My name is Josh and I live in SW Florida. I bought my first boat the other day (14ft fiberglass Malibu) and it was built the same year I was born, 1981. The same day I purchased a 1980 Johnson 25hp outboard (J25RLCSA). The motor starts and runs fine, apparently it was on a sailboat before and has sat for a while (at least a couple of years). I took the boat out yesterday and everything was fine but I am pretty sure the water pump went out on it but I was kinda expecting it to so I was keeping a close eye on it.<br /><br />Last night I bought a carb and water pump rebuild kit as well as the thermostat kit and plan on changing the bottom gear fluid. I am almost certain that none of this stuff has been done before and don't feel like taking any chances on overheating the motor. Is there any other kind of common maintenance stuff I should take a look at while I am digging into the motor?<br /><br />Transom:<br />The motor is a long shaft and the boat calls for short shaft. The maximum hp for the boat is 25hp so I am right there. I want to use some aluminum from a golf cart canopy that is square tubed and cut it and tig it to form a solid lightweight brace and then glass around a board and bolt it all together and to the existing transom. I feel it should be strong enough to handle all of this. I estimate that I should raise the transome by about 6" but will take more accurate measurements when I actually do it. Any ideas on what I should do and shouldn't? I know I can buy a transome jack or something like that but do not wnat to spend the dough. Plus I already have the aluminum and means to fabricate what I want. <br /><br />Well, enough about me. I will let you guys coach me and point me in the best direction so I can catch all of the biggest fish.
