1988 Bass Buggy winter/Gravity project in New Mexico

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ToonGuy
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Location: Lake Wawasee, Northern IN

Re: 1988 Bass Buggy winter/Gravity project in New Mexico

#91 Post by ToonGuy » Thu Jun 11, 2015 10:36 am

I'm no expert, but you might be able to swing that 17p depending on your boating habits and how the conversion handles your water. If you have it, and it's in decent shape run it so you can get a baseline. At the very least it's a free tester!
Just one boat...after another, after another :-)

Ercarp
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Re: 1988 Bass Buggy winter/Gravity project in New Mexico

#92 Post by Ercarp » Fri Jun 12, 2015 1:18 pm

Here she is. The "Thunderbolt" tower of power.
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20150530_135753.jpg (125.67 KiB) Viewed 5581 times
little bit of an upgrade from this
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20150525_141644.jpg (116.01 KiB) Viewed 5581 times
to this
20150530_132501.jpg
20150530_132501.jpg (150.19 KiB) Viewed 5582 times

Luke
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Re: 1988 Bass Buggy winter/Gravity project in New Mexico

#93 Post by Luke » Fri Jun 12, 2015 3:23 pm

That's going to be awesome! Can't wait to see what your top speed is with that bad boy

Ercarp
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Re: 1988 Bass Buggy winter/Gravity project in New Mexico

#94 Post by Ercarp » Fri Jun 12, 2015 3:38 pm

OHH Man! I have high hopes! Going to start the conversion on sunday, I really wanted to get the underskin on with the "old" motor and see what kind of performance increase I got. However, I am still waiting on the aluminum to come in. Plan is to test the boat with the "new", to me, motor on fathers day.

willy13
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Re: 1988 Bass Buggy winter/Gravity project in New Mexico

#95 Post by willy13 » Sat Jun 13, 2015 8:11 am

I've enjoyed reading your rebuild thread, awesome stuff, thanks for posting. Can't wait to see how this outboard works for you.

Ercarp
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Re: 1988 Bass Buggy winter/Gravity project in New Mexico

#96 Post by Ercarp » Tue Jun 23, 2015 11:46 am

Went to the lake yesterday with the "new to me" mercury 150. It was a successful trip. I set the bar pretty low due to the condition of the engine. I just wanted to see if it would run, shift, and not fall (tear itself off) the boat. I did just enough to get it to run and pump water through itself. It ran good in the drive way. But like we have all heard or gone through in the past. It was a different animal at the lake. I got it in the water, it struggled in idle going into gear (would die shifting into gear unless I gave it a little throttle), slow to increase in rpms, stumbled at WOT. Got it out past the no wake buoy, gave it WOT...and it struggled getting to 2k rpm, then slowly crept up to 2800rpm (16mph), that is the climax of the trip. I could get it to 3k rpm but only if I cranked the boat to the left (no cavitation or ventilation). Was weird, if I drove in a 50 yard circle (to the left) the rpms came up to 3k mph went up to 18.2 mph(in a turn). When I straighten it out engine stumbles a little and rpms go back down to 2600-2800 and mph goes down to about 15 mph. Anyhow, I think it was a successful trip for a 1974 engine that only the good lord knows when it last tasted lake water.

Plan now is to put a little more money into it I am going to start with carb kits, link and sync, replace hoses/filters, fuel pump rebuild, new gaskets, o-rings and and what not in lower unit. I currently have an aluminum prop on it(says 17P on it...probably some other numbers but I didnt pay attention). I have a stainless prop for it that is a 19P.

Any suggestions other than what I have planned would be helpful.

Almost forgot, my aluminum underskin material came in, it is headed to a local heating and cooling shop this afternoon. They are going to cut it and bend it to fit under the bass buggy Frankenstein beast.

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curtiscapk
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Re: 1988 Bass Buggy winter/Gravity project in New Mexico

#97 Post by curtiscapk » Tue Jun 23, 2015 12:55 pm

alright! rpms are really weird. Maybe once its gone through it will be much better.
Craig and Paula
"THE FLOATER" rebuild Spring 2013
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94 Party Barge 24' 115 merc
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Hillsdale Lake, KS

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ToonGuy
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Re: 1988 Bass Buggy winter/Gravity project in New Mexico

#98 Post by ToonGuy » Tue Jun 23, 2015 1:33 pm

Carbs for sure. Triple check for vacuum leaks. Those old rubber manifolds (and other parts) can get pretty brittle. Check for good spark on all holes.

