chit chat thread
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Alright who put their summer tires on... Its snowing in Milwaukee right now.
I put my summers on yesterday. It snowed here for a bit but its all gone now. NOT ME
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The denial is strong with this one.
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The denial is strong with this one.
Wasn't guilty last year. Not guilty this year
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Though I’m aware this isn’t WIBoaters, thought a few of you might get a kick out of this.
Pulled the engine on the boat today and stripped it down, and in addition to having no compression on cylinder 4 we found a massive crack in the side of the block that was previously hidden by the intake manifold. We knew the engine was likely toast due to two freeze plugs being popped out, but this certainly sealed it (or rather, didn’t). Not sure if any of you are into boats at all, but this is example A of why winterizing properly by opening block drains, removing the thermostat and pouring antifreeze straight in as well as pumping it through the cooling system is so important.
Another “known running” long block will go in tomorrow and/or Sunday, pending results of a compression test.
Edit: This group has such poor luck with compression tests I don’t know why I even bothered. No compression in cyls. 2 and 3, so pulled the head and found a blown head gasket and a crack between the cylinders. What fun.
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What kind of boat/motor? I'd fancy an old boat project someday
It's a 1988 Sea Ray Seville, 18ft bowrider. It has the 3.0L Mercruiser four banger/alpha one inboard/outboard combo, it's a pretty common setup for older pleasure/runabout boats. They're torquey and fast enough for what they are (35mph with a ski propeller with just me in it, still can break 30 with the boat loaded down). No hour meter, but guessing it's well below 500. It was used sparingly in the last two decades, and the first decade of its life it sat for awhile, so mechanically it's pretty fresh. There wasn't even detectable wear on the pushrods when we pulled them. Here's some pics:
It's a pretty tough and long-lived combo as long as maintenance was done, but from personal experience and observation of classified listings it usually isn't. Winterizing correctly is crucial, and it only takes one mistake to ruin a motor. Parts are dirt cheap though and they're stupid simple so for anyone handy with a wrench they're really cheap to run provided the basic stuff like the block and outdrive unit are good.
The boat itself that we have is a decent platform to start with, Sea Ray's are reasonably well made boats and have been around a long time, so finding specific parts for them is a little easier than for some of the other smaller manufacturers. They have wooden stringers and transoms though (structure of the boat), and this can cause obvious issues to the extent that if your boat has these parts rotted, you're better off throwing it away than trying to repair it generally.
If it was me, I'd look for a boat with fiberglass stringers and transom or one with known good wood ones that has been well-maintained and ideally stored inside. If you're looking for a project, something with a bad motor or drive is a much easier thing to tackle than anything else. Upholstery and carpet is ridiculously expensive to have done, so buying a "good" boat with a trashed interior is as much of a money pit or often more of one than one with a bad motor or drive.
I know this was way more long-winded than it needed to be haha, but that's the best top-level rundown I have. Finding the right project boat is a bit difficult sometimes but worth the wait and definitely worth the extra cost and time savings.
For what it's worth, the next boat I look at will be an inboard Mastercraft ski boat, either a 1983+ Stars & Stripes or a Prostar 190. All-fiberglass construction, Ford 351w power, no outdrive to worry about water intrusion into, and perfect for what I do, which is skiing. Not as practical for cruising or fishing, but it all depends on your intended use case. Being on a competitive water ski team, having an inboard ski boat to practice on is useful. This is what a Stars & Stripes looks like:
Early Prostar 190:
And a later Prostar 190:
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Cool, I had a Bayliner with a Volvo 4cyl, it had coolant in the engine and a second water pump that cycled lake water through a heat exchanger so winterizing was easy. I think a 2 stage cooling system like that is uncommon though for freshwater boats.
Yeah, that sounds like something intended more for a saltwater environment. Pretty neat though, and a lot less risky if you don't winterize properly. I certainly would prefer it!
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Didn't know you were a water skier. I've never done it but we would go watch the Mad-City ski team shows next to the Monona Terrace when I was little.
Yeah, I've been skiing since I was pretty little just with family and friends and joined Mad-City last summer at the urging of a good friend on the team. Had an absolute blast, and hoping we still get to do it this summer, although it isn't looking great.
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In 35 years you will tell your grandkids what a torqueless wonder the bellowing bi-turbo V8 was as you rub the final coat of aluminum polish on your classic first gen. Telsa cyber truck and afterwards fall back on telling them for the seventh time about how cheaply you charged your truck for back in 2030 and how you “Shoulda invested in TikTok stock back when it was below $1000/share”
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Here’s to another month of waiting for all the brine to be washed away
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Here’s to another month of waiting for all the brine to be washed away
I’m hoping they don’t even bother with the salt down here, it’s friggin pouring right now. Anything they put down would get washed right off.
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Here’s to another month of waiting for all the brine to be washed away
We only got a light dusting, hoping they don't overreact and pour another 2.5 million tons of salt everywhere... I'm ready for riding season dammit!
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the hood on those always reminds me of the lid of a weber grill.
Dan
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