Best Of

Sorry for not updating, been a hectic couple weeks!  We are back in the water! Launched it on the 26th of July. Gave it a really good test while still on the trailer at the boat launch to ensure no water was coming in anywhere at the outdrive and gimbal housing or the site of the JR Marine swivel shaft repair I did at the end of last year, engine ran well, thermostat cycled, shifted forward and reverse no problem, no cooling system leaks, etc. All looked and went well so we fully launched it and brought it over to our slip at the marina.

Kept the engine hatch open and stayed on the boat for a few hours getting everything situated and organized again for the rest of the season. I probably checked for water or any drips about every 5 minutes. Was pretty paranoid after everything that's been done back there! All was good.

We stayed the night and gave it a full on test drive the next morning.  Had some anxiety about hitting the throttle for the first time. Just picturing and thinking the worst in my head, hitting the throttle and hearing a massive crack as the new transom breaks under load and water is pouring in.  Crazy thoughts but that's what was going through my head and we were prepared if something was to happen. Happy to report that was not the case!

So far, bone dry!

I installed the cleat drains you guys posted about on here and man do they ever work well. I think know @YYZRC tested to see how much came in from a rain and he didn't get much but my experience is quite different. A LOT of water comes in through mine. I've got them piped directly to the bottom of the bilge right now but I will be installing a thru hull and piping directly overboard.

I also tracked down a lot of other spots where water is coming in and have either sealed or in the process of sealing those. Two big sources are the through bolts for the rumble seat and the engine hatch hinge bolts.

I also discovered that the storage compartment under the cockpit dining seat, the one behind the helm seat, has a drain in it but no drain hose was installed in the bilge! The drain terminated inside the heat shield in the engine bay!  I had water leaking into the radar arch and making its way into this storage compartment then draining onto the heat shielding, pooling, and eventually leaking down into the bilge.  Needless to say I cut the heat shielding and installed a drain line. Oh and resealed everything on the arch, including the canvas mounting strips. 

Next I'll be figuring out where to mount a little sump box and running all the drain lines I can into that box and discharging via pump and thru hull.  Determined to keep water out of the bilge as much as possible knowing how much of the stringers are bare wood where you can't get at!

I don't have the work order next to me but I believe it came out to 44 hours of shop time plus materials. That was:
-remove gimbal housing (I already had outdrive, bell housing, and all bellows removed)
-pull engine
-cut out old transom
-cut new transom
-epoxy in new transom
-fillet gaps
-fibreglass over transom and tab into boat
-gelcoat new transom
-install new seal on gimbal housing and exhaust Y pipe
-install gimbal housing
-install engine

I then installed all new bellows and the outdrive, got it all tested and commissioned, and of course got a ton of projects done myself while everything was out of the boat. 

I never had that problem with my Big Orange itself.  

Our pump was in good shape. Gave it a good look over & saw no wear. Put new impeller in & we are in good shape.