Bought an 84 Seaswirl

[Wes Hawkins]

Guys, after every ones help I finally bought a 84 seaswirl with a 140 horse merc and merc outdrive. Got a deal on it but it has low compression in the number 3 cyl, only about 50 psi. The other three were at 115 lbs. Took a chance and hope its just a valve. It runs pretty good for having a low hole and the rest of the boat is in great shape. The only other problem is it grinds a little when putting it in reverse. I'm going to install and impeller just so I know its been done and am going to take it apart to try and fix the grinding in reverse, does anyone have any suggestions on what I need to look for.
Thanks everyone, Wes.

 

[artificialreef]

Re: Bought an 84 Seaswirl

Jeez Wes, no one answered your post and it got buried. I really dont know diddely compared to the vets here but i think you need to address that 50lb compression on that 1 hole. Dont fix the grinding and ignore that bad cylinder.

 

[stonyloam]

Re: Bought an 84 Seaswirl

Shift "briskly" into reverse, and if that does not help try adjusting your shift cable: start page 89 here: http://www.perfprotech.com/store/app_themes/ppt/images/tech-specs/alpha-shift-adjust.pdf Good luck.

 

[Wes Hawkins]

Re: Bought an 84 Seaswirl

Oh I'm going to address the low cylinder first thing. I'm picking up the boat tomorrow and it will be the first thing I do. I'm thinking its a burnt valve, I didn't have any compressed air yesterday or I would have put it to the cylinder and listened were it was coming out. I just figured that once the head is off, if its a valve, I could tackle the outdrive while the head is in the machine shop.
I'll try shifting it faster and see if that changes, I notice the guy selling it was shifting it kinda slow. Its getting a new impeller just the same.
Thanks guys for the information, I;ll let you all know what I find with it.
Take care, Wes.

 

[Wes Hawkins]

Re: Bought an 84 Seaswirl

Well I picked up the boat last Sunday and took the top of the engine apart to check the bad compression in # 3 cyl. I think I got lucky, had a burnt exhaust valve, complete valve job 245.00 dollars plus some gaskets. Still waiting for an intake/exhaust manifold gasket then I get it back together. I'll tackle the outdrive after that. So far so good.
Thanks everyone for your comments.
Wes

 

[Wes Hawkins]

Re: Bought an 84 Seaswirl

Well, so far I have taken the cylinder head off and had a valve job done, adjusted the shift linkage, boy was it off, and repaired some poor wiring. I rebuilt the carb and had to put a electric choke assembly off of a edlebrock carb and a choke pulloff from an old carb I had laying around. Had to fabricate the brackets but all is working great. Now I will be taking the lower unit off to replace the impeller. So far I have put around five hundred into it. Its turning out to have been a good buy so far. Hope to have it in the water in a few weeks.
Thanks for everyone's help.
Take care, Wes

 

[alien4fish]

Re: Bought an 84 Seaswirl

How about some pix of this lovley vessel? Pix man Pix! we always need Pix!
congrats on the boat BTW

 

[Wes Hawkins]

Re: Bought an 84 Seaswirl

I'll see what I can do with some pictures. Its not lovely, its pretty plain jane looking boat but for the money its turning out to be a good buy. Started it up today for the first time since replacing the head gasket and fixing the choke. Surprised me it started right away. ALternator isn't charging, found an open connection at the alternator wire at the starter terminal. Its looks like its a junction block of some type and was corroded or burned through. Almost looks like it could be some kind of circuit protection device. Can't find much about it in the repair manuals. I'll try it without it tomorrow and see what happens. Anyone know what this junction block might be? I took it apart and like I said its burned or corroded through and it kinda looks like a large fuse.
We'll see what happens tomorrow.
Thanks everyone, Wes.