1976 Montego 16- The "Free" Puppy

[ratdude747]

While I was pulling the carb for a rebuild (story in another thread), I was able to get a better look at the front of the engine bay. Seems there is a section of what used to be wood exposed just below the end of the deck board below the gas tank... rotted away. See attached pictures- the void is at the very top of the first pic and detailed in the second.

That said, from what I'm seeing, I don't think it's anything structural- it seems the main stringers run parallel to the keel and everything is mounted to or outboard of them; this piece is just another divider between bilge sections (separates the engine bay from whatever is under the tank and behind the ski locker- about 18" of something if I measured right). The other tell-tale sign of such not being structural is that like the ski locker floor, it was roughly glassed with loose long hair.

Accessing it will require pulling the back seat and the gas tank... so for now, I'm noting it as an issue and something to deal with later (like the deck damage). Like the ski locker, another case of IMHO sloppy workmanship combined with getting flooded and the long-term effects of such.

 

[ratdude747]

It's been a while since I posted in this thread... mainly because I was fighting running/cooling issues (seems to be fixed?) and now a worn out/poorly redone trim cylinder bushing issue. The bushing issue will be fixed tomorrow (as long as I get off work in time)... but I'm still out of luck since I made the terrible, terrible mistake of buying an Indiana Lake Permit online (over two weeks, still hasn't come in yet despite showing as "shipped" two days later).

Weekend before last I was able to get the trailer rewired. Everything new, with dedicated ground wiring (electrical system is fully isolated from the trailer chassis) and LED lights (tail lights are marine rated).

In the mean time, I did some vacuuming and cleaning in preparation for the first outing along with getting all of the supplies (new dock lines, fenders, safety gear, etc.) prepped and loaded.





I had a fun time dealing with the bow storage, as at some point an animal got in there and shredded a PFD full of what looked like loose picked cotton and a good amount of the foam lining. Due to the nature of the mess, I didn't get pics of the carnage, but today I shot pics of the foam damage:





For now, I think it'll be OK as it's too thin to provide a lot of flotation if any at all and I'm not storing anything sharp in there. Heck, I'm not even sure if the anchor locker is actually big enough to store an anchor... maybe it's just nav light access? (I didn't bother buying an anchor, since the previous owners obviously didn't bother either).

That said, I would like to eventually repair that area and also line the newly expanded ski locker bottom with the same material (for the same reason: protect the hull from damage)

First run plans: assuming the DNR tag arrives next week (or I give up and buy another tag in-person), weather permitting, it'll likely be next weekend. I'll be going to either Raccoon Lake or Lake Waveland, with my best friend assisting (after all, his family gave me the boat and he arranged the deal!). Waveland was the main lake the boat was used on, but Raccoon lake (and sometimes Lake Freeman) were also visited. Racoon has a much better set of boat ramps (one in the park has a nice long dock, the free ramp and Waveland have tiny docks in comparison).

Neither lake is close to me; my closest lake is Hardy lake (with the Madison Ohio River Ramp/Dock less than 10 minutes away), but these are the lakes the family (and my friend) knew well and between his knowledge and providing emotional closure (as for him and the family, this is a very emotional thing!), I think such is the only correct place to do the first run.

Anyway, Yee Haw!

 

[Moserkr]

Best of luck on your upcoming splash!!

 

[ratdude747]

If a picture is worth a thousand words, how many words is a video?

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Today's lake test was a nearly complete success. Some notes:

• Found out the fuel tank's sending unit seeps gas when full... not a new issue based on how much paint was stripped off the tank in that area (and bonehead here didn't put 2 and 2 together). Wasn't a complete show stopper as we were diligent to use the bilge blower liberally. Fixing it will require removing the seat (as part of the sending unit to include 1 screw is stuck underneath), so I'm tentatively planning this to be fixed at the same time as future deck repairs requiring the same work to be done.
• Discovered that the ancient transom straps were confusing to retie and that the trailer winch is clapped out with a rotting rope. Made both work but I've already replaced them with IMMI BoatBuckles and a new strap winch respectively:
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• Had trouble getting the boat on and off the trailer. The former was due to my buddy (whose family gifted the boat, used to drive it, and did most of the driving today) not backing the trailer straight/far enough to get it to float (worried my RWD truck was going to get stuck- we had now issues thank goodness). The latter was mostly the stupid winch above being, well, .
• Had a boo-boo with securing things and had one life vest blow away on the way home (my vest no less!!!). Whoops!
• Speaking of things blowing away, I made the error of wearing/using magnetic clip on sunglasses on my normal prescription. They went down to davy jones as soon as my buddy hit 45mph... Will look to getting prescription sunglasses for next time (or just not bothering, the anti-glare on the normal glasses lenses seemed to work well enough at least in the middle of the day).
• May look to finding a way to extend the swim steps once in the water in a swimming area. One of our passengers wanted to swim, but was unable to pull himself up the steps. Nearly turned ugly (thank God for life jackets!) but we found a way to get him back on board without beaching the boat or ripping the prop (although we came close ). Suffice to say nobody else tried swimming after that. I'm told that this happened in the past with a water skiier who lacked arm strength... there has to be a better way?
• More of a note on the location, but while Raccoon lake (the state park) has a very, very good ramp and dock/slip and the lake itself is decently sized, for speedboating and tubing/skiing it's hamstrung by large no-wake zones. For today's test (no tubing- didn't bother going back to dock to load it) it was great but in the future we'll be likely boating elsewhere where there's more room without having to frequently turn around and/or constantly dodge other boaters (we left at 1PM- it was getting pretty crowded by then).

