I have returned... with a Starcraft this time!

[BWR1953]

Same here... but a little different

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Hahaha! Yeah, I remember those days.

 

[Moserkr]

Will have to catch up on a lot of your thread, its so long Ive only read some of it, but got my steering wheel off with a 3 jaw adjustable puller rented from napa. Made short work of it and was well worth it. Boats looking good!

 

[BWR1953]

Will have to catch up on a lot of your thread, its so long Ive only read some of it, but got my steering wheel off with a 3 jaw adjustable puller rented from napa. Made short work of it and was well worth it. Boats looking good!

Thanks! I'll look into the gear puller after the holiday.

 

[BWR1953]

We got the steering wheel off yesterday. I bought a large, heavy, Grade 8 nut and put it on the steering wheel shaft. The boy pulled on the wheel and I whanged on the nut once and the wheel immediately popped off.

After that, we measured everything to make sure that the tach would have adequate clearance behind the dash, then started cutting.

Dash hole started.


Cut through okay, then I had a fair amount of cleanup to do afterwards.


Tach test fit.


There are still some clearance issues, but we'll trim the studs and cage.


We'll trim the cage legs and the stud holders. Plus the brass studs.

 

[BWR1953]

We resolved the mounting clearance issues yesterday, then tested the tach prior to final installation.

Hooked up the harness from the throttle controller and attached the wires as follows:

From Harness

• Purple 12vdc to red and blue tach wires. Red for B+ and blue for lighting.
• Black ground harness wire to black tach wire.
• Gray wire from harness to gray tach wire for signal.
• Brown wire from harness is for trim gauge and unused in this installation.

Fired up the engine and the result was that the tach needle went to zero and the light came on. But no RPM indicated!


Started troubleshooting and found that the harness connector inside the throttle controller looks like this. Ah, the joys of old stuff. Not!

I'm gonna have to figure out how to get in there with some baking soda solution and get those terminals cleaned up.

 

[Watermann]

Sure hope your motor has a 12 pole stator in it too, that one says "12 pole only" so it must not have dip switches to change it.

 

[BWR1953]

Sure hope your motor has a 12 pole stator in it too, that one says "12 pole only" so it must not have dip switches to change it.

Yup, 12 poles.

 

[BWR1953]

We've been very busy doing other things related to the garage, etc. but finally got back to the KF this morning.

I hooked the tach up directly to the rectifier and still no joy on the right side lead where it was originally connected.



But once I swapped the gray wire over to the left side of the rectifier, the tach came to life!

After that, we moved the tach up to the bow and connected it through the ignition switch and tach harness. It works! We slowly revved and reduced RPM up and down and all is good!

I'm not sure when we'll have time to do the final mechanical installation for the tach, but at least we know now that it's functional.

 

[BWR1953]

We (the boy, actually) got the tach fully installed today! He did all the soldering and installation himself. I just inspected and offered advice.

It was nice to add a functional enhancement to the KF.


While the boy was working on the tach, I busied myself making corrections to all four seats. We painfully learned that we had used seat base mounting bolts which were much too long and they were poking up "too far" when we sat down. Ouch!

I removed all the bolts and cut them to the proper length using a rotary tool with a cutoff wheel. Then we remounted the seats and tested... they're all comfy now!

Tomorrow we have a couple things left to do and then the KF will be finally "all done" ...unless we decide to further enhance it later on! (second Garmin, anyone?)

 

[BWR1953]

This afternoon the boy and I replaced the trailer side marker lights. On the 3rd or 4th trip using the KF, they failed. The tail lights are completely submersible but the side marker lights are clearly not.

I'd ordered identical replacements for them a couple months ago and we sealed and waterproofed them using black 5200 awhile back. Today we installed the new lights and they're working normally. Once again, the boy did it all himself. He's getting some really good skills.

We'll find out on the next trip if they're actually waterproof.

 

[BWR1953]

Well guys, this will likely be my final update of the KF project. The boy and I mounted the fuel filter/water separator over a month ago but didn't connect the hoses back then. Too many other conflicting projects and no fishing was appearing on the horizon.

Yesterday we finally got the installation done and pulled the KF out of the garage.

There are only two possible upgrades that I can conceive for the little KF and honestly, I doubt that I would go forward with either.

One would be a second depth/fish finder mounted at the helm with the sensor at the stern. Too much work to deal with that, since it would require holes below the waterline.

The other would be a micro Power Pole and although easily mounted, I just can't see it happening.

So, that's where we are.

 

[BWR1953]

I had to get the KF out of the garage so that we could put my new toy in there.

I got it for our current major driveway project and it needs new hoses for the loader. Once that's completed, we'll be getting a LOT of work done! My wife and the boy both want some seat time.

 

[Watermann]

You can always get a TM transducer mount for an up front unit.

I would love to have that little tractor, nice score.

 

[BWR1953]

You can always get a TM transducer mount for an up front unit.

I would love to have that little tractor, nice score.

I already have a Garmin up front with a TM transducer mount. Is that what you mean?

I'd like to have a stern mount so that I can get readings at speed. Is there some kind of mount that'll work without drilling holes below the waterline?

 

[mattsteg]

I already have a Garmin up front with a TM transducer mount. Is that what you mean?

I'd like to have a stern mount so that I can get readings at speed. Is there some kind of mount that'll work without drilling holes below the waterline?

