1990 Chaparral 1800 SL Volvo Penta 250A (AQ151) (B230) Project MAUI!

[1800slchap]

Re: 1990 Chaparral 1800 SL Volvo Penta 250A (AQ151) (B230) Project MAUI!

Jeffnick - I got one of those small live well plugs, it fits in perfect and it's water tight. I like your bolt idea though, very ingenious.

 

[PiratePast40]

Re: 1990 Chaparral 1800 SL Volvo Penta 250A (AQ151) (B230) Project MAUI!

I know you're anxious to get the boat in the water and have fun but, don't hurry so much that you bypass some of the important maintenance tasks. Greasing the driveshaft bearings, inspecting and greasing the u-joints, replacing the drive bellows, and pressure/vacuum testing the outdrive are all extremely important maintenance items. Mechanical things are unyielding when it comes to failure to perform maintenance and correct problems. Would hate to see you forget to do some of the required maintenance and then ruin some expensive parts on the way.

As for the drive hold-down assembly, start by inspecting and adjusting according to directions in the manual. If it's still not working right, please don't run it that way. The propeller popping out of the water in reverse is not only dangerous, it can ruin the u-joints, bearings and other drive components.

Many of us here have "been there, done that" and have paid the price of rushing to get out on the water before making sure EVERYTHING was done right :redface:!

 

[1800slchap]

Re: 1990 Chaparral 1800 SL Volvo Penta 250A (AQ151) (B230) Project MAUI!

Piratepast40 - thanks for all the tips. Got the sprawl lock lubed up, adjusted and working great now. Got my trim switches working too. I had already lubed the U-joints, prop shaft, and inspected the drive bellows (will probably replace them soon anyway).

So I splashed the boat yesterday morning. Adjusted my idle with the boat in the water and made sure she wasn't taking on water anywhere. After about a 20min check at the boat ramp we headed out. Cruised around at like 2200 rpm for a about a half hour checking the engine and gauges constantly. WOT produced a good plane and the boat got to 44knts, smooth as butter. 4hrs later she was still running solid, cool, and no water in the bilge.

So now I'm going to start cleaning up the electrical and making the boat mine with some personal touches. I will keep you guys posted as she moves along. Going to start the complete re-wire next, install a new radio, depth finder, and a couple of rod holders. The boat throws an awesome wake, thinking we may have to try some wake boarding real soon.

Have a great week folks! Aloha!

 

[1800slchap]

Re: 1990 Chaparral 1800 SL Volvo Penta 250A (AQ151) (B230) Project MAUI!

Well took the boat out again this past Friday. Looks like I have developed a leak on the starboard trim hydraulic ram. Also the damn sprawl lock popped out while under way, doing like 24 knots after about 7-8 mins of run time. Dropped it in neutral and she died. She started right back up and the green light on the trim gauge came back on, sprawl was locked again. Stopped just short of the boat ramp on the way back in and jumped in the water with my mask. I tried to pull the motor up and check the condition of the sprawl lock looked OK, hmmmm?

Any suggestions or tips on adjusting Sprawl lock correctly? The manual is brief on adjustment settings and it worked fine the last time I took the boat out.

Mahalo!

 

[1800slchap]

Re: 1990 Chaparral 1800 SL Volvo Penta 250A (AQ151) (B230) Project MAUI!

Well been trying to outsource the seals to rebuild my trim cylinders. If anyone knows where to get the seals or has experience with rebuilding the trim cylinders on a 1991 SP out-drive I'm all ears!

Really need to rebuild instead of replace, the forward pins will never come out on this boat with out removing the transom shield.

It's just a small leak and the port side is holding fine, no leak down, motor holds in upright position for over a week now & still holding. Its not a major leak and the ram seems to be working fine. A leak is a leak and ATF going into the ocean even if its just a drop or two an hour is unacceptable to my standards.

Any advice would be appreciated, Mahalo and Aloha!