Otherwise, the trip was a blast and the boat really ran well. Rock solid. The ends have justified the means, and will continue to. Now to figure out the next outing...

 

[Moserkr]

Congratulations on a successful splash!!! Definitely fix the gas leak, but the rest is minor. Great shakedown run!

 

[ratdude747]

Congratulations on a successful splash!!! Definitely fix the gas leak, but the rest is minor. Great shakedown run!

There was a loose bit of RTV on top of the sending unit that was plugging a disused screw hole. Something I think I messed with like an idiot while pumping the tank out a couple months ago. Wondering if that's the leak? Trying to find a way to get it fixed (or at least improved) for the rest of the season as I'd like to put off the interior teardown required for a proper fix (remove and properly reseal/repair metal) until after the season (so I can also service the deck under the fuel tank at the same time). I'm reading that Hot Glue might work?

 

[ratdude747]

Was able to finagle the tank forward by loosening the tank straps:



Yep, gasket badly failed due to a really poor installation:

View attachment 399516

In addition, the upper range of the sending unit isn't working (stops at 64Ω about 3/4 way up)... so I'm replacing it.

Found a deal on a new 5" reed switch (tubular) sending unit (with new screws and gasket)... tank is 6" tall/deep, but I've read it's good to keep 1" of clearance (not sure how low the dip tube goes- also good so there's some fuel reserve at the bottom of the tank). I will also see if I can fund a way to mount the tank in the straps so the tank isn't jammed under the seat- the seat is right on top and by hitting the sending unit, it was flexing the tank every time somebody sat/knelt down. No more flex with the tank moved forward enough to clear the seat.

 

[ratdude747]

Got the new sending unit installed. Works great... supposedly there's 1 red sensor every 10mm in this size. I was getting roughly 1/8 increments... so 8 reeds (since empty is no reed).



Currently says 1/4 tank... I think it was down to 1/3rd, which in 1/8 increments (plus likely a higher "reserve" amount), is believable. Also looked about right when I had the unit removed.

Normally I don't run extra sealant with gaskets (other than on non-blind bolt holes), but I used some Permetex Fuel-resistant gasket dressing the flatness of the tank surface is questionable.

If the weather holds out (which the reports keep changing on), I'm targeting a lake Waveland outing next weekend (not this weekend, I have other things I'm comitted to)... while the lake is way smaller than Racoon lake, it's almost entirely unrestricted water (other than by the ramp/slip area) and where this boat was used the most.

Speaking of lake Waveland, here's a circa early 80's pic of the original owner on said lake:



Which is funny, since the original stern light was missing (let alone a flag). But, I just had to run one for my own preference, not knowing that was actually how it had been run before:



(that's me while one of my guests was powering through a corner!)

Stay tuned for round 2...

 

[ratdude747]

Yesterday, I tried to dip the boat and failed. (see that thread for details). Part of it was filling up with gas on my way there... and per checks during and after the failed dipping, no more gas leak!

Likewise, the gauge does read a full tank as a full tank. So far, so good.

 

[BWR1953]

Yesterday, I tried to dip the boat and failed. (see that thread for details). Part of it was filling up with gas on my way there... and per checks during and after the failed dipping, no more gas leak!

Likewise, the gauge does read a full tank as a full tank. So far, so good.

I just posted in your changing boat trailer thread with a simple technique which works well.

 

[ratdude747]

Launching was successful today. Ran the boat about 50 miles (per the GPS odometer) up and down the river. Docking was trouble as I'm a noob. Did smack the dock kinda hard due to some mental flatulence and scraped the aluminum rub rail channel enough that I'll need to deburr it later (Gel-coat/glass is OK )

My wife took several videos... here's one of them:

View attachment 449060086_1162003948179601_6993020498465255986_n.mp4

Other than the outdrive trim tab needing adjusted badly (it's currently centered as bozo here never marked it's adjustment when I took the drive apart the first time!), ran great.

