often the commutator gets a bad spot, and if the motor stops with such on one of the brushes, the motor won't turn. Hitting with a hammer jars the rotor enough that both brushes are on good parts of the commutator, allowing the motor to start. If a motor needs tapped...
  20. ratdude747

    Process for changing boat trailers?

    Fair enough... but hitch extensions I could get locally for cheap. Trailer extensions, not so much (about an order of magnitude different cost, and AFAIK nobody local to me or my parents in New Albany, IN sells them). That said, the hitch extension worked. But I will keep my eyes out for deal...
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