Re: 1970 Sportster 25 Head Bolt Torque Specs
Thanks Paul. Were starting to see a weather break, got the head gasket so hopefully will be on the water shortly. My son and I just recently bought the boat and motor: 1970 14' suncoast (three bench seats) and the 1970 25 'rude for $500. I thought this would be a great project boat for my 13 yo. It was affordable and I will not care too much if he dings it up while honing his seamanship skills.<br /><br />While checking the boat, the compression was ok but we noticed the motor was running hot with little water coming from the exhaust. We changed the impeller with little improvement. I took the cover off the thermostat and noticed that it was missing and no water cirulated through the guides. We towed the works to a friends house hoping we could fix it and have some time on the water. Last night we noticed that the compression was 110/92 so thinking it might be a head gasket we began to remove the head.<br /><br />Of course, one bolt snapped. We drilled it out and had a heck of a time getting the head off. After much coaxing we got it off. We could see an erosion spot and evidence that blow by was getting into the water guides from the #2 cylinder. We completed a poor mans machining of the head (glass plate, tape and 200 grit sand paper), cleaned everything up and will shortly put everything back together. <br /><br />We also got a carb rebuild kit while at the store and decided to go ahead and do that today as well. <br /><br />So far, $10 bucks for the head gasket, $8 bucks for ten new bolts and washers, $20 for a water pump kit, $20 for the carb kit, $500 for the boat, motor and trailer, and so far about 10 quality hours with my 13 yo teenage soon (priceless).<br /><br />I'll keep you all posted on our progress. The motor ran when we got it (rough though), the boat has real potential for modification to a small flats boat (next winter's project). Now a little sun, torqued bolts, a clean carb and hopefully biting fish and were good for the weekend. <br /><br />Thanks. (you can tell it is raining)
