Popular Mechanics 1962 PM38 Build [SPLASHED 2017]

[pekstrom]

Pek, you might watch one of those videos that is similar to your carb. You should get the basics after watching it, they are all really similar.

Yeah that's a good idea. Even if it isn't a similar one it might still help me prepare myself. :lol:

If you decide to take your carbs apart take a lot of pictures and label the carbs so that you don't get them mixed up. Sometimes on multi carb motors the carbs are slightly different from each other so don't mix them up. Take pics of the float before you remove it because you don't want to reinstall it upside down. Also take pics of the linkage so that your not scratching your head trying to figure out what goes where on re-assembly.

I'm not trying to sell anything but Chem-Dip (available at walmart) is an easy to use deep carb cleaner and effective but a bit pricy. But there are others that work also. Also of all things a compression tester is most useful to have but maybe perhaps you can borrow one from a friend. I'm not a carb nut and will do everything to avoid taking one apart but sometimes you have no choice.

Also I mentioned replacement of all fuel lines. Older fuel lines degrade from the ethanol now in gasoline. If your not using ethanol free fuel put some kind of treatment into the fuel such as Sea Foam or the Mercury Quicksilver gas treatment. I try to keep my fuel for my boat as fresh as possible, treated or not.

As implied by others, with motor problem troubleshooting, start simple and inexpensive, work up to complex (and expensive). Really love your boat pek and I hope to build one myself in about a year or two.

I like the picture idea that's been mentioned several times. I'll be sure to have my phone (camera) nearby and charged up. Sure as I don't take pictures I'll end up scratching my head at some point when I can't remember how something fit back together. I have the service manual which has a section for the disassembly and another for the reassembly. I'll be sure to follow those as well. And the good part there are all the pictures they have in there as well of the carb.

I did see that Chem-Dip when I got the Sea Foam spray and gas treatment cans. I did spray that stuff in the carb and oh man did the motor smoke! But it didn;t seem to help any. I also poured 3 oz of the gas treatment in the tank but I haven't had a chance to go out and ride so it hasn't really run all that long on it. Keeping the gas as fresh as possible does seem like a good idea.

I did get a new pair of spark plugs that were listed as replacements for the L77J4 plugs in the service manual. I found a pair of L77JC4 but they didn't make much difference. But now I at least know I have a fresh set of plugs. I just ordered a new fuel filter and also the gasket and diaphragm kit so I will give it a try to take it apart and clean it.

One thing I have noticed, and I'm not sure exactly what symptoms this would have. I have noticed that the remote choke doesn't work. The solenoid responds but the little arm it is connected to doesn't move. In looking at the service manual I did notice that the arm pushes down on an "enrichment valve" when the solenoid is engaged. Well, the arm is stuck in the position that keeps the valve depressed and I assume open. That can't be good so do any of you think that could affect the idle like this? It has to have some effect I'm sure...

You are also going to build a PM38? That's great! It sure is a fun little boat. It handles 4 people surprisingly well. I'm looking forward to follow along with your build!

 

[pekstrom]

So I just came across some info via Google about the enrichment valve. It is meant to give the motor a bit more gas (but not air) at cold-starts. And someone explained that if the valve leaks then idle will get very poor as the motor warms up. It also gets harder to start when it is warm, which is true for mine. And it explains why it idles better when I turn the choke all the way up since that gives the motor more air to go with the richer gas mixture. I'm going to have to look at that tomorrow and see if I can get that to work so it is closed properly.

 

[gm280]

So I just came across some info via Google about the enrichment valve. It is meant to give the motor a bit more gas (but not air) at cold-starts. And someone explained that if the valve leaks then idle will get very poor as the motor warms up. It also gets harder to start when it is warm, which is true for mine. And it explains why it idles better when I turn the choke all the way up since that gives the motor more air to go with the richer gas mixture. I'm going to have to look at that tomorrow and see if I can get that to work so it is closed properly.

pek, not so sure about your choke setup. Usually a choke closes of the air to allow more gas into the engine for an easier fire up. So if your engine was running better when you turned on more choke, it would be the opposite situation then why you are talking about. It would allow even more fuel in, to the amount of air, not less. JMHO

 

[pekstrom]

pek, not so sure about your choke setup. Usually a choke closes of the air to allow more gas into the engine for an easier fire up. So if your engine was running better when you turned on more choke, it would be the opposite situation then why you are talking about. It would allow even more fuel in, to the amount of air, not less. JMHO

Ah, ok, I got that wrong. Thanks for setting me straight. I may not have a problem with the enrichment valve but I'll take a closer look today and see. The described symptoms are very close to the way mine is behaving. I also have a fuel filter and a carb parts pack on their way so if this valve isn't the problem I'll give the carb a try.

 

[pekstrom]

Ah, ok, I got that wrong. Thanks for setting me straight. I may not have a problem with the enrichment valve but I'll take a closer look today and see. The described symptoms are very close to the way mine is behaving. I also have a fuel filter and a carb parts pack on their way so if this valve isn't the problem I'll give the carb a try.

