It doesn't look factory perfect, but it sure looks one helluva lot better than it did before!!
Saturday, July 28, 2007
YAY!!! The decals are finally here!!!
The decals for the outboard finally arrived here today. I took some time and made some alignment lines so they would look good and look even in relation to each other. Heres a couple pics:
Thursday, July 26, 2007
Factory or aftermarket?
Factory or aftermarket? The choice between the two comes up frequently. When it was my Chevelles I was dealing with, I loved aftermarket stuff. Exhaust, Carbeuration, Cams, and on and on... When I was living in MN and the subject was snowmobiles, I used both. Rotax oil was good stuff. Factory pipes were good too. Aftermarket studs were sweet. Aftermarket parts that reduced weight were nice too. Now days, with this Mercury outboard, I am in unfamiliar territory. Now, I am not looking to hop this motor up, its fine as is. I did however have the cowl (engine cover) that needed cleaning up. It was scuffed and scratched and looked rather beat. Some scratches are too deep to fix without paint, but they are few. This brings me back to the question: Factory or aftermarket?
I needed something to rub the scratches out of the cover. I looked at meguires, and a few other brands of rubbing compound. Never having been much of a "artsy" kind of guy, I was lost. I can turn a wrench with the best of them, but ask me to do body work, paint work, etc...and I just don't have the eye for it.
I decided to start with factory stuff, and move forward if that didn't work. So I bought some Mercury Precision Care Cowl Finishing Compound. Earlier this afternoon, I brought the cowl in and let it cool down. Being in the sun all day, it was HOT!! After it cooled down, I started on it with the cowl finishing compound. The Mercury brand stuff was, in a word, AMAZING. It took out scratches that I did not think would come out, and left a VERY nice finish. The new decals will (hopefully) be here tomorrow. If so, I will put them on, and get some pics up of the worked over cowl. It won't look factory perfect, but it will look pretty damn good compared to what it looked like when we brought it home.
So folks, in this case...Factory may or may not be better then aftermarket, but it IS plenty good enough to get the job done.
I also have a spray can of Mercury Phantom Black, for some touch up...its test will be coming one day soon.
Stay tuned.
I needed something to rub the scratches out of the cover. I looked at meguires, and a few other brands of rubbing compound. Never having been much of a "artsy" kind of guy, I was lost. I can turn a wrench with the best of them, but ask me to do body work, paint work, etc...and I just don't have the eye for it.
I decided to start with factory stuff, and move forward if that didn't work. So I bought some Mercury Precision Care Cowl Finishing Compound. Earlier this afternoon, I brought the cowl in and let it cool down. Being in the sun all day, it was HOT!! After it cooled down, I started on it with the cowl finishing compound. The Mercury brand stuff was, in a word, AMAZING. It took out scratches that I did not think would come out, and left a VERY nice finish. The new decals will (hopefully) be here tomorrow. If so, I will put them on, and get some pics up of the worked over cowl. It won't look factory perfect, but it will look pretty damn good compared to what it looked like when we brought it home.
So folks, in this case...Factory may or may not be better then aftermarket, but it IS plenty good enough to get the job done.
I also have a spray can of Mercury Phantom Black, for some touch up...its test will be coming one day soon.
Stay tuned.
Don't you just hate it when...
Don't you just hate it when you set out to do something simple...something...trivial, and it turns into a royal pain in the ass?
Such was my experience today installing the speed/temp sensor on the boat. It goes like this:
1) Place sensor body in position, and use its screw slots as a template, and mark the hull for drilling of the 4 screw holes.
2) Drill screw holes, and run screws in flush to make sure they go in far enough.
3) Place sealant in screw holes, and coat screws with sealant.
4) Align sensor back in its mounting location, and screw in screws. Double-check that sealant is where and how it should be.
5) Route cable to your sonar per your application.
