1986 Seville for a New Boater

Good news and Bad news…..
The Good news is I took the Seville around last night to fill it up so I am ready to go Saturday and it only held 14.4 gallons even though I did about 45 miles on the last trip, that means 3.1 MPG! Much better than before, and I am sure has a lot to do with the banged up prop from before. I put the spare prop on and also a can of seafoam in the tank and some Marvel Mystery oil in the engine before I went out so that may have helped as well. Also the bilge never seemed to get enough water in it for the pump to pick it up this trip either, so that was a good thing. I did get a chance to anchor the last outing and it held great, not super easy to get back up but I managed it and was happy how it went.
The bad news, on the way home from the gas station I had a tire failure, the tread separated and peeled off. I heard it but did not know what it was, so when I pulled back in the driveway and backed it in place I noticed the trailer lights were not working. Went to take a look and saw the right side tire going flat and found the cause, the tread took out the wiring on that side. It happened only about a mile from my house so that was good and it lasted until I got it parked so even better, I got lucky on that one. The spare is in really good shape so gonna throw it on so I can go to the lake tomorrow and will order some new tires.
I think they are very small for the size of the boat, only 13” wheels? They are 175/80 D13, need to measure but most of those come in around 24.4 inches diameter, I looked up some
Loadstar ST205/75D-14" that are 6 ply and load range C with a 1760 Lb rating, they measure 26.3 Diameter. I think they will fit under the fenders and not rub since it is only an inch bigger effectively. This is the same side that blew out when the PO brought the boat down from MD. The tire was really hot and the other side was hot as well so I think it needs bigger tires to reduce the RPM and keep the tread cooler and less wear on the bearings anyway. I did find an 8 ply load range D Loadstar ST185/80D-13” but they only have a 1710 Lb capacity. Both are Bias Ply and about the same cost and come with new wheels so I guess I should go with the 14” and higher load rating, I can always just move the fender up an inch if it tries to rub.


And the last bit is I have a new prop and anode kit on the way, went with a Solas 14.5 x 17 pitch 4 blade, I hope it helps even more with fuel mileage and performance maybe get my speed to RPM in a better range. I do still need to figure out the fuel gauge, it stays on full all the time, when the power is on even though I put a new sender in the tank. I think it was a 30 – 240 Ohm sender and I am wondering if the gauge is a 0 – 90 ohm, at this point I am not tearing the floor back out, I will just live with it if I cant figure it out.





 
I can't imagine that boat getting 3.1 mpg but if so, Congratulations. I ran a 4 blade on my 86 Seville with a 5.7/Alpha and it was like a new boat. I don't recall the pitch difference but i moved either up or down 2 pitch sizes.
 
I thought 3.1 was still bad for a 1600lb boat with a 3.0 140 hp. I thought i read somewhere on the web folks were getting 4mpg with these engines? Now this is figured using my phone navigation app it seems about right but i am not positive. I do know i went just a touch further the second trip than the first and used 3 less gallons....of course I didnt tow a large jet ski for 8 miles either.
 
No problem dont be sorry, just confirms i have room to improve so hope the prop does me good.

I got a max speed of 32 mph at 4400 today, think i was trimed just perfect and all. Was crusing at 27.3 mph and 3800 so better speed today but still high on rpms for crusing. I put new NGK spark plugs in before i went out so hope that helped too, and think I will rebuild the carb after i get new wheels and springs for the trailer. I found everthing i need for a great price to convert it over from slipper springs to double eye springs and will up the spring rating to 5000lbs which is more than the 3500lb axle os has so should all work great after that and the new springs should have no sag so might not need to move the fenders.

Tomorrow's project is putting on all new anodes since they came in today while i was out on the lake. Then just clean up the shop to have it ready for the trailer work, I was worried the tire on the left would not hold but it did, and not gonna risk it again will have new wheels and tires before i go out again.
 
Be careful putting bigger springs on the trailer. If the boat is too light and the springs are not in there "sweet spot" it will beat the $hi+ out of your boat as the springs are not flexing.
 
Anodes installed, easy job for once.

Now just have to sit back and wait for the prop and all the new trailer goodies to show up. No boating for next weekend anyway, taking the kids out to New Mexico to spend a few weeks with family so will be in the car all weekend. Got a lot of plans and work to do while they are gone so the boat and trailer will be it tip top shape when they get back.
 
Not a lot of update, I got the new prop installed, 14.5x17 with 4 blades, and new tires on the trailer after cutting the fenders off and welding them on a bit higher. Still need to get new springs though. I have not got to take the boat out yet, had to do a lot of travel lately and have not been home the last few weekends. Yesterday I tried to get several different people to go out to the lake but nobody could make it so mowed the yard instead. However when I took the boat around to fill up with gas it only held 11.7 gallons which put me at 3.8 MPG on the last tank, still not sure where it should be but for my boat I think that is purdy good. If it keeps getting better each trip I hope to level out around 4 to 4.5 realistically maybe but would take higher if I can. Still think I need to rebuild the carb before I will see those numbers, but it sure does run smooth and checked the oil too and it was super clean and right on the full mark.

I pick up the kids from Grandpa’s this weekend so hope to be on the lake for the 4[SUP]th[/SUP], will need it after 3 weekends in a row of driving 2000 miles. Have more plans in the works for some lighting and such and need to get some new pics up soon, but having a great time with this resurrected Seville!

 
Good on getting the ole boat to this point. Hopefully you've worked out most of the bugs and can move on to cosmetic stuff. Just make sure the transom and stringers are solid before you go to much further into upgrades.
 