Ok, an update. The enrichment valve was being held open by the solenoid that's controlled by pushing the ignition key. So once I fixed that I had to adjust the low-speed mix and idle screw after it had warmed up. And I had it idling without any choke needed while warm. Something it wouldn't do before. It also seems to run a little cleaner now but could probably do with a carb cleaning as well. It seems to respond a bit better when I give it some gas. So it seems I have made some improvement! Now I just need to take her out on the lake to see how she does on the water. But I won't have time for that until possibly tomorrow afternoon.

On a side note, that solenoid doesn't seem to be the right one. I'll have to do some more research. But I basically can't get it to work right so right now the arm it controls for the enrichment valve isn't installed. I can get by without it for a bit until I can figure out the problem. Worst case I can control the valve manually with the choke knob.

 

[pekstrom]

Ok, an update. The enrichment valve was being held open by the solenoid that's controlled by pushing the ignition key. So once I fixed that I had to adjust the low-speed mix and idle screw after it had warmed up. And I had it idling without any choke needed while warm. Something it wouldn't do before. It also seems to run a little cleaner now but could probably do with a carb cleaning as well. It seems to respond a bit better when I give it some gas. So it seems I have made some improvement! Now I just need to take her out on the lake to see how she does on the water. But I won't have time for that until possibly tomorrow afternoon.

On a side note, that solenoid doesn't seem to be the right one. I'll have to do some more research. But I basically can't get it to work right so right now the arm it controls for the enrichment valve isn't installed. I can get by without it for a bit until I can figure out the problem. Worst case I can control the valve manually with the choke knob.

Happy belated July 4th everyone in the US! I hope y'all had a nice holiday? We braved the lake yesterday morning, fairly early and got to spend a couple of hours out there. The kids also got to jump in and swim around for a bit so they enjoyed it. The wife and I stayed onboard and just relaxed and watched them play. We did also ride around a bit exploring.

The motor did much better than it has in the past. It does idle a little rough still but it does idle when warm now so that's an improvement. It stalled on me once but cranked right back up. So I may have to do some minor adjustments still. It also has more power at the lower rpms and pushes her up to planing better. I didn't check the top speed this time because it was pretty choppy out there and I had to slow down frequently so we wouldn't go bouncing off the waves.

 

[Patfromny]

Glad to hear you're moving in the right direction and got to enjoy her a bit. Keep tinkering

 

[archbuilder]

Sounds like you are headed down the right path!

 

[pekstrom]

I haven't had a chance to take her out on the lake since last time, which was on the July 4th weekend. I have been working on a few of my add-on projects though. I now have a pair of guide-ons on the trailer so recovering the boat should be much easier. I am also working on flooring which I still need to sand, paint/finish and then put some marine carpet on. I'm also hoping to install the fuel sender in my tank this weekend and possibly take her out for a spin.

The wife did take a picture while I was working on lining the boat up with the trailer. It shows how she sits in the water at least.

 

[Ned L]

Excellent!

 

[Willyclay]

The enrichment valve was being held open by the solenoid that's controlled by pushing the ignition key.

Great catch! Hope you get many years of enjoyment out of your project. I have enjoyed the ride along the way. Bill

 

[pekstrom]

I have a list if smaller projects to go through before I can call the boat finished. One of those is to get the speedometer to work. I couldn't mount the pitot tube directly to the transom because of the tab, so I fabricated a block I could use as a mounting point.



I covered it with fiberglass cloth and epoxy to make it more water proof, then used a bunch of 4200 adhesive to seal the edges when I mounted it. It sits on the starboard side. Then some primer and bottom paint to finish it off.


When it had dried, time for the pitot tube and tubing to the gauge on the dash.


When I have had a chance to test it out I'll post an update. Can't wait to see how it works!

 

[Scott Danforth]

you could have picked up a GPS speedo

 

[archbuilder]

Very neat looking work, you have great craftsmanship!

 

[Baylinerchuck]

I agree, very nice install.

 

[pekstrom]

you could have picked up a GPS speedo

I admit I didn't look for anything except a vintage looking speedometer when I shopped around. Are there dash-mounted gauges that are GPS controlled?

Very neat looking work, you have great craftsmanship!

I agree, very nice install.

Thank you both. I didn't want something that looked thrown together so I took my time and I think it turned out ok. And more importantly, it works! :lol: I had her in the water yesterday and the gauge worked, and the sender stayed on!

Now on to the next project. :lol:

 

[Scott Danforth]

Are there dash-mounted gauges that are GPS?

Yes

 

[pekstrom]

Pondering another build already... :lol::facepalm:



Joking aside, this is one beautiful boat! It is a Glen-L design called Torpedo and this one was built by Roberta Hegy. This is the build thread for it on their forum if anyone is interested.

 

[Pcolafisher]

Pek, there's no link! Great job on your build!!!
Cheers

 

[pekstrom]

Pek, there's no link! Great job on your build!!!
Cheers

Hi Pcolafisher, thank you! I'm pretty happy with how she turned out. Still a few small projects left.
There is a link, it is the word 'this' in 'This is the build thread...' but it is a bit hard to spot.