I/O (Sterndrive) Conversion to Outboards

[tpenfield]

Time to fillet..?

Fillet party was yesterday.

 

[tpenfield]

Holiday Update . . .

I hope everyone is having an enjoyable Holiday season. We hosted Christmas and the kids/grandkids have been staying with us for the week.

Fiberglassing has been on hold while the family is here to avoid the possibility of fumes in the house. Meanwhile . . .

1) I have been continuing to clean-up the outdrives of the 'old' motors, using the non-caustic paint remover. It works pretty well.

2) I also have looked into the engine choice and the Dometic Seastar Optimus stuff, which is all the high-tech electronic controls the the boat will have. As I gather information it looks like the Suzuki motors may be the easiest to integrate. I was leaning towards Mercury, but I keep running into potential gotchas on the compatibility of Mercury controls with the latest & greatest Optimus components. It seems to me that Mercury is more geared to the OEM market with their JPO, and not as easy to deal with in the aftermarket. ( let me know if I have the wrong impression )

If I went with Yamaha, it would be all the Helm Master EX stuff. Pricing and convenience will tell the story.

One nice thing I found was that Optimus has a Bill-of-Material generator on their website, which has been helpful in understanding the components needed and the cost.

3) I'll be interested to see how the final 2025 figures on the boat market look. It seems that things have slowed down for boat sales in general, and I'll be interested to see how the outboard figures look. (hoping to get a good deal on the engines, which ever brand I choose).

4) My project schedule is sliding a bit, given the winter temperatures. I was originally hoping to be sending the boat off for re-power in the Feb/March time frame, but that may be more like April.

Anyway, I'll be back at it doing the fiberglassing after New Years.

Wishing everyone a happy & safe 2026.

 

[redneck joe]

As I age and deal with every more of my stuff breaking down I'm leery of all things electronic. My newest car is a 2026 and it does crazy crap occasionly that can never be replicated at the shop. With steering, I want a more manual approach. Keep telling my wife I just want a mid 70s Ford truck with a straight six and a clutch. After we get settled in new house might have to resume that search.

 

[Scott Danforth]

Keep telling my wife I just want a mid 70s Ford truck with a straight six and a clutch.

I can help adding seat heater grids when you get the Luddite truck

 

[Lou C]

I like inline 6s too, especially AMC/Jeep ones. I want to restore my old '98 Grand Cherokee because the new ones just ain't the same.
Inline 6, not a powerhouse but reliable and very easy to work on.
shift it yourself transfer case, no wiring, no actuators no fault codes, plus on the Selec-Trac case you have a useful full time 4x4 setting, great for winter driving.
live axle suspension where you can change 4 shocks in an hour, instead of dealing with spring compressors etc with the modern IFS.
and you still have EFI and ABS!
that's an old pic, it was at 96,000 then now it's only at 183,000 not too much for a 4.0 six.
We have owned it since new; I did every oil change, driveline oil change tune ups and brake jobs. VERY easy to maintain. Not like today's horror shows where it takes hrs to replace a headlight bulb. The only jobs I paid for were to pull the dash to replace the heater core and AC evaporator.
I do love my 07 Grand with the 5.7 Hemi but every single job is harder, more difficult or expensive to have done. It is FAST though!

 

[redneck joe]

I can help adding seat heater grids when you get the Luddite truck

I think that would defeat being a luddite...

 

[Scott Danforth]

Nah.... A toaster element on a simple switch is Luddite going back to the 51 patent and the 66 implementation

 

[redneck joe]

When did the fuse come into play into the design. My wife tells me I have a hot butt, but not that kind.


Ted, get working to keep us on topic...