Report: Ran my new to me boat, first time!

[Hoyt79]

Some of you may remember the 1972 Terry bass boat with 1972 50 HP Johnson that I purchased back at the beginning of April. I took her out for the first time yesterday after taking 3 months to work on it...not that it took 3 months of actual work, I am just a busy man. After new impeller, fuel hoses, spark plugs, rebuilt carbs she runs like a top! I ran her for an hour solid yesterday at various speeds. I ran her mostly at about 60 - 75% then for a few minutes at WOT. I don't know how fast she was pushing us but felt about 30-35ish mph with 400 lbs between the two of us. I did notice one thing and I don't know what the significance of it is, but, while I had the boat planed out it kinda felt like a small child was moving around in the boat, you know, just a slight hint of an ever so slight bumping. I turned around and asked my buddy if he feels the same and he said yes and that it is the motor...I noticed no audible pitch changes in the pur of the motor...any thoughts as to what this may be? Is it something to be concerned about? By the way, thanks to this site and the people that helped me to get this motor running, it hasn't been in the water in 7 years. In the picture it shows a 1976 55 HP Johnson motor cover, but it is a 1972 50 HP Motor, I guess the original owner lost the motor cover at some point.

 

[jbjennings]

Re: Report: Ran my new to me boat, first time!

Hoyt,
Glad to hear you got it running! If you're feeling a vibration, check your prop to see if the blades are all perfect. If so, check your runout on the prop with it running on the muffs. Unlikely, but your prop shaft may be bent. I can't think of anything else other than wallowed out transom mount bolts.
Later,
JBJ

 

[Hoyt79]

Re: Report: Ran my new to me boat, first time!

Hoyt,
Glad to hear you got it running! If you're feeling a vibration, check your prop to see if the blades are all perfect. If so, check your runout on the prop with it running on the muffs. Unlikely, but your prop shaft may be bent. I can't think of anything else other than wallowed out transom mount bolts.
Later,
JBJ

The boat is a stick steer and boy was it stiff! How do I go about loosening it up some?

 

[boobie]

Re: Report: Ran my new to me boat, first time!

You can take the box apart and try and lube it but you mostly likely need a new steering cable.

 

[jbjennings]

Re: Report: Ran my new to me boat, first time!

You can take the box apart and try and lube it but you mostly likely need a new steering cable.

I agree. Folks that took care of their stuff properly put a shot of grease in it. Over time, the grease hardens and makes it stiff. Impossible to fix or clean from my experience. You won't like the price of a new cable!
JBJ