Another Classic Sea Ray almost ready to float again

Thanks bchasc- it was a long journey, but the folks here on CSR kept me going with their encouragement and knowledge :smt038
 
Hello Everbody, Hope all is well and the weather is warm for getting out on the water. Just a few updates of the ongoing story of my rebuild. I tracked down my high speed miss issue- turns out the distributor cap was loose. Goofy Mallory Marine distributor design. When i inspected the ignition, I found the cap wasn't fully secured to the body. The two hold down arms were loose and it allowed the cap to move. I repositioned the gasket between the cap and body, then made sure the "tabs" with the screws on the end of the hold down arms were tight. I also found, I didn't have the wires pushed in far enough down in the rotor sockets. Had her out yesterday for Mothers Day, took the wife both my sons went this time. She ran real well. Tach'd to 5000 RPM and never missed a beat. Still managed 43 MPH with 4 adults, 1/2 tank fuel and a 14.8x19P 4 blade prop. Things were going real well then the inevitable happened- she died and wouldn't restart. That ended our day with another boater graciously towing us back to the launch. So much for our day on Lake Stevens. When we had the gal loaded, I about fell over- I made a very big mistake that possibly could have ended badly. As I was securing the rear straps, I noticed I had left the the water muffs on the lower unit. What was interesting was the entire time, the temp never rose above 160 deg, and that was after a prolonged time sitting in the middle of the lake idling, after we started, the temp came right back down to 140 deg and stayed there. I always use a pre departure check list before leaving the house, then again when I get to the spot we are putting in. It is more of a mental checklist, however this time I really dropped the ball. Fortunately, nothing seemed to be damaged other than bending the muff mounting wire and of course my pride. So, I have taught myself and my family an important lesson about not getting distracted and checking everything once, twice as a minimum and three times if necessary. When we got home, I started digging into the reason the engine quit. I found a metal pin in the bilge. As I looked around, I was trying to picture where the pin came from and after finding a spring in the bilge also, it dawned on me as to where it may have come from. I pulled the line from the carburator and no fuel came out at from the carb inlet. As I kept going, it turns out the that pin and spring came from the fuel pump arm. I removed the fuel pump and found the other pieces laying in the pump cavity along with the fuel pump pushrod not engaging the fuel pump eccentric on the cam. A trip to Harbor Marine, $165 later, and we'll be back in business when I get it installed tomorrow morning. On the way back from picking up the punp, I was joking with the wife that we really need to get the boat named and christened before we venture out into the Puget Sound and surrounding waters- perhaps King Posiedon is trying tell us something...
 
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I'm thinking Mr. Murphy is just getting stuff out of the way, or making up for lost time while the boat was laid up.
 
Thanks jitts3, I certainly hope that is the case, he sure isn't giving up without a fight- hopefully I'm about at the end, I'm running out of items to replace LOL. One thing I failed to do earlier, is to say thank you for allowing me to become a member of the Hole in the Water club. After the work and expense I've "sunk" (no pun intended) into my boat, I surely feel as though I own a Hole in the Water! Cheers!
 
Well, the story keeps getting better, onto another chapter. I installed the new fuel pump today. Everything went well until I tried to start- was unsuccessful in getting the engine to run. Here we go, back to troubleshooting- pulled the fuel lines-no fuel. Off comes the pump for another go at it. Helps if you get the pump arm under the pump pushrod. Ok, got the pump back on, try again, ah! finally fuel getting to the carb, she's trying to start. After some sputtering and coughing, there she goes! Yahoo!, another issue solved, or so I thought- I let the key go back to "run" from start and the engine dies, ok, try again-same issue-go from start to run and the engine dies. Egads, I must have jinxed myself when I uttered "there's not much left to change". Guess the 35+ yr old ignition switch finally gave up-back to the parts store..... LOL
 
FYI installed a Sierra fuel pump only to have it fail with only 10 hours on it. The rivet pulled through the diaphragm backup plate. I got in touch with Sierra and they told me they had a bad supplier. I hope the boating gods finely smile down on you.
 
Thanks dvx216. I'll keep an eye on the fuel pump- not very encouraging. Hopefully, they have their supplier issue worked out. At $165+ for a pump, it gets a little pricey. When I get home tonite, I'll post a picture of the failed pump and pieces. I'm still having a starting issue- I replaced the switch and still no help. The engine will try to start normally in the "start" position, but as soon as you go to "run" it quits. Anyone have any suggestions, before I start scouring the wiring diagrams? Thanks.
 
Sounds like when your letting your ignition switch go to the run position its grounding the main spark coil. Which is your ignition kill circuit. In the run position you should have a open contact on the ( M ) connection on the ignition switch The M connection is the kill switch that grounds the main coil. One side of M should go to ground and the other out to the main coil which should be black and yellow wire. I would start by unplugging the main plug at the motor with the ignition switch off the black and yellow wire should read to ground using an OHM meter and open or not going to ground in the run position.
 