Done, right? WRONG! Enter the drill bit that broke in step 2 after 3 of the 4 holes were drilled. I have no explanation of why the damn thing broke, I was drilling into fiberglass ever so slowly and carefully. Not only did it break, but it broke and left about 4 MM of bit sticking out of the hull. Not alot to grab onto with a vice grip, and not enough to chuck into the drill to reverse it out. After several hours of tapping it with a trim nail hammer it finally came loose enough to come out with a vice grip. What a PAIN IN THE ASS. I had to remind myself that the sensor cost me a 13 bucks and some change when it should have cost 60-ish dollars, to keep from throwing things. I'll appreciate seeing my speed when cruising/temp for fishing that much more, I expect.
Such was my experience today installing the speed/temp sensor on the boat. It goes like this:
1) Place sensor body in position, and use its screw slots as a template, and mark the hull for drilling of the 4 screw holes.
2) Drill screw holes, and run screws in flush to make sure they go in far enough.
3) Place sealant in screw holes, and coat screws with sealant.
4) Align sensor back in its mounting location, and screw in screws. Double-check that sealant is where and how it should be.
5) Route cable to your sonar per your application.
Done, right? WRONG! Enter the drill bit that broke in step 2 after 3 of the 4 holes were drilled. I have no explanation of why the damn thing broke, I was drilling into fiberglass ever so slowly and carefully. Not only did it break, but it broke and left about 4 MM of bit sticking out of the hull. Not alot to grab onto with a vice grip, and not enough to chuck into the drill to reverse it out. After several hours of tapping it with a trim nail hammer it finally came loose enough to come out with a vice grip. What a PAIN IN THE ASS. I had to remind myself that the sensor cost me a 13 bucks and some change when it should have cost 60-ish dollars, to keep from throwing things. I'll appreciate seeing my speed when cruising/temp for fishing that much more, I expect.
Tuesday, July 24, 2007
What a day...
So we got up and took the boat in to Buzz's marine today. Then we proceeded to run many errands for most of the morning and early afternoon. We had pictures that were ready to pick up and quite a few places to go, so it wasn't til after 3:00 that we got back to Buzz's. Heres one of the pics:
The verdict? The oil injection works fine!! No more doubts, no more mixxing gas!! We removed the decals from the sides of the outboards cover, and have new "Mercury" decals on the way. At Buzz's we picked up some cowl polishing compound, in addition to some Mercury "phantom black" touch up paint. I'll post pics of the cover after we get that tackled and the new decals on it.
A final note...Between the truck, the boat, and 3 5-gallon cans, we bought almost 50 gallons of fuel today. Locally it would have cost us 3.299 a gallon. Buying it in Kearney, we paid 2.959 a gallon. An 18-ish dollar savings. It drives me nuts to think that ust a few years ago, our bill for the gas would have been 60-ish dollars, instead of the 150-ish we paid. We live in interesting times.
Monday, July 23, 2007
Tilt/trim finished.
It arrived. The new tilt/trim motor from Arco Marine that is. It arrived packaged well for shipping, and completely intact. Upon opening the box, it became quite clear that Arco products have quite a nice clean new, and "not cheap" appearance. I then spent some time boning up on removal procedure in the Mercury Marine manual, and went to work.
The old unit was a cinch to remove, but it needed some flushing out since a little water had contaminated the unit. With that done, I then fastened the new motor to the trim pump/ram assembly with the provided SS allen bolts and o-ring, and filled the unit up. It works like new now.
Unfortunately, I don't have pictures. It was a messy job, and no place for a digital camera. Maybe I will get Darla to take some finished results pics tomorrow after we get the boat home from Buzz's marine.
T-11:20 and counting.
The old unit was a cinch to remove, but it needed some flushing out since a little water had contaminated the unit. With that done, I then fastened the new motor to the trim pump/ram assembly with the provided SS allen bolts and o-ring, and filled the unit up. It works like new now.
Unfortunately, I don't have pictures. It was a messy job, and no place for a digital camera. Maybe I will get Darla to take some finished results pics tomorrow after we get the boat home from Buzz's marine.
T-11:20 and counting.