I do have a small issue or I am just dumb, but the trim indicator reads backwards from what I think it should. When the drive is all the way down the needle is pointing at the up arrow, and when it is all the way up it points at the down arrow? Does not matter how I hook up the wires, it stays backwards, I swapped the leads at the pump and on the sender side, even tried to wire the gauge backwards all to no avail. It is accurate and operates smooth and even but just reads opposite of where I think it should. Maybe it is just the gauge? Oh well easy for me to remember to ignore the arrows.
Click to expand...

Might just need adjustment: http://mercstuff.com/trim_limit.htm.
 
White90GT said:
Good on getting the ole boat to this point. Hopefully you've worked out most of the bugs and can move on to cosmetic stuff. Just make sure the transom and stringers are solid before you go to much further into upgrades.
Click to expand...

Funny you mention upgrades, I have been really thinking of putting a V8 in this boat, I know I can build a 4.3 or a 5.7 or a 6.2 and make any of the three fit just fine. Any of those will require a new gearset in the out drive and maybe even a whole new sterndrive, I do seem to get carried away when building an engine so may want to go to a Bravo sterndrive, still need to look into all that. But the plan would be to strip it to the fiberglass and put in all new transom and stringers and raise the floor about 3 inches so I can put in a bit bigger belly tank for fuel, 30 gals is fine for the 3.0 but going to the 4.3 or a V8 and I would like to have a 60 gal or more.

I was thinking of changing the seating arrangement to look like a Pachenga, have a wrap around bench with a short sundeck on the back and 2 captians chairs that swivel. I measured it out and just quickly did a sketch and it seems that it would work perfect and look good too. I might have a real big project this winter!!
 
So the new prop is a bust, got about 4500 rpm but dropped to 23 mph at 3800, going slower with more rpm is not what i wanted at all. Boat had no problem getting up on plane and felt about the same as before could. Ot really tell much differance in performance with a 4 blade but it did seem to keep speed better in tight turns so i will stick with a 4 blade but really think i need to go up from the 17 pitch to a 21 pitch.

Also still having a hell of a time getting it on the trailer, I think bunks would be better than rollers, if it is not perfect on center it kicks it off to the side when the ez load roller comes up. Gonna try the bow guides first and more practice but man it sure sucks whe there is a crowd watching like today.
 
What was your 3 blade prop pitch?

As far as the trailer maybe don't back in as far and let the rollers work. I made a couple "guide ons" from antenna springs and some stainless tig rod mounted to the fenders. 1" rubber ball on top and I tell my wife as I am pulling the boat out I want to end up with a 1/4" gap from the ball to the boat - Perfect every time - Saves a lot of arguments. :)
 
A lot has happened with the boating experience for me the past few weeks, gaining a lot of hard earned knowledge. Where to start…well tubing is a lot of fun, I had a blast and the kids love it, except for little boy who just turned 5. He had fun the first time we went out but after the tube submarined on him he was a little turned off by it, I think he will gain confidence again and be ready soon. I got him a new life vest that he likes more so that may help too. I only got to ride once since I have not had my buddy out again yet, and he is the only one I trust to pull me for now.

Anyway I had a rubber bushing and washer disappear off the port Trim ram but got it all taken care of over the last weekend and went out again, but the trim gauge has been acting up since, not gonna put a lot of faith in any of my gauges for now and think I need to replace all of them going forward.

I think I have figured out where to put the trailer for loading the boat, we got caught in a heavy rain on Saturday, I knew it was coming so went to the far side of the lake to hide out and swim. Well my 9yr old daughter changed that plan, she needed to use the facilities of which there were none so we had to go back to the dock which is where the heavy rain also decided to be. So I called it a day, and decided to leave, took advice and did not back in as far and loaded up in one easy shot. I was glad for that because it was pouring down at this point.

And on Sunday after a long day out I did that again, this time with heavy wind but no rain. My wife is a terrible help at this and always makes all these crazy hand signals and head shaking and just frustrates the crap out of me. I did learn how to maneuver the boat around a bit on the trailer and think I got it now and the next time out should be easy to load. This time though I did have to back out and circle around to get a straight shot, because she was making crazy stuff and waving me off, but did get it on there and powered almost up to the winch. I told her to hook to the bow and she waived me ok, so I shut the engine down and realized I was sliding back way to far, she did not lock the winch! Now the third shot I did not back up just turned the wheel and gave some power to get me straight and powered up again and hook up. Killed the engine raised the drive all the way up and got out to winch the last bit, almost there and kapow the cable snapped and the boat slid back before I could grab secure the safety rope. UGHHHHHH!!! 4[SUP]th[/SUP] time now I have to lower the drive back down (went too far) and power as far up as I can so she can secure the safety rope and I can mess with the cable to get the winch to work with a tie off sort of knot. We got it all done and securely on the trailer but I destroyed the prop in the process. Lesson learned about power on to the trailer and exactly where I need to back it in to!

So now I get to buy a new prop, which I did not like the one I had anyway so not a huge loss the way I see it, would probably never use that one again anyway. I also found my hull was not as clean as I thought while beached on a sandbar in the river so the kids could swim, I started rubbing sand on the hull and a lot of the white residue came off and could see the blue under it. Hard to explain but I thought most of that was bottom paint, so now I will get a scotch brite pad and scrub it good to see how that does until I have time to sand and repaint the bottom. Cleaning along with a new pitch prop should put me where I want to be. Oh and now I have a power steering leak to find too, don’t think I have mentioned that part yet.

 
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