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Re: Al the Mirthmaker (Mark III)
Posted: Fri Sep 12, 2014 5:13 am
by Texoma Toon
curtiscapk wrote:Awesome Todd!
Ditto.....I have really enjoyed your rebuild!
Re: Al the Mirthmaker (Mark III)
Posted: Mon Sep 15, 2014 7:22 am
by Blessed
Any regrets? Anything you would have done different given the chance to start over?
Re: Al the Mirthmaker (Mark III)
Posted: Mon Sep 15, 2014 3:07 pm
by tuned
Blessed wrote:Any regrets? Anything you would have done different given the chance to start over?
Woulda shoulda coulda. Maybe a really big outboard instead of an I/O.
Those SouthBay hulls don't come by all that often, so I took what I could find.
Otherwise, I'm pretty durn happy with my morphodite cross between Northern swamp farmer engineering and really, really nice running gear in most places.
Re: Al the Mirthmaker (Mark III)
Posted: Mon Mar 02, 2015 2:24 pm
by tuned
Well, I warily peaked out my door and saw a small drip of water fall from the eave today. Thus it is time for us northern bears to come out of hibernation and start rustling around for food, beer and boat parts.
Not much winter activity to report due to a tough illness and a brutal Bobcat rebuild. Spring projects are just gaining speed tho. I have three majors on the plate:
1. Major rewire---scrap my two 8 year-old batteries. Replace them with THREE. Photos later. This also includes breakers and heavy wiring to accommodate a large (1500W) inverter in order to run a small band on the front deck
. I have crunched the numbers and it is doable. Pulling the new cable, however, is another matter. I seem to recall advising CaptainJohn to install as much wiring as possible before putting the rubrails on. Sage words. Taking off some of my rubrail as we speak...at 15 degrees....sucking.
2. Fuel area needs much attention. New filter plumbing is giving me a headache (dealing with Parker/Racour sux a$$). Note to self-NPT threads and NPTF threads do NOT play well together. Also, water has been getting onto the top of my tank and I am afraid that it will get past gaskets and O-rings and into the tank. So I have a bunch of 'water management' things to take care of. It won't be easy.
3. Engine runability issues to solve. The new MPI system still isn't quite right. With all my problems last year mechanically, plus a hundred year flood, I was lucky and grateful just to float that beast. Stlil fighting hard starting and a bit of a hiccup around 1200rpm. Otherwise it is running great. I suspect a vacuum leak which I couldn't find last year. I did a ton of work in the intake area last season and know every gasket etc...that could be the culprit. I will be going over it very carefully this spring once it is warm enough out to run it. Stethoscope and spray-ether. Prolly lots of annoying phone calls to FAST (the manufacturer) as well. I'll get it.
All in all, its been a very mild winter (only 2 or 3 spells at thirty below or worse). Snow is only 2 feet deep in the woods. 2 feet of ice on lake. I realize that others who may be less prepared have had it very tough and I watch the news of the storms in the east in horror. Hopefully it melts quickly for you. AND WELCOME BACK NORTHERS!!!
Re: Al the Mirthmaker (Mark III)
Posted: Tue Mar 03, 2015 6:09 am
by ToonGuy
Re: Al the Mirthmaker (Mark III)
Posted: Tue Mar 03, 2015 6:50 am
by curtiscapk
here we go again! Good luck Todd!
Re: Al the Mirthmaker (Mark III)
Posted: Wed Mar 04, 2015 10:56 am
by peterb803
enjoyed the read. Good luck in year 2.
Re: Al the Mirthmaker (Mark III)
Posted: Sat Mar 07, 2015 8:39 pm
by captainjohn
And we complain about it being 85 degrees out here making you sweat while working on the pontoon boat. Guess I should be greatfull for what we have and not what so many of you are going through.
Re: Al the Mirthmaker (Mark III)
Posted: Fri Mar 13, 2015 10:27 am
by tuned
Brand spankin new Interstates on deck! I got a great deal on some blems with full warranty.
They are identical AGMs, a type that I have never used before. After doing a ton of research, I now feel fairly well read on types of batts and charging systems. The AGMs will be nice in that they don't 'gas off' which is much safer for fire danger and/or corrosion. They are a bit touchy in that you can't draw them down completely (although they have GREAT storage capacity).
Along with good output for cranking, they should be ideal as combination starting/deep cycle.
Re: Al the Mirthmaker (Mark III)
Posted: Thu Apr 02, 2015 5:24 am
by tuned
Re: Al the Mirthmaker (Mark III)
Posted: Thu Apr 02, 2015 5:58 am
by curtiscapk
Nice work Todd! My 2 AGM's have been going since 08 and 09. I hope I didn't just Todd myself!
Re: Al the Mirthmaker (Mark III)
Posted: Thu Apr 02, 2015 6:23 am
by tuned
curtiscapk wrote:Nice work Todd! My 2 AGM's have been going since 08 and 09. I hope I didn't just Todd myself!
No no no, Craig. There will not be a 'Latest Launch Trophy' on my mantle this year. I intend to break some ice in a few weeks
Re: Al the Mirthmaker (Mark III)
Posted: Tue Apr 28, 2015 12:10 pm
by tuned
Aaaaggghhh. Update isn't good (as usual
)
Put in a massive day yesterday. Boat is almost water ready...except....IT DON'T FRIGGIN RUN!!
I have fuel pressure, but it doesn't sound as if I have fire. My ECU monitor kept setting a code for O2 sensor. I pulled it out and it didn't even heat up, so either the sender is bad (hopefully) or the ECU isn't working right (hopefully not). Now I gotta scramble and find a new sender ASAP. It appears to be a standard Bosch style which might help to find locally. Otherwise, the waiting game begins again.
Grumble grumble. Stupid 'latest launch' awards.
Re: Al the Mirthmaker (Mark III)
Posted: Tue Apr 28, 2015 12:17 pm
by curtiscapk
Don't worry Todd... I won't be launching till memorial day weekend. Going down this Thur - Sun to redo trailer walls due to a roof leak general lot cleanup and get THE FLOATER ready (she better start)
. Won't have time to put her in though do to everything else on the list. You have plenty of time.