88’ SS180 by BigNuge

[BigNuge]

The wiring harness from the motor to the controls should be separate from the under dash mess. There could be a dash harness too with a plug from the controls that has 12v switched power, ground and tach at a min. The tach needle should jump and settle when powered on if connected.

On the knee braces, many of the successful V5 features were carried on in the later model boats as well.

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I did notice that there are two distinct wiring harnesses running from the helm to the stern. One is the engine controls, which is clean and unmolested.
The other is the gauges/accessories/lights. That has been hacked a bit at the dash. I am pretty sure I’m just going to pull all new and start fresh.
The tach is digital, and no digits appear when the key is turned on. I suspect the tach is bad, but I haven’t done much testing yet.

 

[BigNuge]

I sure wish posting pictures wasn’t such a PITA on this forum:mad-new::mad-new:

I just don’t have the time to be resizing pictures constantly. And it still fails if you try to upload more than 4-5 at a time....:facepalm:

 

[BigNuge]

Well, I got the trailers swapped out today. That was quite the project. The new trailer suits the boat so much better. With the old trailer it actually had negative tongue weight! I had to crib up the stern to keep the damn thing from going nose up! Got it onto the new trailer, sits perfectly, now has about 150# tongue weight (maybe a little more).

I’d post pics, but I’m going to have to resize pictures tomorrow...lol

 

[MTboatguy]

I sure wish posting pictures wasn’t such a PITA on this forum:mad-new::mad-new:

I just don’t have the time to be resizing pictures constantly. And it still fails if you try to upload more than 4-5 at a time....:facepalm:

You can actually change the resolution of your camera or your phone to less for taking images for online use.

 

[BigNuge]

Some pics of the trailer swap...

 

[Watermann]

I do like galvanized trailers, just picked one up for my SS.

 

[BigNuge]

Yeah, it’s a great trailer! A buddy of mine had it sitting at his place for a few years (junked the old tri-hull that was on it). I immediately thought of this trailer when I saw how undersized the one the SS came on.

The boat sits on it perfectly. Nice amount of tongue weight, and with the trailer perfectly level the boat is nose up about 1/2 bubble.

Dont know if you noticed, but if you look closely at one of the above pictures you’ll see the drain area took a hit (likely from the poor trailer setup and the boat wanting to tip up constantly). I’m going to try and massage that back into shape with some wood blocks and a hammer. Not gonna get too crazy, but I’d like to take the curse out of it.

 

[bchaney]

Haha when I looked at the picture of your drain hole I thought it was a factory design improvement to help drain the boat better. I guess your drain plug would be dragging in the water under power tho, it would probably be more likely to fall out.

Nice work on the trailer swap. I was thinking you would drop the boat in the water to do that, swapping in your garage is impressive.

I share your frustration with resizing images, it seems like the forum should be able to just resize the images for you if necessary. It's also annoying how often I get logged out.

 

[BigNuge]

Made some progress on things today. Got the new starter installed, and was able to do a compression test. I got 115-120 on all cylinders. Also got the trailer wiring all replaced, and all new LED lighting.

Tomorrow the new NFB steering system will be going in, and I will be firing the OB for the first time.

Hope everybody is having a good weekend!

 

[Watermann]

Good numbers, she should be a strong runner. :thumb:

I'm on the path to get my new to me motor up and running as well. Parts are coming in.

 

[BigNuge]

Bit of a disappointing weekend. I didn't get the plug wires in, so not fire in the OB yet, aaaaannnnnnnd the Pats game was an absolute failure:mad-new:. I did get things cleaned up a bit more though (now that the boat is finally dried out). Got the old steering out (it was STUCK inside the tilt tube!!). Stopped there because I need a new splashwell boot for the steering and throttle/shift cables.

I took a look at the plugs, they look brand new! Still ordered a new set to keep on board, as well as a plug wrench. Also started to plan the electrical. I am going to relocate the crank battery to the starboard side/aft. It was in the bilge when I got it (not sure if it even belongs there). The crank battery will live on the starboard side, house battery on the port side. Dual bank on-board charger will be back there too, along with both battery switches.

Hope to have the plug wires in hand today/tomorrow, I want to hear this thing run!

I already posted this to the Johnson OB area, but I thought it would be good to include here. I have noticed that it looks like the power tilt/trim was an add-on after the fact. The tilt/trim switch is not incorporated into the throttle lever, it is on the dash. I am wondering, is there a switch that I can add to the lever that belongs on there? Or am I stuck making some sort of aftermarket switch work?

 

[Watermann]

Lots of older model control don't have the TnT switch on the controls. I added a blinker style to my SS.

https://www.iboats.com/shop/seastar-solutions-pro-trim-bezel-switch-single.html

 

[BigNuge]

Lots of older model control don't have the TnT switch on the controls. I added a blinker style to my SS.

https://www.iboats.com/shop/seastar-solutions-pro-trim-bezel-switch-single.html

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WOW, that is sexy!!

Those dash panels, are they available to buy as blanks/uncut? My SS has nothing to house gauges and whatnot. It just has a flat area of vinyl covered dash and I do not like the look of it. If I could find some type of dash panel that I could custom cut/position gauges into that would be awesome!

 

[MTboatguy]

Pretty common to see the older controls without a T&T switch, the in dash models work just fine. I have seen people try to add them and it looks like it has been added, the ones incorporated in the dash look good if you do a clean install.

 

[BigNuge]

Pretty common to see the older controls without a T&T switch, the in dash models work just fine. I have seen people try to add them and it looks like it has been added, the ones incorporated in the dash look good if you do a clean install.

Yeah, I can see how something added to the lever would be easily identified as an add-on. I will put some thought into an in-dash setup for it.

 

[Watermann]

The dash panel is stock for the V5 model but I've seen some helm dash panels for sale and I have one in my old rotten glasser that may be usable I'm not sure, will have to take a look at it.

 

[BigNuge]

Thanks for the info!

when you say V5, is that a certain vintage SS? I’m wondering if mine is/has been modified/removed!

 

[BigNuge]

I should add, I recently discovered that mine is actually a 1989!

 

[Watermann]

Thanks for the info!

when you say V5, is that a certain vintage SS? I’m wondering if mine is/has been modified/removed!

V5 was a late 70's to early 80's hull model variant that was made in the Islander, SS and Holiday. They were the fore runner to the later hull design of the late 80's. They had a different windshield, belly tank, knee braces, stringers, bow rise/angle, fuel filler on port side, splashwell, dash, smooth hull with no laps and pretty much all V5's in OB came with max HP motors. Made from 15' to 22' models.

The V5's are a highly sought after and a somewhat rare variant.

 

[BigNuge]

It’ll be a couple quiet days for the boat....got a few projects around the house to do.

I did get my GPS/Sounder/Fishfinder in. I picked the Humminbird Helix5 CHIRP GPS G2. Then I found the DI model for the same price locally....stupid move on my part not shopping it out more. Gonna return the one I got and grab the DI model...