Texas is a great country! I have some friends in NW Texas (Midland/Odessa, and Lemesa areas) and have traveled throughout the state (San Antonio, Houston, Galveston, Dallas/Fort Worth, etc.) on several occasions. Never had the opportunity to live there, but it's high on my list if I even found work there. I often tell my wife, if I didn't end up with her, I'd marry a Texas woman; beautiful ladies and sweet as apple pie!
I think we'd get along just fine too, we seem to be on the same page about doing stuff ourselves, and heck, we both enjoy fishin'! I totally agree about having the know-how do do stuff yourself, because when you need to fix something if a jiffy or on the cheap, it's better if
you can do it. Also, I know that I might not have the best knowledge of
how to fix something; but I do I know that nobody is going to the the quality of work that I preform on my own stuff and sure as heck not pay as much attention to detail as I do!
wasilvers said:
The tank just needs to be checked out. If not gummed up, I'd use it.
Generally speaking, it looks pretty good, but it's a little rusty inside. Any tips on cleaning it out? I've been looking at BPS and at my local shop, West Marine, for a small 3gal tank, but a new, plastic one is about $30-$35.
wasilvers said:
Get a fuel line kit from Walmart- saves a few bucks over Gander/Cabelas/Bass Pro. Make sure you install it with the fuel flow going the right way - that's embarrasing Doh! The fuel lines can be purchased at Ace Hardware for not too much cash. While there pickup some carb cleaner and clean out each carb and clean well. I usually pull any needles out and clean as well, but that's me.
Good tip on picking up a fuel line kit from WM. Next time I run up there I'll take a peek for one. I've seen them in the BPS and West Marine catalog, for about $25-$30. Ouch!
wasilvers said:
You can find the defaults for most settings on iboats forums - so you can seat everything correctly. I wouldn't worry about a link-n-sync yet, just get it running.
I've got my hands on as many manuals as I could download; got access to the dropbox ones from Jim, and another TBer posted about some small engine site (
https://www.tinboats.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=14047) that had a lot of marine stuff there too, snagged what I could.
Oh ya, sounding like an idiot
, what's "link-n-sync"?
wasilvers said:
Pull the plugs and put a a little oil in the cylinders - to lube them while working on it.. Then check for spark on each cylinder when you crank it. Then check the lower unit lube - just replace it, it's only 3-4 bucks for one tube. I also run a compression check, anything around 80psi and it will run, I've had them run at 60 psi before.
Will do. I'll probably be tearing into it in the next month or so, once the AZ heat dies down to a tolerable level. Our boating/fishing season is kinda funny hear; the "official" season is about Mar/April through Sept/Oct. I usually limit my fishing to the summers; fishing on smaller mountain lakes (mostly elec-only, but there are some gas), but would like to be able to hit the local lakes around Phoenix (all big, and you really
need gas to get around...I've tried elec, but there's just too much lake and end up burning the batteries to hell-and-gone).
As I mentioned above, I've been a one-species fisherman, trout, but want to enter into this world of bass that everybody is always talking about. :mrgreen:
wasilvers said:
Some basics for motors - NEVER run them out of water. Water must cover the inlets or it will burn your impeller up. It takes only 10-15 seconds to burn it to uselessness. You probably know this already, but I thought I'd repeat it.
So is the best way to "test" the motor in a bucket or trash can? My old codger grandfather-in-law suggested just mounting it on the boat (while on the trailer) and do the work there. That way I could drop it in a bucket/trash can and wouldn't have to mess with buying a stand ($80-$175) or building a stand or modified saw-horse setup ($20-$30).
wasilvers said:
That looks like a nice setup - the motor is very clean for it's age.
Thanks, I just hope it preforms as good as it looks. When I traded my quads for the boat I was looking more at the boat than at the motor as I've stuck to the elec-only scene. Truth be told, the boat was a little smaller than what I was looking for (12' vs. the ideal 14' or 16'), but it was extremely clean, had good seating (two benches + the bow seat), and very wide for its length (64" beam).
As I've done more research on motors in general, and this 'rude specifically, I'm happy to learn that it's a great motor that's very easy to work on and cheap to maintain. I just found out, after doing MORE serial # research, that it's a 6HP not a 5HP (swore one book I looked at said it was 5HP), so that made me a little happier (more power = better, faster, etc., right?). Our mountain lakes that do limit HP require 10HP or less, so I was eying some 9.9s, but at $2700 for a new Merc that ain't gonna happen any time soon. Even used, Craigslist and such, a 'newer' 9.9 still goes for $1K-$1.5K (still ain't gonna happen).
Basically, this is a rough list of my "to dos":
1a) Get the gas motor runnin'
1b) Wire up the nav lights (
https://www.tinboats.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=13952)
1c) New hubs/wheels/tires on the trailer (mine work, but they're the old 'split-rim style'...if I have a flat a) I don't have a spare, b) the design would require that I pull the bearings, races, etc. just to get a new wheel on there)
2a) Shade! (I want a Bimini top to get that AZ sun off my bald head!) :shock:
2b) Electrical panel
3) Better seats, fabricate a bow seat
4) Maybe install a hatch under the bow seat
5) Get promoted to Commodore by adding a second craft to my fleet :wink: