befu

Well, here are the motors sitting on the cradles to be put in. I think they are ready, just have to straighten up the wire looms on the tops once the risers are on so the plugs are secured. I think that is it.... Hope so.

Not sure on the air cleaners, I really do not like the looks of the old aluminum flame arrestors. And people say you do not need the air cleaner on a boat, but why not? Can't hurt can it? Still act like a flame arrestor and they are Edelbrocks. I was going to cut the masking on the vinyl cutter and paint the Formula bird on top of them with "272 LS" in yellow! Get bold.

Brian

Edit update: picture shows the automotive paper elements from use in the shop, they will be changed out for the J1928 elements before running. Added to prevent someone else from seeing this and possibly thinking these are J1928 approved right now.

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86242ls

im guessing those are aren't uscg approved, if you were to get boarded those air cleaners will not fly, and or supress the flames from a backfire...

http://www.uscgboating.org/regulatio...gulations.aspx look under the backfire flame control heading

Mr Maine

K&N makes a USCG approved filter. Mine is 14x3, looks like one for an auto except the top and bottom is stainless steel and the element says its CG approved right on it.

befu

Yep, you are correct. They need J1928 elements in them. The coast guard does not approve them, they only write the standards to which they are tested, which is J1928 or Ul 1111. Problem is some coast guard members do not know that. They need the J1928 approval molded in, usually on the top surface. They will be updated.

befu

So here is my knock detector circuit. The sensor is a bolt on from a 2006-2009 5.3 or 6.0 GM engine. (Part #SU8212 at Autozone for $10 with bolt) It uses an 8mm bolt, so I drilled one of the 1/4-20 tapped holes in the engine block out to 1/4" and tapped it. Now the sensor bolts right to the side of the block. The damn plug for the thing was $40, so I soldered wires to the two terminals. One has a ring end to be bolted to the block for ground, the other will connect to the white signal wire for the detector.

The two detectors are going to be mounted behind the console in the upper corners behind slots. The slots will be covered with a smoked plastic so it really will not be visible, but the LEDs will shine through right at my eyes. Under the console the power will feed in from the ignition side and ground. I think my total bill will be about $130 for both engines this way. The two gauges were $110 delivered with extra wire to reach the engine compartment and the two knock sensors.

I did not use the 5.7L stock screw in ones as those are now filled with drain valves for the blocks

I tested out the circuit and it works pretty good, sensitivity range is also good. I can tune it to light up when the cast iron is lightly tapped on or to barely flicker when an air chisel is run against it! Definitely have to tune them once running. These and the O2 sensor should definitely help out on tuning.

Oh, detector kit is on ebay under "knock sensor for detonation sensor" and their have been some very positive user results on other forums.

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befu

Thanks Masi, mine are about 24.5" as it sits right now. Guess I will try it there and see how it goes if no one else replies. Need to make an angled foot rest otherwise my toes will be continually pushed into the front wall.

Brian

befu

Have not been idle on this project, just been busy with kids and actually working on the boat.

First off I have to recommend the Bennett Trim tab control kit. The IEC-5000 kit was very easy to install and everything was direct plug in for my old 86 era tabs. Calibrating them was supper easy and now I know at a glance where the tabs are instead of guessing. The LED's are very bright and are dimmable for when the sun goes down. All in all, very happy with the upgrade. Definitely easier to do when you have the motors out of the boat for the standard winterization process. Well, standard for me it seems....

Other than that, everything is moving along. I am also really happy with the rear seat modification. Being able to remove that back seat back really helps with working on the boat. I was putting the risers on yesterday and finished hooking up the riser and transom water hose connections. Super easy.

Lets see, left to do: final torque the riser bolts, check plug wire connections, connect both fuel lines to carbs, hook up shift grounds, fill one drive with oil and add gas! Electrical has all been checked out and they are ready to start! That is it for the engine compartment and drives. Best I have ever been this early in they year, feels good! I wanted the boat ready to go in the water by the holiday and I think it will be. Granted, I will be camping up around Allegan during the holiday week, so boat will be put away. But I wanted it ready, psychological thing.

Inside the boat I have the bolster install to work on and then a few details up at the helm. Finish mounting the O2 sensor, depth gauges and knock sensors. Everything else is cosmetic and can be worked on over the summer. Looking forward to posting some pics with it actually in the water soon with updates on how the innovate O2 sensor and knock sensors work.