---

About the soft floor: took a closer look, it seems that the carpet runs under the side upholstery. More than just the seat needs to come out to replace the floor. I'm tempted (for now) to make something out of 2x4's or the like to fit under the back of the ski locker to brace that one floor area a bit better. Or for now, just try not to step there. Not a repair I'm looking forward to!

 

[ratdude747]

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 not in the greatest condition and are too shallow to fully slip the boat. Also, lots of deadwood... and like an idiot, I left my stern light up which caused damage when my wife un-docked and backed into such. Not sure I'll be back... the only reason I went there and not Madison is that the ramp/river/downtown area is all tied up for the Madison Regatta U1 Hydroplane race all weekend (not my thing at $50 a head to get in just to have to deal with drunkies all day).

On the plus side, the location does make touring Louisville's downtown bridges convienient...

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Didn't go as far as the 14th as I didn't want to get involved with the lock and dam.

I also messed up the prop somehow... oh well.

The damage is fixable. Next outing will likely be two weekends from now, hitting Lake Waveland with the original owner's family (not just the best friend). With a calmer lake and more people, hopefully we can do some tubing and the like, not just driving around...

 

[flashback]

Good times, your havin a ball with that old gal!

 

[alldodge]

I've locked thru McAlpine many times over the years. Spent most my time on the lower side (Greenwood Ramp). Lot less traffic and more time to hook up with other boats and just float down the river

 

[ratdude747]

I've locked thru McAlpine many times over the years. Spent most my time on the lower side (Greenwood Ramp). Lot less traffic and more time to hook up with other boats and just float down the river

I thought to go through the lock you needed 50 feet of rope... And some other requirements.

Also, I thought the reservoir downstream had more issues with zebra mussels and silver carp? Or am I reading DNR maps wrong?

I did look at the New Albany ramps (where I used to live andy parents still do)... No good. No dock at either.

 

[alldodge]

I thought to go through the lock you needed 50 feet of rope... And some other requirements.

Also, I thought the reservoir downstream had more issues with zebra mussels and silver carp? Or am I reading DNR maps wrong?

I did look at the New Albany ramps (where I used to live andy parents still do)... No good. No dock at either.

No need for long ropes, the float bollards float with the boats. Up/down makes no difference. Wear your life jacket, listen for the lock master and have at it

No issue with mussels or carp, if they make it down they will make it up

 

[ratdude747]

Another outing down on Saturday. Took the boat to lake waveland, where the boat was used the most by the prior owners (including on it's final outing before being put away for 12 years).

Boating with me was my best friend (again!), his brother, and his cousin and her family. The cousin is of note as she is the daughter of the former owner and has known the boat since day one (when she was a mere 5 years old!)... and apparently was also a large part of convincing her mom to rehome the boat. I am very grateful...

Since there were 7 of us, we rotated off. I let my friend take them out for a while I did some trailer repairs... here they are coming back after a round of tubing:



One of the 16-year-old-twins having a blast on the tube:

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(he did get dumped once... and loved it!)

My buddy did all the driving other than trailer operations (where I drove the boat and he drove my truck)... Since I've never pulled tubes before, I figured this was best (not to mention I have all the time in the world to drive it on the river, while for him this is a rarer treat). I did ride the tube once... and beat myself up. Not to mention my friend had no mercy... Was fun, just need to improve my technique next time.

Other than some trailer light woes, the trip was a complete success, and once again, the ends absolutely justified the means. I may not be biological family to them, but they might as well be... there will be a sequel. In the mean time, once I get the trailer fixed, I'll need to get it on the river with less load to complete prop testing... Yee haw!

Edit- One other thing: the new prop I installed (Piranha), being NOS, came with a "vintage" Piranha sticker... so at the risk of being slightly tacky, I obtained a similar Holley Marine sticker and decorated the stern a bit:



(The Spanky's Navy sticker is original, that's the long-defunct marina that originally sold the boat!)

I don't intend to plaster it, but if a product is good (or in the case of Piranha, I think is good) and they have a good looking (classy) sticker (especially if vintage/historic), I'll slap it on there. I'm very happy with the Holley carb on it and I think Piranha makes a good product (jury is out if the current pitch is good for general use, but it kicked butt pulling tubes!).

 

[ratdude747]

Another outing yesterday, this time Monroe Lake.

(would post video, but uploads still broken)

Did have a couple issues... one, the tube provided (round large donut) is no good for my wife and I as we don't have the core strength. Probably will try to get an end-of-season deal on a sit-in "sofa" style tube.

