Boat Back from repairs had a great weekend

[ronb]

Picked up the toon Friday after work, parked it in a lot while we grabbed some dinner before leaving town.. now be honest, am I parked like an ass? Not that it matters, they don't put parking spots in normal parking lots for a 22ft pickup pulling a 27ft trailer... (dern hear 50ft... yikes)

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Get it home and load up all the required equipment, of course my kids decided to help.. ages 2 and almost 4..

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Head out Saturday morning around 11:30am, my wife (age withheld to limit personal liabilities ), our dog (Parker age 8 .) goes with us too when we have our own boat. Poor thing had to be stiched up Saturday morning, he had about a 3/4" open wound (my wife is a Veterinarian, and essentially did a 'house call' with our vet kit at home...)

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up to speed and on the open water, the kids do what they like to do... look over the edge...

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We finally got to check out the performance of the new prop (no GPS readings yet)
We changed from a 14 x 13p to a 13.75 x15p, it dropped the top RPM from 5800 to 5400 RPM. Pretty much the 400 RPM I was expecting. But now that I got the toon back its time to start working on adding performance/decreasing drag.. You can feel the waves hitting the bottom of the toon when you are sitting up in the seat ahead of the driver (across from the side entry gate, that is almost 3/4 of the way up from the back of the toon) with braces every 16" that is an aweful lot of additional drag from water resistance... I need to speed up my underskinning project...

And I poked my head out over the back, I didn't have my old Sony 5mp with safety strap so I took all these pictures with my phone and since I wasn't too crazy about losing it over the side, I was rather conservative as to how far over I went and how many pictures I took (I have already lost one phone this Spring/Summer)

There seems to be a LOT more water splash coming from the 'driver side' of the toon versus the 'passenger' side
Looking straight down..(that cap on the top of the cover is what the mechanic blamed for getting water into the 2 cycle oil, the seal was missing, you can almost see in these pictures that the cavitation plate is buried way below the water)

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checking out the passenger side

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And the 'driver' side (and the ladder is folded up as high as it goes)

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And one last shot showing the wake..

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keep in mind that I am missing the transom splash shields from BOTH sides of the transom, I will be building/welding on new ones soonerish as soon as I decide on a size/shape. Then I will get the guys at work to TIG weld them into place.. (if anybody happens to have a similar age South Bay pontoon and would be willing to take some measurements that would be awesome)

-ron

[curtiscapk]

NIce pics Ron! I just posted the same about splash around transom!! Looks identical as far as the amount of water coming out, but I did a peek from the bow and the water only hits the last 4-5 stringers on mine..

[ronb]

I would have peeked over the bow to look under it but with 2 small children and only 2 adults there isn't anybody to make sure the kids don't walk on my back (and subsequently fall out) so we keep the gates closed under power. I have been thinking about getting one of those mountable video cameras so I can peek underneath when under power.

I did have one other minor problem that was 'easy' to fix but took some patience and swearing. On the console the 'Main Power' switch wiring harness came disconnected behind the 'dash' I had to reach all the way across the backside of the console and plug it in without being able to see what I was doing. And to make the situation worse, somewhere along the line a previous owner/dealership zip tied the entire wiring harness into a nice/neat bundle, but that bundle pulls on the wiring plug for the Main Power switch connector, and the connector/lock tabs on the quick connector are broke, which is why it fell out.

I just talked to one of my coworkers and he said that they can build me transom splash shields, all I need to do is get a plan together on what I want, they have some scrap aluminum up to .120 and decent sized sheets, he said 'no cost' for building them but I would probably want to find a non-employee welder to attach them. For some reason I am thinking about making them with an angular cut at the front and flat rear about 6-7" wide, and about 24" long. However instead of being flat, I will have them throw about 5-6 bends into them the long way to make a semi-circular shape out of them so it acts more like a cup than a flap. And then possibly add a top peice of aluminum to strengthen it to keep them from 'flopping' around.

Artists rendition (not to scale nor has engineering stress testing been performed, use at own risk.. )

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One other 'odd' thing that happened when I was out, I ran into a guy on a boat and one of the first things he asks me is if I bought my pontoon from 'Bertha Boats Works' (http://www.berthaboatworks.com/), when I bought this toon it did have a Bertha Boat Works sticker on it, the dealership removed it along with the previous identification stickers..

