The new stringers look great!! Your project is coming along very nicely. Are you going to keep the ski locker or use it for something else?

 

I am going to keep the ski locker. Here;s a diagram of what I have planned. (I'm an engineer. I gotta draw a picture!)

 

(If you visited here before, sorry about the images, for some reason the were there, and then gone. Who knows? They're back)
Finished the stringers and frames to support the sole. It's not exactly like the diagram above. I modified it as I went along.

with the sole in place and the old cover for the ski locker.

I also made a new top for the engine cover and put insulation on the inside. (it's not done yet)

 

Finally finished the interior. Now on to the Engine!
The following is the structure completed with the foam added. The foam is high density polystyrene encase in polyvinyl plastic.

The next step was finished the sole. It was glassed on both sides, the screwed to the stringers. I then glassed it to the remaining sole.

Then I laid down the carpet

And installed the seats

 

Lookin' great Ike :thumbsup:
gonna have her done before you know it

 

Looks great so far, Ike! Keep up the good work.
(you've got a unique last name for someone that lives in WA; are you related to the famous family here by that name, off chance?)

 

I was hoping to have it in the water by the end of June. Doesn't look like that will happen. I still have to replace the collector box for the engine room blower. It is completely trashed. Unfortunately they glassed it in so it's not just a quick replacement. I have to cut it out, fabricate a new one and then install and hook up the blower.

On to the engine. I have already replaced the alternator. I have a distributor to install and the belt to replace (not a simple job) . Then I can try to crank it up.

 

Hallelujah: It turns over. I did not actually crank it. I just bumped it several times with the starter. But it turns! That takes a load off my mind. Now I need to locate Top Dead Center so I can change out the distributor.

 

I am jumping ahead here by WAHOO! IT RUNS. Put gas in it, hooked up a hose with earmuffs, cranked it up and it started and runs! Needs tuning but that's easy enough. Just happy it runs.

 

:thumbsup:

 

I have a fuel leak on the discharge fitting from the fuel pump. I am going to the local mercury place tomorrow and see if I can get a new fitting.​

 

Today I fixed the leak and at the same time found out that the original fuel line from the pump to the carb was a metal line with swaged fittings. Somewhere along the line someone changed it to hose with barbed fittings. Eventually I will switch it back. I ran the engine for about ten minutes, and set the dwell and timing. It runs a little rough when cold (typical 1960's 70's engine) but when warmed up runs pretty smooth for an engine that hasn't been run in years.

But one thing leads to another. The morse throttle control is frozen. It was working when I got the boat but now it is stuck. So I will have to disassemble it and free it up, and the trim tilt only goes down. It worked fine two weeks ago?? Another remove, clean , and reinstall job.​

 

Launch Day!

I fixed the throttle controller. I was reading a thread on another forum where a man said that he had the same problem with the same controller. But he also said one part can be put in backwards. I tried that but it made no difference. He laso talked about adjusting the cable length, so I tried adjusting the length of the cables and that worked. The problem was the switch that shifts it to neutral rotates slightly but it was not at the right angle to slip (left and right) into the neutral position. After adjusting the shift cable length slightly it was in the right position and now it works.


I put it in the water today. Ran it around slowly for about 15 minutes. Tried it in reverse. Shift to reverse is a real jolt. But it works. Tried to accelerate but at 1100 rpm it stops cold like someone turned off the switch. Also it is leaking at the stern drive. But the bilge pump works. (LOL)


So I need to keep working on it.

 

I installed a throttle control off another 72 Sea Ray, with a good neutral safety switch. It worked fine. But I still have the problem with the sterndrive leaking. I don't work on sterndrives.

I took the boat to the local Sea Ray dealer to have the sterndrive repaired. They said the sterndrive was too old for them to work on, they had no one who was trained or qualified. They gave me the name of Commencement Bay Marine in Tacoma, so I took the boat there. The hardest part was ordering the parts. It took well over a week. But once they had the parts they completed the work in one day. They replaced the gaskets, bellows, and the shift cable. It took almost two weeks.

But when they tried to start the engine there was no power to the starter.

After I got it home I discovered that the wires to the neutral safety switch had come off. Probably happened when they were re-installing the throttle control. After I hooked them up everything worked fine.

Tomorrow is launch day!

 

Good news, and bad news.

Launched boat. Engine fired right up. It ran smooth after warming up. Shift cable is no longer stiff but shifts hard. Shift needs adjustment. Motored around slowly for about 15 minutes and then the temp went through the roof. I immediately shut it down and used my kicker motor to get back to the ramp. I think I lost the impeller. Of course it is probably 40 years old. I'll pull it and see. It may also need a new circulating pump on the engine.

There is still a leak somewhere. It had maybe 1-2 gallons of water in the bilge. After I sort out the engine problems I'll look for the leak.

So back to the tool bin.

 

Started on the lower unit today. Didn't do much, removed the anode, drained the lube. Really gross stuff.

I also pulled the top off the thermostat housing. Also disgusting.