Second, for some reason I took on at least two gallons of water into the bilge. A ton came out when I pulled the plug... and when I got home, the ski locker re-flooded with really nasty looking brown rotten wood water.

(no pic due to the upload issue).

It's probably brown due to residual debris from the rotten floor I cut out previously. The water that drained out of the bilge plug didn't look like that- but there was a black greasy reside inside the hole after draining.

I did fiddle with the plug a bit and may not have had it as tight as I should have. The bellows on the last check were still intact but starting to show signs of dry rot (will look to replace over the winter). I did have a bunch dump in from on-boarding the tube but it wasn't no 2 gallons. I did notice I had a bit of reverse rooster tail going... but I don't remember a lot of it hitting the shifter cover (which does drain to the bilge)

The bilge pump is more or less useless in a situation like this... it does work (we tested it while the bilge was draining) but there's no float switch (manual switch only). I'd like to add a switch (and separate fuse/breaker) to run in parallel to the existing breaker/switch feed from the console to keep this from getting so high the ski locker floods (which seems to be a thing only if the water gets really high). And since this would backfeed the indicator light in the console, I'd be able to see that the switch is cycling. I'd use a separate fuse/breaker and battery + connection so the switch would still work as a override in an emergency. Not looking to replace the entire pump since the pump I have still seems to work and getting to it is darn impossible with the engine installed. It would be a lot easier to tap into the harness wire and mount a switch in a part of the bilge keel that I can access.

The drain hole between the engine bilge and the "under the gas tank" bilge looks like it would accept a standard bilge plug. I suspect that's partially how water got into the ski locker... Maybe that's supposed to be plugged when in use as well?

I'm giving it a few days to air out with everything open (under 10% rain chance until Thursday)... I was able to bail most of the ski locker out

Unless I find something else, I'll periodically check under the sun deck for excessive water. Sigh...

 

[ratdude747]

Did some work on the dash wiring... At least what I can access without pulling the console.

As an experiment, I rerouted the power for the gauges and gauge lights (dimmer switch) from the RUN post of the ignition switch to the ACC post. This didn't have much of any effect on voltage drop to the GPS speedometer/voltmeter... Idea is that if I want to see gauges and accurately measure battery voltage with the engine off, I can just turn the gauges back to accessory. This is to prevent me messing up the electric choke by having power on to see the trim gauge while initially lowering the outdrive during launch... And also no noise (since I kept the oil pressure light/buzzer on RUN). One drawback is that the hour meter is also on in accessory... But I'm not hearing the motor run in it. Maybe it needs 13 or more volts to run, so it only runs when the alternator is putting out power? Rerouting such will be a later mod, possibly in conjunction with adding a piggyback spade to the bilge pump breaker to run unswitched bilge breaker power to a future float switch (or automated pump).

Looking at the inner bilge hole, it looks like there the remains of a ball chain attached above... Probably is supposed to be plugged then? Also noticed my new plug is already dry rotting... That's what I get for buying Ozark Trail at Walmart. Try again with something better and buy two?

 

[ratdude747]

While making a carb adjustment (resetting the choke), I dropped my screwdriver down to the bottom of the bilge. While I was down there (and yes I was able to get it back), I discovered that the bilge pump isn't actually anchored and by unplugging the cable and pulling out some extra hose, it is accessible after all. Which I found out by removing the pump.

It's the original pump all right... Specs are:

• Capacity Straight: 400 GPH
• Capacity 3' Head: 280 GPH
• 1.75A @ 12VDC
• 3/4" Hose

It had about 2-3' of 3-conductor appliance cord (only using black and white, green is snipped)... and the usual 2-prong SAE-style connector they used for everything on this boat.

So, the new plan is to replace the pump with a manual/automatic dual unit. There was a thread on these recently... I'll look there and get whichever pump (in the capacity/amperage appropriate) was found to be the "low-level" pump. Edit- Rule pumps rule, Attwood pumps stink.

I also got the power wire done. Working along the same lines as the ignition switch work earlier today, I realized that I could pull the switch/light panel from the console and use a piggy back adapter on the breaker-controlled power feed into the bilge pump switch (the console uses the pre-crimped version of this all over) and run a new wire back to the bilge pump from there. I left some extra wire in the console which I'll clean up/redo the next time the console is out; I did provide a spade connection at the harness plugs so when that time comes, it'll be ready. Wire follows the existing cable path/restraints (took some creative wire fishing and gymnastics to accomplish... and from the engine compartment back it's taped into the existing harness for a professional look.

Got a lot more done today than I thought... but I'm shot after that wire routing!