This weekend I had a list of stuff to get done so that I can launch NEXT weekend. That started out well, but went off the rails. Looks like I will be working on it through the week to meet that goal.
I refinished the used prop that I bought to start off with. The prop itself is in great shape, but the finish was bubbling off.
I thought I had bought satin black, but ended up with satin dark walnut. This sort of thing happens to me often because I am visually impaired. I just go with it most of the time. This was no exception.
Well, it turned out to be a pretty good color. Different, if nothing else.
I installed it with a shiny new nut, keeper and cotter pin. Bought a spare nut kit to keep in the boat as well.
I made an hour meter bracket to mount on the engine. I still need to get grommets and proper bolts to isolate it from vibration.
I still had the garden hose rig on the water inlet to the engine, so I used that to fill and run the engine. I have not yet installed the impeller, so there is no way that I can burn that up. Once I get the engine running like I want, I will install the new pump (it goes in from the back on Cobra.) and be ready to launch. I will have to test run it on muffs from then on, but for now I taking advantage of the situation.
I was trying to adjust the idle mixture with a vacuum gauge, but it was not responding like it should. Especially on one side of the 2 barrel Holley. It was dribbling fuel a bit after I stopped cranking the engine.
As I continued, it ran worse and worse; backfiring and not taking throttle. Long story short, I did not have enough gas on the tank for the pitch that the boat was on to get the outdrive straight. I quit for the night and wet to the gas station with two 5 gallon cans.
I only had a little bit of time Sunday evening, but I was sure it would run once it had gas. Wrong. It was now POURING fuel into the engine on the port side. I questioned the float height and needle. I tried adjusting the height but it was not helping.
I decided to remove the bowl and set it properly again. As I removed the bowl, something fell into the bilge. Sounded like a screw. I felt around and found one of the main jets. It had unscrewed itself completely! The other side was almost out as well.
I guess I forgot to tighten them. I may have snugged them, gone after a proper sized screwdriver, and got side-tracked. Shrug.
But I was thrilled to have found "the problem". Wrong. Put it all back and it still won't start. Just a backfire or pop here and there. As I played with timing I could get it to pop through the exhaust or the intake; my choice.
I pulled a plug and checked spark. Had my son watch it as I cranked. He said it was white, not blue. Tried a shiny new plug, and he couldn't see anything. I suspect a weak white spark is hard to see in the sunlight on a shiny new plug. Nonetheless, it was not blue. I ruled out plugs.
I still had some corrosion on the connectors that plug into the coil, so I cleaned those really well. Voltage there was slightly low; I had the charger connected at the time and system voltage was 13v but I was only getting 12v at the coil and distributor. Even so, that should be enough.
This evening I plan to pick up a spark tester and try that. I can also run through the coil and pick-up with a meter and test them. They are new, but they could be junk. You never know.
If all that checks out, I will test compression, I guess.
What a disappointment.
Sorry for getting long-winded.