Preparations for tomorrow...
Tomorrow the boat goes to Buzz's Marine in Kearney for an oil injection pump test. I'm keeping my fingers crossed. Preparations for that include the trailer wiring made 100%...which I did last nite , wearing a thick coat of mosquito spray. Also, taking three 5-gallon gas cans with, since the gas in kearney is 30 cents cheaper than it is locally. The new tilt/trim pump should be here today - gratz Arco Marine in Florida on making a fine product and earning my business, and 316$ - and it will be nice to get that finally fixxed. I'm also going to get the battery warrantied for the blazer while I am at it. We'll also be coming home with more pictures of the boat, and a whole bunch of pics from the mini-vacation we took in the black hills over Memorial Day weekend.
Tomorrow should be an interesting day indeed.
Tomorrow should be an interesting day indeed.
Tuesday, July 17, 2007
Some thoughts...
In my youth, I worked at a salvage yard or 2 and and had alot of friends that did too. One of the things I learned from that experience was that salvage yards have interchange manuals to guide in knowing what parts interchange between different models of vehicle. Such a manual would be HELPFUL in dealing with Mercury marine products. Would an engine cover from a mercury 90 horse fit a mercury 115 horse of the same era, for example. Mercury Marine has a decent site with diagrams, but for interchange info it is not so good, because you have to have the serial number of the motor in question. One is likely to only have half of the equation, unless one owns both of the things they want to know about interchange on, in which case they could just figure it out the old fashioned way.
Also, I am unable thus far to find where one might get oem replacement parts for the boat itself - online, anyway. The trailer needs a couple replacement parts too, and I am just not finding them. I guess a check with a Starcraft dealer is in order one of these days. I knew that would be unavoidable at some point.
Also, I am unable thus far to find where one might get oem replacement parts for the boat itself - online, anyway. The trailer needs a couple replacement parts too, and I am just not finding them. I guess a check with a Starcraft dealer is in order one of these days. I knew that would be unavoidable at some point.
Current and future plans for the boat...
Right now, the highest priorities are to get a cover for the boat, get the tilt and trim fixxed, and to make known the status of the oil injection on the merc.
Before we took it out the first time, I wasn't sure if the oil injection worked or not. The boat has a built in gas tank, so I took some out and it looked sure enough to be mixxed gas. I assumed since there was mixxed gas in the tank, that the oil injection was non-functional for some reason. I got my hands on a service manual for the merc 115 off ebay, and planted my nose in it on and off...even now its sitting in front of me. At this time I have confirmed that the oil pump is still on the motor, that the linkage rod from the carb to the oil pump is still there and connected, and that the oil lines appear to be intact. Circumstantial evidence of the engine smoking more than it should leads me to suspect that the oil injection is indeed functioning. That however is not enough for me to trust it just yet. To replace the motor...would cost more than we paid for the whole works, so I would rather be 100% sure.
To test the oil pump, I will need a graduated container, and an accurate tach. I can get the container easy enough, but an accurate tach, I am not so sure of. The boat has a tach, but I am uncertain of its accuracy. The procedure is to have mixxed gas in the tank, have flush hooked up to the motor, disconnect oil output hose from the fuel pump, plug that fitting on fuel pump, remove link rod end from the oil flow regulator, rotate oil pump regulator to wide open position, attatch tach, place output line into graduated container, and run engine at 700 rpm for 15 minutes. After 15 minutes the container should have 25.5 cc of oil in it at the minimum, though that amount is based on a 70 degree f temperature. The manual states that temps cooler OR warmer than that will result in LESS oil pump discharge. Thats something I intend to talk to a mercury tech about next time I get a chance.
