Transom assemblies and engine room makeover

aero3113

Awesome @LaRea , good luck!!

oscar1

nice job

LaRea

Sharp eyes, @YYZRC -- the picture in my sig was taken right after I bought the boat, and it still has the previous name on the transom.  

@TonyG13 I used Gorilla spray adhesive for the insulation, but will probably need to add a few more screws/washers.  I'll take a look at it today. 

Handymans342

LaRea said:

Sharp eyes, @YYZRC -- the picture in my sig was taken right after I bought the boat, and it still has the previous name on the transom.  

@TonyG13 I used Gorilla spray adhesive for the insulation, but will probably need to add a few more screws/washers.  I'll take a look at it today. 

Make sure you do not get any Gorilla glue in your hair. Don’t want to see you on YouTube 

LaRea

Well, she's afloat.  The launch was almost flawless.  No leaks, no runs, no errors!  There are two things I'm still working on.

The steering feels really stiff.  I've worked it back and forth about 100 times, engine on and engine off.  The foam in the reservoir is gone and the fluid level has stabilized, but it's still really stiff.

Also, the new water heater doesn't work.  There's power, but no hot water.  I sure hope I don't have to take it out.  

The guy operating the lift is my mechanic, and he's a straight-up rockstar.  I put his daughter through college, and now I'm working on his son.

Handymans342

Just in time for the snow

LaRea

Here's one reason that guy is a rockstar.  Because the lift is about 1000 years old, the only way he can lift the weight of my boat is to put the crossbar at the bow.  But the crossbar has a crane support that hangs down lower than my hardtop.  He has to carefully maneuver the lift so that the crane support doesn't hit my hardtop, and it's like a boat-lift skills competition.  There was literally 1/4" of clearance!  

LaRea

Time to start winding this thread down to a close.  You guys have made some great comments and suggestions!  Thanks for making this a better project, and for keeping me motivated along the way.  

I'm going to post a summary as a separate thread.  Someday, somebody might want a concise list of what they should consider for an engines-out project, but without reading through 15 pages of us carrying on like a bunch of boat nerds.  

LaRea

Handymans342 said:

Just in time for the snow

Just in time for the wind!  It's gonna blow out of the northwest through this weekend, so we'll have extra-low tides for a week.  Everybody from my club was hustling to get launched today. 

Pat310

No @LaRea, Thank you for sharing with us and giving us something to aspire to 

LaRea

The Admiral says I should have done this project as a youtube channel.  I'm pretty sure I could have made upwards of five, maybe even ten dollars!

Liberty44140

The water heater thing is odd. I’m sure you checked for this but is there any kind of breaker or reset? Anything that has to be done on the element for installation. Hopefully worst case is just a bad element and it can be replaced without removing the tank. 

SimcoeRinker400

Great to be a part of the discussion! It was awesome watching you through every step.

oscar1

Man, I am very happy for you, finally she is back in the water. In the other hand I don't have any idea when I will be taking my boat back to the water. Because I just found a gear oil leak in my prop shaft, So one more project.

RiverRat232

LaRea said:

The Admiral says I should have done this project as a youtube channel.  I'm pretty sure I could have made upwards of five, maybe even ten dollars!

I don't know. There is some really crappy stuff on Youtube that get a gazillion followers. You just need some kind of dysfunction that makes people want to watch. Perhaps you could fake Tourette's Syndrome. 

davidbrooks

RiverRat232 said:

LaRea said:

The Admiral says I should have done this project as a youtube channel.  I'm pretty sure I could have made upwards of five, maybe even ten dollars!

I don't know. There is some really crappy stuff on Youtube that get a gazillion followers. You just need some kind of dysfunction that makes people want to watch. Perhaps you could fake Tourette's Syndrome. 

With the amount i cuss when working on the engines most would think i have Tourettes. Wouldnt be a hard sell at all.

LaRea

Went out for a shakedown cruise yesterday. We hit 44.1 MPH, so I guess the engines are happy!

Now I only have three things on the punch list:
1) Water heater not working
2) Power steering still feels stiff
3) Stbd alternator not working

I guess that's probably average for such an extensive renovation. I'll get the alternator sorted out today.  

Grahamu

I hope my list is that small when I launch tomorrow morning. 

LaRea

The water heater appears to have faulty high temperature limiter.  There's an open circuit across the terminals, so no power reaches the heating element.  I'll call Kuuma this week.

LaRea

I disconnected the output wire from the alternator, and with the engine running, I'm seeing 25 volts at the output terminal.  So I did the same thing on the port side, and they are both putting out 25 volts.  The labels clearly say "12V Neg Grnd 70-Amp" ... should they be making 25 volts?

And why would the port side work fine, but not the starboard?

Handymans342

14 volts I would say

LaRea

Nevermind, I got the alternator sorted out.  I had cross-wired the house and starboard battery cables on the isolator.

I guess the alternators make 25 volts when there's no load on them.  Now both engines are seeing around 13.5 volts when running.  

Dude_Himself

LaRea said:

Mine is the opposite ... lettering below the icon.

https://www.otrattw.net/contura-ii-engine-lights-white-lens-upper-independent-V1D1FXXB-AAC9B-1UB.html

Place here in Charleston on Folly Road is the BEST at these switches. Great service, cheapest price around, same hardware as the Big Boys. 

When you're ready. 

Ian

Good to know, need some this year.

LaRea

The brand-new water heater had a defective hi-temp limit switch.  Kuuma sent a replacement, so that was a relatively easy fix.  Now the punch list is down the steering stiffness.

Oh, and reupholstered cockpit cushions.  I'm picking up the first of those today ... very excited about that.  

SimcoeRinker400

Well,  I am sore after doing 40 feet of black hull.  Bring it  back up to somewhat Black..   Testing different products !





LaRae great news on the hot water tank.  My boat is two weeks out before its in the water so it will be interesting to see what is wrong with my boat after the new transom plates.  Can't wait to see your new cushions.  

skuter99

Every time I think I want a bigger boat, I polish my 270.........I'm good!!  LOL

Dream_Inn

skuter99 said:

Every time I think I want a bigger boat, I polish my 270.........I'm good!!  LOL

You just need a white hull. Then you can be enjoying the water since the first week of March.  

SimcoeRinker400

Well, here in Ontario we are in a 6-week lockdown.  So my boat won't be going in until May sometime.  But I have lots to do New Raymarine Axion+with Merc Gateway, New underwater lighting, and a few touch-ups here and there.  Dream-Inn all the white parts buffed up so nice on my boat but black looks really good once its looked after.  The owners before me never did much with the hull so it got pretty faded and this is my boats first proper treatment by me as I got the boat last August.  Wish we could be in earlier but being here in Ontario usually, I am waxing at the end of April.    

Grahamu

@SimcoeRinker400 seems like marinas in Ontario are interpreting the new lockdown differently. In Port Credit Harbour Marina they are launching boats but only the owner and one crew are allowed to attend. We went to Lefroy Harbour on Saturday and were told only 25 people are allowed on site. The regulation reads
For greater certainty, nothing in this Order precludes a person responsible for a marina, boating club or other organization that maintains docking facilities for members or patrons from operating a grocery or convenience store on the premises or from providing fuel supply, watercraft repair and servicing, watercraft docking and watercraft launching services.

Hopefully "Boating Ontario" will clarify the rules tomorrow.