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  1. Lou C

    1996 Four Winns Sundowner with 5.0 Cobra engine and drive

    Well the raw water cooled system is simpler for sure. Less to go wrong. However, over time what happens especially in brackish or salt water, you get leaks around the head gaskets (corrosion) water in the oil and eventually have to do a top end engine overhaul. I wound up doing this on mine in...
  2. Lou C

    NEED A VP PROS OPPINION!

    In the first post you said it wasn't used in fresh water then you said 400 hrs fresh water which is it? If used in brackish or salt, for sure you should be inspecting the exhaust elbows and manifolds, in salt water they require replacement about every 5-7 years. So where the boat was used, does...
  3. Lou C

    1996 Four Winns Sundowner with 5.0 Cobra engine and drive

    2 Reasons: when water is hotter than approx 160*F, the minerals can precipitate out of suspension and clog the cooling system, especially calcium. This is a bigger problem in salt water or even fresh water with a lot of dissolved minerals. The other reason is that these open cooling systems...
  4. Lou C

    1996 Four Winns Sundowner with 5.0 Cobra engine and drive

    part # 60 is the auto electric choke if you have one. Only the Holley carbs used them as far as I know....
  5. Lou C

    1996 Four Winns Sundowner with 5.0 Cobra engine and drive

    That part for the thermostat housing, is an adapter that was used on the Ford engines, not used on the GM engines. Sometimes you can find them on a site called NLA Marine or try Ebay When replacing OMC thermostats, I always used a coating of OMC gasket sealer (or Permatex Aviation) on the...
  6. Lou C

    1996 Four Winns Sundowner with 5.0 Cobra engine and drive

    here are the connections on both the OEM Prestolite and the newer style Mando alternators. If you have a carb with an electric choke it gets powered off the AC tap terminal. The output B+ is connected with a heavy gauge wire to the B+ terminal on the starter solenoid (same one that the battery...
  7. Lou C

    1996 Four Winns Sundowner with 5.0 Cobra engine and drive

    That’s how the flappers are, not a perfect fit, if the old ones aren’t melted from a past overheat leave ‘em be. If so change em. The alternator you have is probably the top left one in the diagram above. Same as mine.
  8. Lou C

    5.7 vortec motor starts ,then bogs and dies

    When my OMC Cobra interrupt switch started sticking it did exactly that. Other things to check…is the auto choke getting pulled open slightly by the pull off or vacuum break? Does it close fully for a cold start? Does it open fully? Another long shot I recall reading about was that on some...
  9. Lou C

    Trailer axle

    Champion is excellent I had them make me 2 axles over the past 20 years. However theirs are custom made to order so you might have to wait. Trailer Parts Depot is another good source they have a lot in stock, it all depends if what they have fits your application. Your other option is to see if...
  10. Lou C

    Lower Unit Gear Oil Change while on lift

    I’d pull the boat & do the work on land. Either you will get gear oil in the water or drain plugs or both lol. I once “thought” of pulling an exhaust manifold with my boat in the water….thought some more….and pulled the boat!
  11. Lou C

    Taking my lake toon to the beach

    Just run it in the lake to flush the engine. If your trailer is painted make sure to flush it throughly. I’m in 100% salt water. We are used to it.
  12. Lou C

    This is one reason you lower the out drive...

    I have had to run my drive almost all the way up when leaving/returning at low tide and while you might hear a bit of noise, I have never had that happen and my u joints are original. Something else went wrong there. I don't see a lot of corrosion either. What did the driveshaft/u joints look...
  13. Lou C

    Gas and Ethanol

    The only exception to draining that I thought of is the older style Briggs mower engines with the carb on top of the metal tank. On these if you run them out of fuel the tank starts to rust inside, so it is better actually to keep these full for storage. I have one of them with the Pulsa-jet carb.
  14. Lou C

    Gas and Ethanol

    I use Stabil in my E10 gas and drain all my yard machines that have bowls on the carbs. The small 2 stroke machines with the cube carbs I just start them once a month; unless they are hardly used like the chain saw then I run them out of gas & drain. I added shut offs on the machines that have...
  15. Lou C

    Restoring a trailer vs replacing a trailer

    For both axles that my trailer has had (3500 & later upgraded to 6,000) I kept on hand spare bearings & seals. Good to have just in case.
  16. Lou C

    Bought my first boat to cut, gut and rebuild from bow to stern, including engine. Killed my back and suffered the wrath of the fiberglass demons

    I did the tyvec suit taped the sleeved & gloves etc. That was 17 years ago I’m now 68 years old I still do a lot of mechanical work on the cars & boats but glass work I will GLADLY pay for. Like bottom paint no way would I ever lay under a boat & sand it for bottom painting.
  17. Lou C

    Bought my first boat to cut, gut and rebuild from bow to stern, including engine. Killed my back and suffered the wrath of the fiberglass demons

    That's exactly why I will never do another major resto on an old fiberglass boat. Minor repairs that don't involve a lot of grinding, ok but a gut out like that, no way. Just not worth it in terms of the payoff and health risks.
  18. Lou C

    Gas and Ethanol

    If you run the carb dry you won’t likely have problems. I have used Stabil or Marine Stabil not sure that it’s necessary but I’ve done that for years. I’ve have used fuel up to 2 years old without problems in the boat (4.3 Quadrajet) or any of the 8 small engines that I maintain including 4 & 2...
  19. Lou C

    1996 Four Winns Sundowner with 5.0 Cobra engine and drive

    Nice work! I looked thru my OMC Cobra shop manual for the torque spec on the nuts that hold the coupler on the studs in the flywheel and they give 40-45 ft lbs. You can see 3 advantages that the Ford engines had over the GM engines... 1) oil filter up front don't need the complication of a...
  20. Lou C

    Honda BF75 "Making Oil" – Need Help with Thermostat in Cold Climate

    Because of the so called deposit build up in the cooling passages I actually tried a 140 stat one year & didn’t like it. Engine took forever to warm up and I had condensation in the exhaust system so went back to the 160*.
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