Introduction, and 1977 Starcraft Holiday 18 I/O restoration

[mfelthousen]

Thanks! It has been a long 8 months of not being on the water. Having the drive stay in the water while in reverse was icing on the cake.

 

[mfelthousen]

One step forward, two steps back. The rams had both been rebuilt a couple engine hours earlier. Earlier this weekend I replaced the trim sender and limit switches, and all was working fine when I called it a night. The next morning it labored to raise the drive, and before I had a chance to react the ram housing popped. I suspect the housing had a stress fracture from the rebuild. At least the Sierra replacement part is only $60...

So, no boating this weekend, but I at least was able to get the carb dialed in better.

Mat

 

[Watermann]

Oh man that's crazy, not heard of that one yet. At least it's not spendy to repair.

 

[mfelthousen]

I ended up having the same binding issue with new outer housings (without the explosion this time), so complete ram assemblies are finally arriving tomorrow. I think the bypass valve on the inner piston is binding against the inner tube (wrong terms, I know). I know I may be able to file off any burrs but want more peace of mind. I may still rebuild the old ones to have spares at some point.

Instead I've been making other improvements, such as added a bimini, replaced the side rollers on the trailer with bunks, added front bunks, replaced keel rollers, and added a hinge to the trailer tongue so it will (just) fit in my garage now. The bimini is on tracks that were already on the boat, so I can adjust it forward/back a couple feet if I want. I'm also working on a tonneau for when the boat is on the water and I can't use my normal cover, but I'm pretty sure I won't be posting pics of that.

 

[Watermann]

Nice work, hope the issue with the rams gets sorted out with the replacements.

What's all the chain for on the tongue hinge? You not trust the aluminum hinge? :lol:

I got the all steel Fulton version and welded it on my tongue. Still sort of nervous about it even though it welded all around the outside and inside.

 

[mfelthousen]

Ha! Guess I should have let the chains hang for the pics. Your install looks nice and clean. The directions for the bolt-on Fulton call for safety chains to be attached behind the hinge, and I wasn't inclined to argue... I needed to redo the chains on the trailer anyway because they were too tight for the attachment points on one of my tow rigs. I'm probably going to use some form of chain hanger to keep them from dragging.

 

[ab59]

Looks good to me as well . I installed one on my 1999 fishmaster 196 but I just used the jig that came with it and drilled the holes to bolt it on and never worried about it again. Trailed great and was a good feeling that I could fit it in a garage just about anywhere I was fishing . This is of course when there was one available .
Good job----

 

[mfelthousen]

Finally got back in the water. In the past three months I’ve replaced the rams, all cooling hoses, replaced the thermostat, cleaned/re-did all power and ground connections, ran 8ga wires to the front for auxiliary devices, restored wiring to factory setups (previous owners had bypassed safeties and took shortcuts), replaced a bad solenoid for the trim pump, replaced the trim sender and limit switch, adjusted shift cables, aligned the gimbal, went with solid state ignition, set the idle, and replaced the entire stern drive with an SEI 106. Along the way I fired my mechanic (among other things, he broke the original stern drive and probably caused the ram failure... it is a long story), so I ended up learning as I went.

Today was the start of the break in period.

Although the alignment tool went in without needing more than a light grip, and the pattern looked ok, I have a slight moan from the stern at about 1000 rpm. It’s almost as if it is a harmonic for the hull, since at higher than 1k it disappears. It only happens when in gear. I’m not sure yet if this is the gimbal bearing, or if I have to get used to the noise of a new drive breaking in. The gimbal bearing was new last year and only has a few hours on it. I re-greased it before I put the stern drive back on. I would have tried recording it but engine noise would have covered up the sound.

 

[Watermann]

If the noise was a bad sound, it would get worse with increased power rather than going away.

 

[mfelthousen]

I'm a little over 10 hours into the break-in period of the new drive (SEI 106). Overall for a 40+ year old boat she's doing pretty well. WOT is 4200 per the tach and top speed was 33MPH (GPS verified, but the speedo agreed). 3500 keeps the boat at 30. This is with a Black Diamond 14.5x19 prop. Vids at cruise: https://flic.kr/p/2hcnSiD and https://flic.kr/p/2hcpzNi. Vid of standstill to planing out: https://flic.kr/p/2hcpzmG.

I have a very slight oil leak in the engine bay that I have to chase down, but I only have a weekend or two left in the season. I've already snugged down the valve cover but plan to replace that gasket at the end of the season, and the oil pan gasket is probably going to need replacement also.

Other recent improvements- after seeing some recent posts about people getting rear ended and having their stern drives ruined, I added a third brake light/prop saver and side lighting (replaced reflectors) for peace of mind. I ended up rewiring the trailer to make it all work, but it needed to be done anyway. The trailer is going to need to be blasted and repainted at some point, but it is built like a tank.

New rams, after one of the originals blew apart at the gimbal housing.

I didn't realize the new upper unit would come with the wrong length yoke. What's pictured is the original 40+ year old yoke, the original new yoke, and the proper new yoke after a swap. That Lisle driver made life much easier to swap out the u-joint. The new driveshaft is heavier duty than the original equipment- or at least there is more material to hold the u-joints in place.

Both boat and trailer need paint, but... water time is winning out.

 

[mfelthousen]

Oops. Wrong video of it running with the new drive. The right one is this- https://flic.kr/p/2hcHqAg

 

[Watermann]

Oh yeah she's running smooth as a babies hind end, very nice! :thumb:

Yeah the season is drawing to a close here too, enjoy what time you have left this year.