Before we took it out the first time, I wasn't sure if the oil injection worked or not. The boat has a built in gas tank, so I took some out and it looked sure enough to be mixxed gas. I assumed since there was mixxed gas in the tank, that the oil injection was non-functional for some reason. I got my hands on a service manual for the merc 115 off ebay, and planted my nose in it on and off...even now its sitting in front of me. At this time I have confirmed that the oil pump is still on the motor, that the linkage rod from the carb to the oil pump is still there and connected, and that the oil lines appear to be intact. Circumstantial evidence of the engine smoking more than it should leads me to suspect that the oil injection is indeed functioning. That however is not enough for me to trust it just yet. To replace the motor...would cost more than we paid for the whole works, so I would rather be 100% sure.
To test the oil pump, I will need a graduated container, and an accurate tach. I can get the container easy enough, but an accurate tach, I am not so sure of. The boat has a tach, but I am uncertain of its accuracy. The procedure is to have mixxed gas in the tank, have flush hooked up to the motor, disconnect oil output hose from the fuel pump, plug that fitting on fuel pump, remove link rod end from the oil flow regulator, rotate oil pump regulator to wide open position, attatch tach, place output line into graduated container, and run engine at 700 rpm for 15 minutes. After 15 minutes the container should have 25.5 cc of oil in it at the minimum, though that amount is based on a 70 degree f temperature. The manual states that temps cooler OR warmer than that will result in LESS oil pump discharge. Thats something I intend to talk to a mercury tech about next time I get a chance.
Monday, July 16, 2007
Details details details...
Details about the boat.
Its a 1994 Starcraft 1709 fish and ski.
The good:
It came with a working bilge pump, working livewell, functioning trolling motor, functioning outboard, functioning trailer, functioning lights, a good pair of batteries, a solid hull, a solid transom, anchors, those things you put between the boat and the dock to keep the boat from getting all beat up, and lots of fishing baits/hooks/bobbers/sinkers left in cupholders and compartments. Bonus!!
It also came with an Eagle Silver Striker 600 plus sonar unit. The unit works, but needs a temp/speed sensor, which should be here tomorrow or the next day. For a total of $13.80 I won one new in package off ebay!!
The bad:
It came with a Motor Guide bowmount trolling motor. The trolling motor functions but needs some work. It needs a new switch, as only 2 of 5 forward speeds work. Also, the part the handle sticks out of that contains the switch - the upper half of it is cracked broken and beat up. Both are nominal cost items that we'll be fixxing sooner or later.
The tilt/trim motor is burned out, and thats an expensive thing to replace. The trim pump is good though and that helps to cut down the cost of fixxing it. I'll be taking care of that real soon.
The original seats were taken out of the boat and fishing seats installed. Not a real bad thing, but I do wish I had the original seats.
There are some soft spots in the floor. Thats not a good thing, but I am a handy kind of guy, and I can tackle that.
The Ugly:
The gel coat is beat up. Lots of scratches and dings, and one or 2 places that need a very minor amount of fiberglass work.
The 115 mercury is also cosmetically beat up. The stickers are mangled in places and it could use some touch up paint in a couple spots.
Overall though, its a 1994 boat with a 1994 115 merc outboard, which even has a laserII stainless prop. I think we stole it for 995$.
Its a 1994 Starcraft 1709 fish and ski.
The good:
It came with a working bilge pump, working livewell, functioning trolling motor, functioning outboard, functioning trailer, functioning lights, a good pair of batteries, a solid hull, a solid transom, anchors, those things you put between the boat and the dock to keep the boat from getting all beat up, and lots of fishing baits/hooks/bobbers/sinkers left in cupholders and compartments. Bonus!!
It also came with an Eagle Silver Striker 600 plus sonar unit. The unit works, but needs a temp/speed sensor, which should be here tomorrow or the next day. For a total of $13.80 I won one new in package off ebay!!
The bad:
It came with a Motor Guide bowmount trolling motor. The trolling motor functions but needs some work. It needs a new switch, as only 2 of 5 forward speeds work. Also, the part the handle sticks out of that contains the switch - the upper half of it is cracked broken and beat up. Both are nominal cost items that we'll be fixxing sooner or later.
The tilt/trim motor is burned out, and thats an expensive thing to replace. The trim pump is good though and that helps to cut down the cost of fixxing it. I'll be taking care of that real soon.
