4/4/00: New project, YEAH!! I picked up a '52
KE4 that needs some help. It ran Ok, but was leaking water from between
the water jacket covers, so apart it went. I figured, while I have the
water jackets off, I may as well check out the pistons/ cylinders. Eeeeeww.
The pistons are scored up a bit and the rod bearings are a little sloppy
(the bearings weren't making any noise while it ran, but it seems like
they move around too much). It's in a pile on the bench now, awaiting a
verdict. I may go all the way on this one. The only thing missing is the
lower cowl (suprise), and the guy I got it from says he's pretty sure he
has them somewhere.
I got a gear case rebuilt for the Merc 400 out of pieces of 3 bad ones
I had around. I put it in the tank today and it shifts fine, but the motor
still needs a little tuning.
I also got the impeller for the old KD4 and put that in the tank yesterday.
I put on the NOS prop I picked up last year, and the carb I rebuilt for
the new KD4 and it's all ready for the water. I'm waiting on coils for
the Merc 700/Mk75, the new KD4, and the KG7, and still haven't done anything
with the Scott Atwaters.
I'm looking for an OMC motor stand, preferably a newer one. If you have
one you want to get rid of, e-mail me please. Happy Boating!!
4/13/00: Ahhhh, just got back from a short vacation in
Cape Cod Tues., great attitude adjustment! I even stumbled onto a few old
motors at a nautical consignment shop. Unfortunately, they were way over
priced (as far as I was concerned anyway). I didn't even try to negotiate,
every motor was priced a good $75-$150 over what I would have said was
reasonable for what he had (a couple of 5hp. Johnsons and 5 Seagulls).
Oh, well, there's always other motors to find.
Bad news on the Trojan.
While we were in Mass., it snowed quite a bit here. It came down fast and
wet (very heavy) and the cover supports on the boat collapsed making the
plexiglass windshield into 2 pieces (VERY aaarrrrrrrggghhhh!!) It had a
tiny crack along the bottom edge, the weight of the snow opened it right
up. So now I go looking for a new windshield. I've got an old one with
the bottom corners broken off (originally planned to trim it for a short
top w/s for the Crestliner) the should be large enough to cut out a replacement
for the Trojan until I get a new one.
There's an update on the Merc
700 and Merc 400 in the "Motors in The Works" section. It's supposed to
be up to 70 this weekend, hopefully, I'll get in the water (minus a windshield
if I have to!).
The season's just about here,
Happy Boating!!
4/25: Been busy on boats and motors, check the updates in "Boat Projects", and "Motors in the Works". I also picked up a mint, NOS Merc tach from the 60's. It was covered in dust on a shelf of a nearby marina. It'll be a nice addition to one of the boats. Lots of rain here the last week, so no luck with getting in the water. The one nice day we had, I spent putting a coat of varnish on the top side of the Trojan. Someday, the rain will stop (soon I hope)! Happy Boating!!
5/1: I borrowed a digital camera and took a bunch
of pics. I added them all over the site, so look around. There's new pic's
in, "Motors in the Works", "Boat Projects", "Motors", and I added a page
for pictures of the Trojan. There's also an update on the Jaws boat resto,
and a new motor in MIW. Busy, busy, busy! There's going to be a lot more
added, hopefully in frequent updates, as I have a bunch of deals in the
works. Ooops, almost forgot, I got a little piece of gold today! I finally
got my hands on an old Kiekhaefer Mercury cast iron motor stand!!! YAHOOOO!!
Here's
a pic of it. And a close up of the emblem
on the base. It can also be seen in a lot of the new motor pics. The dealer
I got it from used to be a Merc dealer, but got out of it a long time ago.
Now he sells OMC(eeeeewww!), and had a new Johnson hanging on it!!! My
vision got a little foggy, and I had to turn away from that horrible sight.
Luckily, I saved the poor, defensless stand from any further embaressment.
It will now live happily, never again to be forced to hold anything but
Mercury motors. I get a warm, fuzzy feeling inside just thinking about
it.
Lots of stuff going on, so y'all come
back now, y'hear. As always......Happy Boating!!
5/4: Picked up another Merc 400. This one's got a bad cylinder, but it's all there, I got the wiring and controls with it, and the price was right. Now I'm thinking of twin 400's on the Jaws Boat instead of the Merc 700. If I can get the new one fixed, it would be good practice for the Catamaran project, as I don't have any experiance with setting up twin motors. That would also give me the time to find the rest of a Mk75 to go with the powerhead in the 700. Here's a few pics of the 400's on the Jaws boat, obviously not in the right position, but you get the idea. Pic1, pic2, pic3 . Had the Mk35A running too, not bad, but needs some tweaking. I'll add a full update soon. Busy, busy, busy! Happy Boating!!
5/17: I did some trailer jockeying, which meant floating the Jaws boat to change trailers. Since I was putting it in the water anyway, I put the Merc 400 on the back to see how it would sit in the water (I've been a little worried about lowering the notch in the transom for the short shaft motor). With the motor on, one full 6 gal. gas tank, and two guys standing in the back of the boat, there's still a good 14" of travel before water comes in. Being in an adventurous mood, and seeing as how I had a gas tank nearby (funny how that happened), I decided to see how she goes in the water. Now, picture this, there are no controls in the boat, and the steering isn't hooked up. Quite a picture, me sitting on a 5 gal. bucket in the back of the boat, one hand operating the shift/throttle levers on the motor, the other steering with the handle on top of the motor! My hand slipped off the top of the motor once, we took quite a sharp turn! At least now I know the boat corners well (hehee). I also put a touch up coat of varnish on the sides of Trojan (finally). I had a problem with the '57 Mk55E, on the Trojan, bogging at full throttle when I went out last week. Turned out to be the packing nut on the high speed needle on one of the carbs. It was loose and was backing out. Runs like a bear again! Someday, I'll find the right speedometer/tach for the boat and find out what I'm getting out of it. I'd guess between 30-35MPH with the 11p. 2 blade bronze prop. Not much else for now. Lots of rain and a busy work schedule is really putting a damper on the boating endeavors. Maybe I should build an ark. Happy Boating!!
5/28: Happy Holidays, summer
is officially here. Seemed more like summer a few weeks ago when temps
were in the 70's-80's. The rain finally let up for a few days, so work,
work, work. I got the Trojan out on the river Thusrday, turned out to be
a mistake. It was beautiful weather until we were starting to head home,
then the winds came. It got brutal when we were about 20 min. away from
the launch. I almost pulled into shore to wait it out, but the sky was
getting very dark, and I didn't want to get caught in a thunderstorm. So
I hurried twords the launch as fast as I felt safe pushing the boat. Let
me tell you, that poor little boat took a beating that day! Unfortunately,
the next morning, I went fishing on the lake and now there's a small leak
somewhere. Must've pushed it a little too hard in the storm. I looked closely
at the bottom of the boat today and found a 3" split one of the bottom
seams. It could have been worse, I guess, at least it'll be easy to fix.
I went bananas on the Jaws boat yesterday and today, so check out the "Jaws
Boat Resto" page. No pics yet, but lots of progress. Nothing new in the
motors dept., I haven't had time to work on anything else yet. I'm hoping
to have the Jaws boat done within 3 weeks (hope, hope), but we'll see.
'Til next time....Happy Boating!
