Yeah, I am in and out on working on the boat. Last year I got it out a lot, and then the fuel pump rupter/issues sidelined me/took the wind out of my sails so to speak. I figured out the problem with the strong fuel smell, I was simply just too rich. Apparently tuning the carbs on a motor that sat for 3 years is much different than tuning the carbs on a freshly rebuilt set of carbs that were thoroughly cleaned...my orifices were probably restricted, so I was able to run the enrichment screws in much further than before...go figure. It just didn't make sense from one experience to the other until I got a little bit of clarity ( too much of a fog from the extra fuel! )
Of course, I got it out on the lake and it ran great, got a new Helix 5 on it, which is awesome to have, and then the 2nd outing the coil on #2 died again. Fortunately the Ebay seller put a 90 day warranty on it, which I'm still in that window, just waiting on a response to that. For me to have 2 failures though, I worry that there might be something else that is causing the premature failure of the coils on that cylinder, or if it was simply coincidence. Who knows.
With this heat wave we are getting right now and no covered space to work on the boat, I'm little motivated to crack a hard day on it. I'm considering a modification to the way the rear layout is, but I haven't committed to anything yet. I may draw something up and ask for opinions/ideas.