Thanks for the ideas dvx216. As I understand your description, you are referencing the kill switch? My switch only has 3 positions, battery,coil and ignition, unfortunately no "M" position. I spent the latter part of the evening studying the wiring diagrams, so I have a few ideas of which way to go. I am finally getting a snap posted of the fuel pump that started this mess. LOL 100_1853.jpg
 
My oem SB chevy fuel pump just knocked a hole in the top of itself never stopped working though. The only reason I found it had a hole in it was it pumped about 2 quarts of oil into the bilge. At first I didn't have a clue where all the oil was coming from and I found all the oil when we were tied up for the night at Kelleys Island Lake Erie. It took me all day at home to find the hole it looked like some one took a 1/4" wide screw driver and put a hole right in the middle of the round part of the pump. Of course sitting on the trailer on the flat it did not leak.What caught my eye was when it was running you could look right down into the top of the pump and I seen some thing moving. I installed a sierra pump and it went to hell in a hand basket also so I got a marine Carter pump through Summit racing off the shelf that was two seasons ago. You might still have some bugs to work out but you got lucky none of those small parts didn't end up in the oil pan.
 
Hi dvx216, you're correct-I was lucky in the sense that none of the pieces wound up in the pan. I'm hoping the lobe on the cam didn't get wiped, as I don't think I was getting the proper fuel amount out of the pump. I re-installed the pump again today, to verify the correct position of the pump arm. I didn't have time to really work with it today outside of re-verifying the pump install. I did take time to play around with the old pump. I found one small piece laying in the driveway that I dropped when I climbed out of the boat. I pieced everything back together and staked the retaining pin into the housing on both sides, so I could use it as a spare if the need arose. I don't know how smart that would be, but the option is there. Interesting that you're in Orrville- we just moved out to everett 3 years ago from strongsville (just south of cleveland), its nice out here, beautiful part of the country with a lot of new things to see and places to explore, but there will always be some things you miss.
 
Well if the fuel pump cam did get wiped which is rare you can go with a electric fuel pump that wouldn't be to hard to set up if you go with a return loop system
 
Nice work! Do you think you can provide details on the motor you put in? I have a '79 SRV207 that I just picked up, and I plan to do a motor and put it in. I'm not sure what pistons, cam to buy. I don't plan to change the heads, crank, or rods...just check them out to make sure they're ok and have them re-done. Also, a question for all....is it any improvement to put in an edelbrock intake?

Thanks!
 
Hi Benz_head, I would be happy to pass my engine build components on. I was in a situation were the original engine was basically junk, so I started with a clean slate. I sourced from our local pick n pull a '99 3/4 ton chevy "880" casting small block (5.7 ltr). This block had the "good" stuff- valley drilled for a roller camshaft installation,4 bolt main, cross drilled crank shaft(for full time oiling of the main bearings), drilled for the mechanical fuel pump, an 8" balancer and a windage tray, as well as a one piece rear main seal. The eng was sent out for boiling, align honing and deck squaring. After the block checked out, it was bored .030" over. The crank and rods were also checked for re-use. The machine shop fitted forged speed pro pistons, hastings cast iron rings, and sent the rotating assy out for balancing. The camshaft is a chevy "395" ramjet (P/N 14097395)- mercury also uses this camshaft in some of their newer marine engines under a different p/n. The camshaft is a roller design. I used a chevrolet performance roller cam kit that has the roller lifters, lifter links, retaining spyder and the spyder bolts. new pushrods, headbolts, were used. A new speedpro oil pump and pump drive were installed. I bought Summit racing heads P/N 152123-they had the springs, spring retainers and valve seals, 2.02/1.6 valves with 72cc chambers and 165 cc runners ready to bolt on. They were cheaper to buy than to have the old heads reworked. I have a Mallory Marine distributor with an Ignitor II coil and breaker point conversion kit. I used a chevy cast iron manifiold #346249-one of the better flowing cast iron intakes. The quadrajet carb was reworked by Jet Performance. I installed a GLM center rise manifold conversion kit (from log style) and a San Juan Engineering fresh water cooling kit. The starter is a marine approved gear reduction starter for more starting torque and the alternator is a 100 amp marine approved, up from the original 62 amp. When I went to a one piece rear main seal from the original 2 pc, I had to install a new flywheel (still 12 3/4") as well as a new coupler to fit the flywheel bolt pattern. I also installed new block drains to facilitate draining of the block when needed. Your question about the Edelbrock manifold is yes, it would help with engine power, but without freshwater cooling, especially if your in a saltwater environment is the manifold will not last long at all. If you look back thru some of my original eng pictures, you can see what 30+ yrs of salt water exposure did to the cooling system. I didn't want to go thru that again, so under advice of fellow boaters, I installed the fresh water cooling system, so I can run an anti-freeze mixture in the engine like a car/truck uses
 
Whoa! That is a lot of muscle for a 190. I imagine if you prop it right you should hit 55mph. I notice you went 43....did I read what prop you are using?