The original seats were taken out of the boat and fishing seats installed. Not a real bad thing, but I do wish I had the original seats.
There are some soft spots in the floor. Thats not a good thing, but I am a handy kind of guy, and I can tackle that.
The Ugly:
The gel coat is beat up. Lots of scratches and dings, and one or 2 places that need a very minor amount of fiberglass work.
The 115 mercury is also cosmetically beat up. The stickers are mangled in places and it could use some touch up paint in a couple spots.
Overall though, its a 1994 boat with a 1994 115 merc outboard, which even has a laserII stainless prop. I think we stole it for 995$.
So we decided to buy a boat.
The decision to buy a boat was made. So we scanned ebay daily. Checked the local and semi-local nebraska papers. Checked craigslist.org often. I looked at ALOT of boats. Thousands of them. And thats no exageration.
We had decided we wanted something we could fish out of, but also pull ski/tube behind as well (credit where its due. Our daughter is the big ski/tube buff.)
The list of things I was looking for was something along the lines of this:
Runabout type boat with an open bow.
50 plus horse motor, but not so big we couldn't afford to run it.
Trolling motor.
Bilge pump.
Live well.
Fish locator.
Lighting for night operation.
In decent shape.
And on a budget of less than 1200 dollars.
Yeah, we were asking ALOT. So we looked and looked. Then one tuesday or wednesday in june, I found it. a 1994 starcraft 1709 fish and ski runabout type boat with a 1994 mercury 115 outboard for 995$. And it was at a dealer no less. The only trouble was, it was at a dealer in Kansas City Missouri. Thats 6 hours or so away from where we live. Well, I hurriedly explained the hows and whys about the boat, and we drove down to look at it. It was pouring rain when we got there, but we checked it out as best we could - in spite of the rain - and bought it. It towed well home.
Heres a pic of it:
So begins my oddessy into boating.
We had decided we wanted something we could fish out of, but also pull ski/tube behind as well (credit where its due. Our daughter is the big ski/tube buff.)
The list of things I was looking for was something along the lines of this:
Runabout type boat with an open bow.
50 plus horse motor, but not so big we couldn't afford to run it.
Trolling motor.
Bilge pump.
Live well.
Fish locator.
Lighting for night operation.
In decent shape.
And on a budget of less than 1200 dollars.
Yeah, we were asking ALOT. So we looked and looked. Then one tuesday or wednesday in june, I found it. a 1994 starcraft 1709 fish and ski runabout type boat with a 1994 mercury 115 outboard for 995$. And it was at a dealer no less. The only trouble was, it was at a dealer in Kansas City Missouri. Thats 6 hours or so away from where we live. Well, I hurriedly explained the hows and whys about the boat, and we drove down to look at it. It was pouring rain when we got there, but we checked it out as best we could - in spite of the rain - and bought it. It towed well home.
Heres a pic of it:
So begins my oddessy into boating.
The beginning...
I grew up in Minnesota. Land of ten thousand lakes. Fishing. Boating. Summer fun. Somehow I forgot all that somewhere along the line in my early twenties. Working the late shifts at various machine shops...working as much overtime as I could get. Trying hard to make enough money to pay the bills and keep enough in my pocket to feel like I was succeeding. I am sure many of you can identify with that.
I met the love of my life and moved to Arizona to be with her. Not much in the area of watersports in Arizona for an easily sunburned "loved the cold hates the heat" norweigeian guy like me. Now, some 5 years later and we have since moved to Nebraska, and were less than 40 minutes from a few lakes/fishing holes, so we decided it was time to get a boat. And thats where this story really begins.
I met the love of my life and moved to Arizona to be with her. Not much in the area of watersports in Arizona for an easily sunburned "loved the cold hates the heat" norweigeian guy like me. Now, some 5 years later and we have since moved to Nebraska, and were less than 40 minutes from a few lakes/fishing holes, so we decided it was time to get a boat. And thats where this story really begins.
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