Ski boat project questions

I always use a 3/8 drive socket set and 3/8 drive torq wrench when working on out boards and tighten progressively and let stand for a couple of days then slacken the bolt a 1/2 turn and re-torque !! My reasoning is after the gasket has squashed and compressed for a while you can sometimes get a extra 1/4 to 1/2 Turn out of the bolt ! .

Have a friend that had a valiant with a vee 8 motor and about 3 times a year had the valley cover/manifold gaskets replaced because they used to leak air and the motor ran rough and was a ***** to start !
I bought 2 sets of gaskets for him ,remover the cover ,fitted new gastets and ran the motor till it was hot and up to running temprature , turned it off then let it sit and completely cool down . Lossened and retightened all the bolts to get that little extra and when he sold the car two years later the spare gaskets were still in the boot of the car . I spent 16 years working in a garage in the spare parts department and playing with and rebuilding motors making manifolds and intake manifolds for twin carbs and free flow exhaust with tuned lengths of pipe and whole exhaust right to the back always quiet never noisy !!,racing cars was what all us young guys did .
My dad was a self taught mechanic and engineer All my life i never saw him stuck on any mechanical or engineering problems ever ,so some of that learning must have rubbed off ! .

 

Progress with the hull

Made some minor progress on the hull today by extending the under-hull strakes with shaped timber so they now align with the transom. These will be covered with glass cloth and faired to the same shape as the rest of the strakes.

The white areas around the sheer are where the chipped gelcoat was ground back to glass and refilled with thickened epoxy (West sytem plus microspheres). None of these were big enough to need glass cloth - the bog will be fine and it sands well.

I had originally intended to use Flowcoat or gelcoat filler but I had the epoxy available and it will do a better job. After fairing, the entire hull will be primed with epoxy primer then a 2 pack finish so there was nothing to be gained by sticking with polyester.

Alan

 

I cant think of any place where you need to change from bolt to stud and nut
The crankcase is all nuts and bolts

 

Hold head in hands ---- ..... Just epoxy the whole thing together with a G cramp

Never mind if it does'nt work just pull over and call a taxi and come back next day with a tow truck.

Never heard of over size or helicoils,---give the engine a chance at least!!!

Talk about backyard mechanics.

 

Yes been there done some of that even made special studs bigger at one end and smaller at the other . Trouble is if holes have been stressed from over tightening and sometimes have found the casting with hairline cracks
so a stud done with epoxy metal and drilled and pinned as well has a much better chance of surviving to run another day than just tapping oversize and hoping for the best .
Helicoils used to use mainly for head bolts where theres a little more meat to play with .
have also used them wrapped in glass strands and embeded in a lay up , not often you can find but the same kind of thing is used in wood assembly as well and has a better grip on the outside for the glass to get a hold of !!

 

good thing this engine doesnt have a removable head!
PS timecert.com, Helicoils are from the days of carburetors and points

 

Yeah amazing !! thats shows your age !!
I was at a car show a few years back and there was a guy standing looking at a 1947 flat head ford v8 motor . he was there for ages ,any way i went had a look as well . he asked me how did these things ever run ! i aske why?? well theres no hoses and pipes every where and wires and electronic boxes etc etc so what makes it go ?? just flick the switch on the steering columb and stamp youf foot on the switch and they start up really quick and idle so quite you usually cant hear them going just the odd squeek of the fan belt ,he couldnt believe it ! In them days mechanics could fix anything at all . oh how times have changed !!

 

they could fix them because they were dead simple and made very low horsepower per cubic inch hence mistakes didnt blow things up.

These days you can destroy many diesels just by running the wrong coolant in them, imagine telling your father/grandfather that whilst he was repairing a 6-71 detroit in a LCM whilst being fired on

 

Just checking to see if you still alive and kicking and a gidday mate !!

Here in China we are very quickly getting thrown into winter chills !! the temprature hads dropped really quickly and has been a mad scramble for the long track siut pants, long sleeved shirts and Jackets !! will be fluffy hats and gloves soon i reckon . Up north they been getting some really heavy falls of snow !
Im going south for this weekend and its still quiet warm there .

Take care !

 

G'day from Oz

Yes, still here, but as mentioned earlier, my priority is getting the trimaran ready to sail after 2.5 years of building. I finally fixed and strengthened the damaged ama and tuned the rig. A sailcover has been made ready to take the main in lazyjacks to avoid having to remove it after each outing.

At 3 am last week while I was asleep inside, there was a loud crash and splash caused by my silly bloody German Shepherd falling off the after deck, so I am currently making a platform with side and aft rails. He loves boats - try keeping him off!

The skiboat sheer has been repaired and the trailer part modified but it will be a few months before I get serious about tyhe next stage of construction.

Good luck with the weather - it has snowed here as recently as 3 weeks ago

Alan

 

When you talked about snow i just had a look on the ozzie map to see about where you are . Hell your a long way inland !!colud be a pretty part pf the country mind you !

Here its Shanghai is the closet sea of you can call it that . we are surrounded litterally by water and lakes and canals and what ever . its all interconnected in early time the canal system was made from Beijing all way down to just about Hongkong . All the rivers travel from west to east so canals were dug to be able to travel east to southwest Thousands of miles of them The shanghai river is big and if you sand on the edge and llook up the river you see at least 6 to 8 200 foot loat coming and going and same the other way as well . all the time even at night man its a busy place !! but ocean liner come right into shanghai so its deep and big !!
Take care

 

There is only a fine line between being realistic and being negative, partuiarly when it comes to taking on someone elses failed project as a cost/labour saving idea.

I like to think positively but it can leave me cursing, often late at night while bent double over something that doesnt work that I need to work for the following morning!


Daniel

 

Negativity versus reality

I agree but the scenario in this case is straightforward. Having already built 4 boats, I think I can reasonably claim to know enough to avoid most mistakes made by people who take on incomplete projects. I am also not too proud to get advice from those who can genuinely contribute ideas.

This project was only abandoned because the owner was transferred interstate and it was impractical to take the boat with him. The hull is excellent and I have already repaired the very minor scrapes and (now unwanted) bolt holes. 2-pack epoxy primer and 2-pack polyurethane topcoats will make the hull very good indeed. The heavier transom, laid deck and upholstered interior panels will make it more than acceptable structurally and visually.

The main cause of "negativity" has been the outboard. For $400 what the hell have I got to lose? I already have the experience of rebuilding engines in VWs, Range Rovers and generators If I strike major problems, the Mercury parts can be resold and all it will have cost me is some time. Conversely, if I spend a couple of grand on boring a cylinder, fitting new rings, bearings and gaskets, with this cost spread over a year or more, I may end up with a decent motor.

My point is that while all advice is welcome, don't tell me what can't be done - tell me what can. There are always solutions.

Alan

 

Hi
How every thing going ??
Summer and time for a cool beer or two in the shade , Me a cant wait to get back to nz !! We have moved completely out of a huge factory in to te companies older building again after seeing the place for the first time yesterday i dont know why they ever bothered building and moving into the other building in the first place .
So hows the boat doing the odd bits and pieces now and then ?
Did you find any more hidden gremlins with the outboard ??
My son and i went to the dump and along side wass a guy with a 6 hp out board as it hit the gound i picked it up and straight in the boot of my car . Took it home and found the head was loose and just needed a gasket got the gasket and it fired up almost straight away . My son used it for a year and had hours of fun sold it to one of his cobbers as a auxillary for there trailer sailer . it doesent mater if its free or $400 as long as it goes eventually and you get a load of pleasure from it ,why not !!

 

Your financial evaluation of the situation is spot on and was never criticized.