I can only guess that 19 is way too much. Even the 17 may be. Do all your testing on one prop...don't and something else the mix. I'd stick with the 17 as that will get you more RPMs than the 19 no matter what.

Good luck :thumbsup
Just one boat...after another, after another :-)

Ercarp
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Re: 1988 Bass Buggy winter/Gravity project in New Mexico

#99 Post by Ercarp » Mon Jul 06, 2015 6:46 am

No progress on getting the 1974 mercury 1500 to rev past 3000. I have rebuilt (including blowing out all air passages) all three carbs, the fuel pump has been rebuilt, all new gas lines from tank aft. compression is between 95 and 100 on all cylinders, I have spark to all cylinders, I have done a link and sink. Put a 13 P prop on, took it to the lake and same thing happened...just with less MPH's, the engine would not rev past 3000.

Any suggestions what to try next or re-try?

Ercarp
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Re: 1988 Bass Buggy winter/Gravity project in New Mexico

#100 Post by Ercarp » Mon Jul 06, 2015 6:53 am

Forgot to mention...I do no think it is a fuel related issue. at 3000 rpm I can squeeze the fuel bulb until the hand cramps with no change. at 3000 rpm I tried squirting fuel directly into all three carbs and it just bogged it down a little.

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ToonGuy
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Re: 1988 Bass Buggy winter/Gravity project in New Mexico

#101 Post by ToonGuy » Tue Jul 07, 2015 5:17 am

Have you visually verified all butterfly's are fully open when the throttle is at WOT?
Just one boat...after another, after another :-)

Ercarp
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Re: 1988 Bass Buggy winter/Gravity project in New Mexico

#102 Post by Ercarp » Tue Jul 07, 2015 6:23 am

Good call Toonguy. I did notice that in wot the butterflies where only opening 3/4 of the way. I adjusted that problem out, took it to the lake and same issue.

Last night I took the three carbs off an old 115 and threw them on the 150...probably digging my hole deeper but I am at a loss.

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photonfanatic
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Re: 1988 Bass Buggy winter/Gravity project in New Mexico

#103 Post by photonfanatic » Sun Aug 02, 2015 9:34 am

Why is that 150 so much smaller than a modern 150?

Ercarp
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Re: 1988 Bass Buggy winter/Gravity project in New Mexico

#104 Post by Ercarp » Mon Aug 03, 2015 8:22 am

I think the 150 just isn't photogenic. It is a big motor, very tall. It is a straight six cylinder engine, the lowest cylinder is buried by the lower engine cowl.

on that note, I threw in the towel on the 150. It turned out to be a good running (less than 3000 rpm), reliable motor. But I determined it was just too worn out to push the bass buggy. I went through all the components (air, fuel, electrical, lower end, props) and she just would not perform. So for now the Johnson 70 is going back on until I can find something else. The best it ever ran with the 150 was with a 13p 14dia prop at 3800 rpm 22mph. I did get it to run at 4200 rpm with a 17P prop 10 inch diameter at 18 mph (found a custom prop trimmer in the middle of the lake).

I did get the underskinning on, pics coming up soon

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photonfanatic
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Re: 1988 Bass Buggy winter/Gravity project in New Mexico

#105 Post by photonfanatic » Mon Aug 03, 2015 8:28 am

Ercarp wrote:I think the 150 just isn't photogenic. It is a big motor, very tall. It is a straight six cylinder engine, the lowest cylinder is buried by the lower engine cowl.

on that note, I threw in the towel on the 150. It turned out to be a good running (less than 3000 rpm), reliable motor. But I determined it was just too worn out to push the bass buggy. I went through all the components (air, fuel, electrical, lower end, props) and she just would not perform. So for now the Johnson 70 is going back on until I can find something else. The best it ever ran with the 150 was with a 13p 14dia prop at 3800 rpm 22mph. I did get it to run at 4200 rpm with a 17P prop 10 inch diameter at 18 mph (found a custom prop trimmer in the middle of the lake).

I did get the underskinning on, pics coming up soon

Have you thought about doing a rebuild? Maybe take the powerhead to the machine shop, get a nice port and polish for some extra power. New valve springs and valve seats would probably go a long way. I may be a little off here, 2 strokes aren't my thing and I'm used to car and truck engines. How much would it cost to do a good rebuild on the engine?

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