Brian

befu

With the weather finally cooperating, I have been making some great progress on the boat. Everything is done in the back of the boat, except I still need to run the cable from the helm to the engine compartment for the O2 sensor. other than that, it is ready for gas and testing the motors. Oils all topped off, engines bump over, even the nicks in the tubing props have been sanded down. Finished up the gauges tonight and bolted the dash panel back down. Ready to try and it isn't the holiday yet! The bad news is we are leaving on a camping trip for 10 days, so no boating next week. I will be back for two days due to work and plan on testing the motors then, but no test runs. Then, when we get back, we are camping again for 4 nights with a local group, so hoping to go out and run it the week of the 9th. Still, this is the earliest I have ever had it ready and it is further along than I have ever had it. Besides, that will give me time to mount the bolster seats.

Even my kids are excited about going boating. Wife is even hopeful I think!

Other than that, it will be little clean up things and working on the cabin area. Tomorrow morning I will pull the boat out of the drive and put it back where I normally store it and work on it. Been nice to be able to work on it in the evening. The camper sitting next to it does make the boat look little!
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befu

Wow, 3.5 months have gone by and I pretty much $uck.

We took 7 kids on a trip out to Yellowstone (from Indiana) for 24 days. Left in late June and came back in July and made it as far as Idaho. That took a lot of time out of the summer time, over a week to prep for the trip, 3.5 weeks on the road and then about a week and a half to get back to everything after coming home (to include another camping trip). That combined with the unusually cold summer really put the stop to getting the boat out.

I was going to run it before we left, but when I tested it on the hose, the port motor had really high oil pressure. pegged the gauge at 80 psi at idle with the 50 weight in it. Sounded odd running and not much oil in galleys on the heads. So I put it back in storage and forgot about it until late July when I had time. I just yanked the motor out, flipped it over and removed the pan. The bearings looked fine so I put a new oil pump in it and put it back together. Turned it back over and removed the intake, pulled the #1 lifter and turned the oil pump with the drill. Felt better this time and oil gushed into the empty lifter hole. Put lifter and rocker back on and I turned it until oil flowed from the tips of all the pushrods. Put everything back together and put the motor back in.

Testing on the hose the oil was still a bit high, but not pegged and it did drop some as it warmed up. 65 cold at idle and 45-50 once warmed up. Call it good and sounded a lot better, ready to test! Take it out about 3 weeks ago with my two boys and we run it. Behaves well, head down the lake about 4 miles and shut it down to test the shifters in the lake. At this point, I hear the clattering and ticking coming from the engine. It is the port motor again and has a noticeable tick. Try shifting and such, but it is not drive related. So I idle back 4 miles, out it on the trailer and head home. 6 miles from work a trailer tire blows. No big deal, but just adds to the drama. Fixed and back in storage.

So the oil looked fine and in the back of my mind I am thinking "did I tighten the set screw on the rocker arm after removing #1?" I pull the valve cover and sure enough, first rocker is way loose and the set screw is laying in the valley. Things are looking up since the set screw didn't go into the pan. Set the rocker, tighter the set screw and test it on the hose. Sounds perfect.

Since then it has not left the shop. I have added an 8' long grey bimini top to it. Added a couple of ski rope holders to the rear corners. Got my carburetor back from national carb since it stopped working after 10 hours of use and put that back on. The other thing I did was to remove the rear engine room vents on the side and put a divider in there between the two halves. Now the fan exhaust has to exit out the vent, and not just go right back down the intake hoses on the other half. You can really feel the air push out of the vent louvers now, so that worked well. I have done some cleaning and such also, but the boat just sits in the shop.

I think I will take it out next week to test with the boys again. The weather has stunk this summer, we were going to head out one day and it peaked at 65 degrees that day with clouds. Really?! August and we need jackets? Another time I was sick and the rest of the time we have been camping. A lot! I need to know if the motors will hold together this time. No reason they won't, they sound fine, AFR seems good and the timing is set correctly, maybe even a bit low at 30 degrees total advance with premium fuel.

So that is my tale. half of me wants to just leave it in the shop for fall, the other half wants to run it!

Boats.... I should have gotten into something less costly and stressful on the family. Like coke and whores maybe....

Brian

Car Biz

[QUOTE=befu;4183266]
Boats.... I should have gotten into something less costly and stressful on the family. Like coke and whores maybe....

Brian[/QUOTE

So true buddy so true