Sure there are ways to avoid drilling holes below waterline. Could screw in a transducer mount plate above waterline, adhere it to the hull with e.g. 5200 below, and screw into it. Or go all-in on adhesives. Or be like @Watermann and fabricate a mountpoint.

You could use a shoot-through transducer like a P79 which mounts inside the hull and can shoot through up to 1/8 in aluminum.

https://www.airmar.com/uploads/brochures/P79.pdf

You could even do what most people do and just drill a couple of holes and 5200 them. It's not really that big of a deal imo until you have 40 years of new transducers built up.

 

[Watermann]

I already have a Garmin up front with a TM transducer mount. Is that what you mean?

I'd like to have a stern mount so that I can get readings at speed. Is there some kind of mount that'll work without drilling holes below the waterline?

Sorry yeah, must of had too many things going on in my head and didn't explain. The transom TM mount with a pole that has a transducer on the end. I've seen the Minn Kota and Hummingbird, they clamp onto the transom using a TM mount so zero hole drilling.

 

[BWR1953]

Sure there are ways to avoid drilling holes below waterline. Could screw in a transducer mount plate above waterline, adhere it to the hull with e.g. 5200 below, and screw into it. Or go all-in on adhesives. Or be like @Watermann and fabricate a mountpoint.

You could use a shoot-through transducer like a P79 which mounts inside the hull and can shoot through up to 1/8 in aluminum.

https://www.airmar.com/uploads/brochures/P79.pdf

You could even do what most people do and just drill a couple of holes and 5200 them. It's not really that big of a deal imo until you have 40 years of new transducers built up.

Sorry yeah, must of had too many things going on in my head and didn't explain. The transom TM mount with a pole that has a transducer on the end. I've seen the Minn Kota and Hummingbird, they clamp onto the transom using a TM mount so zero hole drilling.

Thanks guys. I'll keep that info in my back pocket for future reference.

Meanwhile, trying to get my driveway project "rolling forward" again is my priority now. We started on 28 Jan 21 and made tremendous progress the first day. Then it slowed way down due to availability of my neighbor buddies. They're always booked up, so I just have to wait to get on their schedules.

Besides being a screaming good deal, I got the little Ford tractor so that I can do some of the work that my buds normally do.

Here's the driveway project.

Installing a new asphalt driveway

We're installing a new driveway/parking area at our homestead. My neighbor buddies (brothers) came over 3 days ago and got started. They worked all day Saturday. :) I'm very pleased with the progress so far! (y) Today, I have a question. Do I actually need to install a French drain along...

forums.iboats.com

 

[Pcolafisher]

Great to see your completion again! I’ve been out for a few months. My grandson and I went in on a ProCrappie175 back in April. As a reward for finishing the school year on line and earl, I took them to Lake Seminole SP. On the first day, we came in to shore in front of the cabin, I stepped off the bow onto the sand, lost my balance and broke and dislocated the break. So, no boat work on either of my tinnies for several months. No weight bearing for at least another six weeks. It may be October before I can drive again. I’m going to hang around and enjoy boats through all of you on iboats. Cheers

 

[BWR1953]

Great to see your completion again! I’ve been out for a few months. My grandson and I went in on a ProCrappie175 back in April. As a reward for finishing the school year on line and earl, I took them to Lake Seminole SP. On the first day, we came in to shore in front of the cabin, I stepped off the bow onto the sand, lost my balance and broke and dislocated the break. So, no boat work on either of my tinnies for several months. No weight bearing for at least another six weeks. It may be October before I can drive again. I’m going to hang around and enjoy boats through all of you on iboats. Cheers

Thanks!

Sounds like you've had a tough time getting things done too. Bummer about the break. I hope that it isn't giving you too much pain.

A week after my last fishing trip on the KF with my family in March, I was hospitalized again for that same old GCA thing. I've always said that when I go through those events that I "dodged a bullet" once more.

But on May 1st, I had a Pulmonary Embolism and nearly didn't make it out of that one. It was a very close thing. About a third of all cases are fatal. I almost made that list. Another hour or so and it would've been over.

I now say that instead of "dodging a bullet" that I "took one in the chest" this time. And the fragments are still in there.

I had a Deep Vein Thrombosis; clots broke free and I ended up with multiple clots in both lungs. My left lung was partially collapsed and there were other complications. The ER doc told me the diagnosis, said "I'm sorry" and left the room with a sad/serious look on her face.

But, I'm still here!

The clots are still in my leg and lungs, but I'm on anticoagulants and hopefully the clots will dissolve over time as my body heals itself. But, I do have to say that injecting myself in the stomach with the meds twice a day is no fun.

Last weekend I took the boy out onto the Gulf with the KF to visit an acquaintance who has that 54' boat and a son close to the boy's age. They had a good time, but honestly it was too much of an effort for me in my current condition. I won't do that again anytime soon.

Meanwhile, my home construction project has been delayed quite a bit due to my health issues in addition to other factors. We started on 28Jan21 and it should have all been completed within 6 weeks. Sadly, we're not there. But, I keep going along as best I can.

The first time for the KF in the briny Gulf.


The boys driving a paddle boat.


The KF tucked in with the other boats which were tied to the big boat.


It was plenty crowded out there!

 

[Watermann]

Thanks for the update and I'm happy to know you're too tough to go down without a fight! Doctors, I guess that's why they get to "practice" medicine and the rest of us have to know our jobs or get fired.