Well he goes on to say that 4 years ago this pontoon was for sale ($22,900) along with the one that he bought (a 2007 925 TT Merc 115 Optimax, underskinned with factory ski/tube pull bar) and that he had bought the 925 instead of the 922. I thought it was cool to get a little history of what may have happened. But then he went on to say that both his and my pontoons were their 'demo' units that they kept on hand for either rental or if people wanted to try one out before they bought a new one (Bertha is a South Bay dealership). And to add to that he said that since the boats were only dealership property during their early years that the warranties (boat and motor) would be 'new' to the first real owner. He said that when he got his off the try/rent program it had a number of issues with worn interior and he had them replace the entire interior with new (under warranty) and that his 115 Merc started its 3yr factory warranty when he became the owner.

Anybody else ever heard of such a thing? Anybody have a clue as to who I can call to verify or nullify his claims?

On a completely different note, most of my projects work at a snails pace, 2 months ago I agreed to buy an intake/carb/header for a Ford 300 from a guy on craigslist for $50, he finally delivered last Thursday..
Intake manifold needs to be sand blasted and the carb rebuilt, but for $50 I can barely find a Holley core...

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The headers have some surface rust but they are solid

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Thanks,
-ron

[rancherlee]

Nice pictures, And I prefer the Offenhauser 300-6 intake over the clifford. Mine pulled 195hp/290tq to the rear tires on my Bronco through a NP435 4 speed. Looks like the same headers I ran too, dual 2" into a dual in single 2.5" out flowmaster 50 worked the best on my rig......... ran a Holley 390, Holley 500 and Edelbrock 500 and liked the Edelbrock the best. These engines need 500cfm past 4000rpm, my dyno numbers are with the 390 holley but it would start to pull vacuum past 4000rpm which ment it ran out of air flow............ oh wait, pontoon forum, I better shut up now.

[ronb]

do we allow links to other forums?
http://www.fordsix.com/forum -- the only other forum you will find me on... since Nov 2002... I have been reading a good article about tuning a quadrajet to run on a 300, Holley and Quadrajets seem like they would have the best performance but at the risk a novice (such as myself) really screwing up the jetting/other settings to a point that it could be miserable..
I am also working a a triple 1bbl intake setup for a 170 (inline six) to put in my other Mustang a '67 Coupe... (bought the motor/trans for $20, carbs for free, rebuild kits for the Autolite 1100's $20/each) it should be some good cheap fun and if I keep my foot out of it it might get decent gas mileage with the 6cyl. My '68 Mustang Coupe has a 289/C4 and drinks gas, so I don't really need another one of those...

I can't really say which 300 intake I prefer, I've only ever driven 240/300 with stock 1bbl cast iron. I didn't have any vehicles with the big six in it, so I had to trade a '79 Thunderbird (302/C4) to my dad for an '81 F150 reg cab/short bed 300/np435 in order to get a vehicle to put it on (we traded straight across, the truck is rough and the thunderbird is scrap)

its OK if you hijack your own thread right?

I did end up skipping out of work yesterday at 2p, on the lake by 3:45 (1/2hr home, 45 minutes to Pelican Lake, MN plus some loading time)
oddly enough on a Monday the lake is relatively empty..

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We launched, cruised around a little bit then headed to Zorbaz to pickup some passengers (one of my wife's coworkers and my cousin who was visiting from Oregon)

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We made the dog wait in the boat, he seemed OK with that..

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before we left I spotted another Kennedy on the water...

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And then we headed out to the sand bar between Pelican and Fish lakes

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Kids love to play in the sand, I hear Big Cormorant Lake MN has a much larger beach but we haven't made it over there yet. On the weekends both sides of this sand bar are normally lined with boats/pontoons and people.. Monday... not so much...

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Ended the day by hooking up a tow harness between the tube lift hooks and pulling my wife and her coworker across the lake

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the pontoon worked great for pulling the tube, but when pulling from the lift eyes , the rope drug in the water pretty bad, I'll have to get my butt in gear to get the ski/tube pull bar done. Water was about 69-70°f, the ladies had a great time.

stayed out way, way too late, didn't get home until 11pm last night and then had to unpack the cooler after tucking the kids in to bed, I am really dragging (unmotivated) today...

