Boat swamped, let's see if we can get it running...

nola mike

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New thread for this problem. First decent weekend since the fall, with the goal being to get on the water by Memorial day. Where I'm at:
1. Carb screws snapped off when I was trying to rebuild it, dropped it off at the machine shop around thanksgiving, I'm still waiting to pick it up.
2. Rebuilt the starter
3. Oil flushed, some connections cleaned.
4. Cleaned out all the sand/debris. That was a *lot* of sand
5. Outdrive/bellows drained/cleaned. The gimbal bearing is still smooth after sitting.

To do:
1. Need to rewire the alternator, all of the wires melted off. I didn't rebuild it, we'll see how long it lasts/if it's still working at all
2. Engine sadly has a lot of external rust, after cleaning/painting it 18 months ago prior to installation. Much harder to clean with everything connected. I'm going to brush and spray what I can get to.
3. Bilge pump snapped off its bracket. Very difficult to replace with the engine in.
4. Found a good number of chunks off the gelcoat down to the glass. I guess I'll have to screw around with gelcoat to fix.

Today I got to the fuel tank. Tried to drain through the vent hose. I pulled the hose off the fitting, and got a bunch of water. Hmm. Couldn't pass a hose through the fitting, so I'm assuming that there's a check/anti siphon valve in there as well? Next pulled the fuel sender to drain from there. Got mayyybee 16 oz of water out of 15 gallons drained (full 27 gall tank). Also got a good bit of what appears to be 38 year old crap from the bottom of the tank (including some red plastic, not sure what that's from). All in all though, the gas looked great. I don't think much if any water made it through the sender cover, vent, or tank inlet. Cool. Wasn't looking forward to dealing with that.
 

Scott Danforth

Grumpy Vintage Moderator still playing with boats
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Harbor freight has soda blast kits for under $140

spray boeshield everywhere when you are done cleaning
 

nola mike

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Alright, so finally got the carb put back together. Drained the tank a few weeks ago until I wasn't getting any more water. Added about 10 gallons of fresh stuff. Replaced a BUNCH of connections, including alternator. Went to start and...no gauges. Ugh. Spent 4 hours chasing gremlins. Ended up replacing my cannon connector and harness since I had an extra (and a pin broke off on the old one). Went to start again. And carb immediately flooded. Took off the top, rechecked, all good.
Got the oil pressure up (which took enough time that I thought something was wrong, and checked the gauge and wiring), hooked up the ignition, and it started on the first crank. Ran very smooth until it stopped. Oil pressure switch is bad. Also noted that my battery wasn't charging, so not sure if that's all the wiring I just did or the alt itself. Also found out that the kids are off school all next week, so I'll be able to spend some time at the boat.

To do:
1. Replace OP switch
1a. Relay looked rough, kind of surprised it worked, seems like a good idea to buy another as a spare.
2. Reroute new harness so it isn't lying on the middle of the boat floor.
3. Troubleshoot alternator
4. Install outdrive/change gear oil
5. Set carb mix/timing
6. Install new bilge pump. The bilge is the driest it will be, I don't know that I can reach the block that it was screwed to. I may use some 4000 and glue a new one in there.
7. Fix boat lift (it took a lot of damage from all this)

And then, in a perfect world:
7. Clean engine. @Scott Danforth , bought a soda blaster, I'm a bit afraid of making a huge mess with it.
8. Outside cosmetics--maybe even wash/wax
9. Inside cleaning
10. Electronics. The amp and wiring that were back there got trashed. I have a spare...

No reason to think I can't get 1-6 done in a few hours and get 'er splashed next week.

 

Scott Danforth

Grumpy Vintage Moderator still playing with boats
Staff member
Joined
Jul 23, 2011
Messages
49,225
the great thing about a soda blaster is you can rinse the remaining baking soda out the bilge.
 

Lou C

Supreme Mariner
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Nov 10, 2002
Messages
12,531
??? What weird country do you live in? Water runs up drains, not down!
The same one that uses miles, yards, feet and inches….and requires us to have 2 sets of tools!
 
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