I plan to stick with a 5.0. I need enough power for an SRV207, but good economy for long trips out on Lake Powell. I'm hoping to upgrade to a 70 gallon gas tank to help this effort.
 
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When I built the engine, the intent was to have good power, yet maintain a good level of reliability, so a fair amount was spent on parts to that direction. I figure that if something ever happens to the boat, the engine will make a great street rod engine. I was able to hit 43 mph with four adults and a 1/2 tank of fuel as registered on the speedo using a pitot system. I am running a 14.8x19 Pitch 4 blade prop, so coming out of the hole is strong with good acceleration. If I go to a 3 blade prop, I may get a little more speed out of her, but 40+ MPH is plenty good for the intended use. I'm still down at the moment, haven't recovered from the Mothers Day fuel pump issue. I've installed a new pump, flushed all the hard lines and the fuel/water filter inlet/outlets and will be replacing the original rubber fuel line, as well as checking the thru hull tank vent for blockage. I've removed the fuel tank and having it flushed by a local company that does that type of work so hopefully, I can get the gal back on the water within the next week. As a question to everyone reading this - kind of a dumb question in itself, are you running any type of fuel filter before the carb or pump? I know electric pumps should have a filter before the pump, but I haven't seen anything referencing a filter other than the fuel/water filter before a mechanical pump or a filter between the mechanical pump and carb. Any suggestions? Thanks!
 
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Hi Everyone. Well, we're close to being back in the water. Finally had time to put all the pieces back together after the Mothers Day fun and games on Lake Stevens and the subsequent issues. i had mentioned about getting the tank flushed and that is finished and the tank reinstalled. The company that flushed the tank was initially puzzled as to why I brought the tank to them. From what is the front of the tank, (where the fuel fill, vent and quantity send attach points), all looked well. When they removed the pick-up tube, they found it was cracked in two places and broken at the outlet bung and the strainer screen was 95% blocked, so they proceeded to flush the tank. My tank has a baffle about a third of the way from the front-that side looked clean visually, so when they sprayed into the pickup side of the baffle, I was told a very large amount of biological growth and sediment came from that side of the baffle. They finished flushing, installed a new fuel pickup tube and called it good. As I took their advice, I installed a new fuel fill line, vent line and tank to filter line with ethanol resistant hoses. I also installed a new thru the hull tank vent with a P-trap type vent and installed a Racor LG100 vent surge canister. I posted some pictures of the fuel system components installed as well as a snap of the old pickup tube and some of the sediment that came out of the tank. So hopefully, my fuel delivery issues are not going to be an issue in the future.100_1856.jpg100_1858.jpg100_1859.jpg100_1860.jpg
 
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After spending the two weeks moving and getting settled in, I finally have time to pay attention to the boat. I'm having an issue that has me at impass'- seems to be the week for engine issues. I replaced the carb with a rebuilt unit fro Jet Performance who i have used in the past. The engine started up after the initial sputtering while the bowl filled with fuel. The engine ran fine at idle and after a warm up period, I brought the the RPM's up to 2000-2500 RPM's. The engine ran fine, but as it heated up, I don't know if its coincidence, but the engine would act like it was dropping a cylinder- it would backfire, stumble then recover as if nothing happened. At times it would only do it once, then at times it would be two times back to back, but the engine would recover every time. I had installed an Ignitor II and coil when I first rebuilt the engine, but had issues with and re-installed the original Ignitor and coil. I put the original Ignitor back in to keep from bypassing the resistor wire in the harness. Does it seem like an ignition problem? maybe the coil or Ignitor pick-up or possibly the wires breaking down? I'm stumped, I'm about ready to go back to points and get away from the electronic ignition stuff.
 
Question on exhaust manifolds- got a bit of water out of the #7 cyl when turning eng over by hand with all plugs out. I don't have water in the oil, so I'm considering a manifold/riser issue. When I put the manifollds/risers on I may have gotten the gasket requirements incorrect. I installed a closed water cooling system with the manifolds. With the block off gaskets from the manifolds to the risers, should I only have the metal block off gaskets or should I have the fiber gaskets as well. Currently I have a sandwich of gaskets- fiber,metal,fiber. Have I created a potential leakage issue with that arrangement? What would be the best scenario? As a side note, I have been getting some steam out of the exhaust the last time I was out (hadn't noticed it in the past). When I pulled the plug, it was sooty, not washed as if it was being washed. I also noticed what may be a loss of cooling water out of the exchanger after sitting for awhile. Would it be possible for the cooling water to leak past the riser and into the manifold and make its way into the lowest cylinder? ( lowest when parked with bow higher on trailer) The manifolds and risers are new - less than 5 hrs on them-not implying anything negative, but I have GLM manifolds/risers. Thanks for any ideas/suggestions.
 
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