-ron

[Bamaman]

There's nothing better than skipping work or school (calling sick or whatever) and heading for the lake. Especially if you have a big beer cooler.

I think it's great that you guys think so highly of the old Ford 300 I-6. But, I didn't know the engines' 1 barrel carb would even allow them to get to 4500 rpm's.

Our only problem was finding a replacement steering column when the auto shifter broke. I searched every large and small junk yard in 4 states and couldn't find one. And you talk about a torque monster to pull boat trailers--like a tractor engine. And the valves clatter on every 300 six I've ever seen. But, you cannot kill those engines--they'll run forever.

[curtiscapk]

Damn Nice pics playing hooky is always good.

[ronb]

I didn't call in sick, I went upstairs mid morning and told my boss,
"The weather is beautiful outside, I am taking the afternoon off. You should come with me."
He declined, but I still left. I even handled one work "emergency" while on the lake, just slowed then engine down to about 2k RPM so I could hear my coworker, gave him instructions, let him know I am out of the office and that I would see him again today if he still had problems. Hung up the phone and wound up to some higher RPMs for cruising...

and I don't drink, I just never got the hang of it, so my wife is the designated drinker, she had (quite) a few cold ones.

in regards to the 300, they are tractor motors.. I might be picking up a spare 'Industrial' one that came off of a combine (or a swather) from my cousin. My original '67 Mustang motor (3.3L/200 Cu/in) was rated at 90hp (FWIW, most 300/4.9L are rated around 140hp). My pontoon motor (Mercury 90hp Optimax) is 1.5L rated at 90hp...

If you are looking for parts for old Fords let me know, we have no less than 5 trucks and 3 vans sitting at Dad's farm with automatic shifter columns.

old cars are still a hobby for me, and I am used to working on them at my own pace and having plenty of spare parts to choose from at reasonable rates, my introduction to aquatic/marine mechanics/repairs/timelines was a realy eye opener costs are higher, repair times are longer, and the season to use them is much shorter...

-ron

[waterlab]

Quote" in regards to the 300, they are tractor motors..:"
Had one in one of my Ford pickups back around 80 when we where logging, great engine and truck was geared just right. Was a great combo

[WILD MAN]

Every pickup I ever had was a Ford with an inline 6 eather a 300 or a 240 the last one was a '95 F150 witch I gave to my son a while back, when I went down to the ford place to get another one they told me they don't make them any more, I told the guy to call me when they do make them again, the 300 is the best motor Ford ever made for a truck. So now I drive a Toytota Tacoma. I also still have a '64 Mercury Comet with a 170 6 cyl and a 2speed automatic, you can't beat those old Ford inline 6's.

[kryptonite]

Water was about 69-70°f, the ladies had a great time.

Yikes, 70 degree water, that'll cause some shrinkage. That's cold, we're picky down here, I like it about 85.

[Ray Jr.]

Ron B a Sports stuff booster ball works great for getting the tube rope out of the water

[Ray Jr.]

I used to race the Ford 300 six (Dirt circle track)

if u use an early 300 HD or 240 head they have small chambers for higher compression, but have the same size ports so air flow is still good, then use a true flat top piston instead of the stock t-cup piston.

you have 2 decent options for piston/rod combo either a 390 ford v8 piston on the stock 300 rod, stock 390 is .050 over for a 300, or u can go with .06 over 390 and bore the 300 .110 over (we did it gives ya 318 cubes)

the other good combo is a 240 rod (longer than the 300 rod) with a piston for some chevy(don't remember what one right now) u have to rebush the pin end of the rod to a .927 dia chevy pin.

we always ran 1.75-2.0 dia header tubes
we ran the clifford intake and the rules called for a 500 holley, then the carb rules were dripped we used a Predator carb for a few years then switched to a 650 holley

opened up the valves to 1.94 or 2.02 intakes and 1.5 exhaust did a lot of port work, and ran cams over .6 lift,

they really hauled the mail!!!