 

I went and bought a new thermostat and gasket. Yesterday I started cleaning up the thermostat housing. It was full of rust! I cleaned it up fairly well, not perfect by any stretch of the imagination. So now I am ready to put it back together, but, ,,,,,

I have searched through the service manual and cannot find a torque setting for the Thermostat housing bolts for the 165. They list it for the V 8 engines by not the inline engines. For the V8 it is 20 ft lb.

I'mm thinking I will go with that because it sounds reasonable. Any one know what it is supposed to be?

 

Ike,
Thanks for starting the new thread and keeping us up to date. 20-25 ft lbs should be fine for the stat housing bolts. I brought Old Skool into the garage tonight to start installing the manifolds and may redo the floor. I'd like to splash her at least once before ripping the floor up though. We'll see what the weather is like and how far I get before the season is over.

Keep them pictures coming, they are an inspiration.

 

It gets worse. The more stuff I took off the worse it looks. I found a broken spring in the hose from the water pump to the thermostat block. The water passages in the manifold are all clogged with rust and, the water pump is trashed. So I pulled it all off the engine and will just replace it all. Lots of pics for you.


Where the exhaust hose from the rear of the riser connects to the exhaust, is there supposed to be some sort of valve? If so it's not there. There is a metal bar across the top of the exhaust tube, but it doesn't seem to have any function.

 

Wow! looks like you've been busy! Keep the pics coming! I want to see a picture if you on a high speed pass! I love seeing these old boats being brought back from the dead. Keep up the god work.

Paul

 

Sorry about the long delay. Due to other financial issues and internet problems I have done very little. I did order the new thermostat housing (upper and lower) and yesterday ordered a new exhaust manifold and all the other stuff that goes with it.


Meanwhile I pulled the lower unit of the stern drive and replaced the impeller, gaskets, housing, etc. But try as I might, that sucker would not go back on. It would stop with about a half inch gap. I tried everything, rechecked everything, drove me crazy. So I took it to Commencement Bay Marine and in about fifteen minutes they had it back on. I should have had them do it when they did the upper unit. Live and learn.


But I am now up against a deadline. I have To get the boat out of this RV park by November. So I have to find a place to keep it. I have some options. So it's not too big a problem. But it has to be someplace I can work on it.

 

Ike,
That cooling system looks real bad. Hopefully you'll get it worked out before the money runs out. I finally got Old Skool running just in time to winterize her. Still waiting for that last good fall day and I'll run to the river to try her out.

Good luck with the repairs.

 

Hopefully you'll get it worked out before the money runs out.

It's been running out of my hands and into everyone else's rapidly. Have you bought a manifold lately? Egad!

Still waiting for that last good fall day

I think it passed. Nothing but wind and rain in the forecast.

However, I have been doing some things between the rain squalls. I installed the upper half of the thermostat housing, but I had to buy new longer bolts. The new one is higher than the old one, but just the part where the bolts go?????

I put the end plates on the new manifold. Also had to buy new bolts for that. The manifold comes with all the bolts and nuts needed, except the ones for the end plates???

Anyway. I started cleaning up the mating surface on the block with emery. It's taking awhile. But everything is ready to be bolted in place. But between the rain and running around doing other things, it's going slow. I put a new cover on the boat today. I didn't do that last January (I hadn't stripped it out yet) and had to chip ice off after we had an ice storm. Hopefully we'll get a few nice days after I finish.

 

Finally getting things done. See pic below of new manifold, water pump (behind the pulley) thermostat housing and hoses.

However, as usual I hit a snag. In the pic below, notice that the bolt immediately to the right of the last bolt on the manifold, is missing.

I cleaned everything up. put the new manifold and gasket on, started tightening bolts (alternately, first one end then the other, the the middle two, and so on) and when I got to that one, which was the last to be tightened, it would only tighten so far and then it slipped!. I nearly threw in the towel. Possible stripped threads in the block, and other thoughts (not printable) went through my head. Then I took the washer off and tried it again, and this time it tightened up, but with the washer it's too short. So I looked at various alternatives. Yes I tried chasing the threads with a tap. Didn't work.

Get a longer bolt?
Put in a stud?

In the next pic the original bolt is on the right, and it's hard to see but only about 1/4 to 3/8 inch was actually in the hole, which is a good inch deep. So getting a longer bolt might work. The new bolt was exactly the same length and just wasn't grabbing enough threads.

So I took one of the old studs and screwed it in and it holds but the threads aren't very deep, so I bought a new stud with deeper threads (last one on the left.) This will go all the way into the hole and have plenty of thread engaged. I can then put a washer and nut on it, and cut off any excess, so it isn't sticking out there to cut me every time I work on the engine.

I went to Tacoma Marine , the local mercury parts and repair, and showed their head mechanic what I was going to do. He thought it would work fine.

So next, I have another hose to put on, the exhaust shutter, the exhaust hose, and the riser. Then install the carb and the throttle linkage and I should be done. (this time anyway)

 

Done done done. New Water pump, new thermostat and thermostat housing, manifold, water hoses, exhaust hose, and water shutter. All bolts, nuts and washers are new SS. I used the existing riser. It looks like crap on the outside but the inside looks fine. I'll change it out in the spring. Now I need to put it on the earmuffs and run the engine.

Those of you with sharp eyes will notice that the throttle is not hooked up to the carb yet. I did that later.