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  1. erikgreen

    MCM260 trim pump location and hose length

    Has anyone here mounted their trim pump for a Mercruiser pre-alpha or similar anywhere but on the deck or transom next to the engine? Mine's on the starboard side right up against the side of the engine because the hoses won't reach any farther. It's possible I've got the wrong hoses on...
  2. erikgreen

    Gear hardness and grit in mercruisers

    As mentioned in another thread, I managed to crunch a magnet, the tip from the lower gear case lube screw, in my drive. I think it blocked the shift assembly, so when I move the shaft it snapped the tip off. I recovered some of it, but the rest seems in small pieces or otherwise unrecoverable...
  3. erikgreen

    Failed vacuum test and crunched magnet... next step?

    Okay, after fighting with my shift shaft and spending days getting the paint off my "new" mercruiser R drive lower half to get it ready to paint, I put my old upper and new lower together, took it apart a couple times to get the allen bolt in and fix the shift lever, and finally it's all...
  4. erikgreen

    New impeller stiff?

    Hey all - I've just about got my drive on my Sea Ray (pre alpha R drive)ready to go with its replacement lower thanks to the folks here... I got the two halves mated tonight and it looks like a drive again. But I've noticed that the input shaft is moderately hard to turn - I can feel and hear...
  5. erikgreen

    Twisted lower shift cable

    So, I'm a twit for not thinking this through, but I inserted my lower shift cable into the transom and boat before I tightened the fitting down. So when I did tighten it the cable turned in a circle and spiraled, plus turning over a couple times. I ended up inserting the core to test it, and...
  6. erikgreen

    Removing shift "arm" to install bushings?

    Hey guys... I'm stuck on doing work to replace my shift shaft bushings with the "new" style ones. These are the bushings in the bell housing, I bought the mercruiser or quicksilver kit with the bushings, and I'm going to make the tool to drive the new ones in. By the way, I'm doing this on a...
  7. erikgreen

    Cleaning shift bellows opening without hurting anything else?

    I'm in the middle of replacing my lower shift cable... I went to all the trouble of buying the tap for it, to find out that the one on my boat doesn't need it..oh, well. I'm replacing the shift cable bellows while I'm at it. I still have the U joint bellows I put on a year and a half ago in...
  8. erikgreen

    Sharing my tool frustration

    I sorta felt like I needed to type this, it's probably boring to read, but typing it felt good, so it was worth posting :) So last night I was trying to get some things done on my newly acquired used lower half of my pre-alpha sterndrive. I decided to do more than just bolt it on and go...
  9. erikgreen

    Fun sounds

    21 foot Sea Ray with a 350 mercruiser and pre-alpha drive. I was driving my boat on Lake Superior yesterday when I started hearing a repeating sound... hard to describe, kind of like the engine was missing on one cylinder... cyclic sound, speed up as throttle increased. I listened to it for a...
  10. erikgreen

    Chevy 350 idle at 500?

    What will happen (that's bad) to a chevy 350 that's set to idle at 500 rpm? I turned my idle down to troll a bit slower (4 mph was my minimum, I'm down to 2.6 now) and it worked, but long term I'm worried how it will affect my engine. Typically I run 15 minutes on plane to get to where I'm...
  11. erikgreen

    Questionable trim tab mounting location

    All - Over the weekend I managed to get a salvaged set of Bennett tabs from my old boat onto my current one, although there were problems getting them working (ranging from a bad switch on the dash to stripped and sheared off stainless screws). Here's my question: The guys who helped me put...
  12. erikgreen

    West marine paint

    Guys - I'm cleaning up and painting my transom kinda in a hurry... I'm going to try to get some trim tabs installed for this weekend, and I didn't want to install them on top of old 5200, holes, and spot repairs. So I got some fairing compound from West to go with my epoxy... ok stuff, looks...
  13. erikgreen

    Remote controls on a Johnson J8RCNR ?

    Guys - I'm in the process of shopping for a kicker motor for my boat... I have a chance at a Johnson J8RCNR for $350. Can this motor be fitted for remote controls? I realize it's pull start. All I really want is remote throttle and shift, I'll steer by a link bar to my existing drive and...
  14. erikgreen

    End of season prices dropping?

    I dunno about you guys, but I'm starting to see lower prices for used boats in the usual places... I think we've reached the part of the year when people trying to get 90% of what they paid for a boat realize they're going to have to pay to store it if they don't get rid of it... Anyone seeing...
  15. erikgreen

    Driving slower with a 350/alpha?

    Guys - I drive my 21 foot boat with a 350 engine and pre-alpha drive up on lake superior for purposes of running a side scan sonar (well, most of the time). This last weekend I found out that one reason I'm getting so-so quality sonar images is that the towfish is too high in the water. With...
  16. erikgreen

    My skeg repair

    Hello all - I have an old pre-alpha drive on my boat that has seen better days. It holds pressure well, and the water pump works, and I take care of it as best I can, but it had a major problem I had to deal with this spring. When I had an accident with the boat before my rebuild, one of the...
  17. erikgreen

    Basalt fiber

    Has anyone seen info about or used basalt fiber for boat building yet? I'm curious as to cost, properties, etc. I don't think it'll be economical or common for a long time to come, but it's a cool product. And I've always wanted a sailboat made out of stone :) Erik
  18. erikgreen

    Quickie hard top project

    EDIT: Sorry about the loading speed of the pics here... I'm hosting them on my home server as usual, and my internet line can get overloaded. Patience is a virtue :) I've been doing a lot of boat stuff lately, diving with my usual group and getting my 21 footer ready for use. I had dropped...
  19. erikgreen

    How do I remove an I/O engine?

    Heh... I see the above question a lot here, and I've heard a number of good responses: Use the header on your garage door and a chain hoist Rent an extra large engine hoist Use a nearby tree and a chain hoist Use a regular engine hoist if you've got a small boat Put a regular engine hoist inside...
  20. erikgreen

    Another NOT so good way to drain gas out of your boat...

    Don't do what this guy did: http://www.sheboyganpress.com/article/20090619/SHE0101/906190456/1062/SHE01/City-man-injured-in-garage-fire We've all been there... late at night, half out of it from fiberglass fumes and exhaustion, what seems like a brilliant time-saving idea will nearly kill us....
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