[ronb]

Yep, Ford quit making the 300 (4.9L) in 1996 (ran from '65-96.... 31years) If your son still has the 300 there are a couple upgrades that make a difference, with some minor modifications he can mount a 5.0 (v8) throttle body, all factory hookups/sensors/ecm work. To get more air in and out he can use high ratio (1.6) Big Block Chevy rockers (there's almost always some available at swapmeets or craigslist)

If I waited until the water got up to 85°f I would never go in the water... I am good when the air temps go above 75°f. I am a biggerish guy with a lot of insulation....

In regards to the rope tube/ball situation, I am going to try out my tube/ski bar first to see how it looks and if the rope still drags I will move on to the ball. I saw them locally for $100 (my ski/tube bar is going to be less than $30 but more time consuming)

In regards to the 170, those old 2 speeds from Ford (cast iron) kill your performance in terms of power consumption and the lack of gears you may want to consider "upgrading" to a '67 or newer C4 (aluminum with factory shiftable valve bodies).

-ron

[ronb]

Fully of gas July 1,
So funny thing about 2 cycle motors, if you run out of 2 cycle oil (and happen to be lucky enough to have the Mercury Guardian system) it will shut down your motor before you cause any problems....

So last Sunday I was out cruising on Big Cormorant lake, the water is beautiful and clear, its a big round lake, the public launch that we use sucked, it was so shallow that the pontoon would not float off the bunk trailer and we had to 'forcibly' separate the pontoon from the trailer by using 4wd and forward in the truck while using about 1/2 throttle in reverse on the pontoon. And when we loaded my wife backed through the deep rut caused by power loading and up the other side, the pickup was still only 1/2 way up the rear rim with water.. And she backed into an underground pile of rocks and destroyed a tail light lense..

Great day to be on the lake but problems
bad launch
broke tail light
ran out of 2 cycle oil on the water
The lake was nice but I need to investigate the other launches, also I have to drive past my 'normal' lake to get to it
Pickup got a good solid 8.3mpg over 170 miles

Dumped in 3 quarts of synthetic DFI approved 2 cycle oil, also realized that the pickup was getting hot because the clutch fan isnt' working any longer, replaced that. And replaced the trailer tail light housing with a unit from Mac's.

On the 4th we headed out to Pelican Lake, caught the boat parade, parked on the sand bar while our kids played with our friends kids who are visiting from Nebraska. While there I diagnosed and fixed my foot wash station at the rear of the pontoon. Then we started tubing, I tossed around my wife and our friend from Nebraska (also a wife), then I heard a loud POP from the steering helm but everything kept working so I kept on chugging forward. We stopped at the 'Mansion' and swapped out tube riders, then started out again on the water for more splashing and thrashing, on the second turn POP again, this time I lost all steering. It turns out that the steering cable rusted/broke inside the housing where the cable is swedged to the slider that protrudes through the trim hinge. Day over. I also realized later that we took a quarter sized chunk out of one of my 14 x 13p prop fins (I need to get that fixed ASAP)

I had to stand on the rear of the deck and I steered the motor by pressing on the motor (highly discouraged). Nobody was open on July 4 to get replacement parts, on July 5 I pulled out the old cable/casing and started calling around, everybody said they could order one for me, except Kovash Marine in Moorhead, they had a 17ft replacement steering cable for a Teleflex Rotary system in stock. $210 and an hour later the new cable was in place (I had to drive home 1/2hr) While I changed the cable, my friend from Nebraska changed my prop to the 13.75 x 15p and had him re-route the foot wash suction hose to behind the ladder steps instead of beside them (in the main waterflow beside the tubes) and we both finished around 1:00pm. We were on the lake (45minute drive) after getting coolers and 4 kids packed by 2:45p. Had a great day on the lake, plenty of tubing, my wife even managed to dump me off once! The start of the day was a bit windy and choppy but by 8p when we were getting off the lake the water was like glass. They pulled the pontoon with their 2009 Tahoe (5.3L) it got about the same 8mpg as the 1994 GMC 3/4t, no reason to move to a newer tow vehicle, time to do some needed repairs.. rust and ugly rims, shocks, new battery, maybe EFI friendly CAM/Exhause upgrades.. Burned a lot of gas between these three trips, the boat is below 3/4 tank and I should go check the 2 cycle level.

Me and my 2 year old son yesterday (7/5) asking Momma to give us more speed! (she wouldn't, she was too concerned for his safety)

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-ron