New to me but big trouble.

[AFD]

We are keeping our boat at my grandparents summer home on cape cod this year where I spent my summers. It's little more than a cottage with a small back yard and a large dock they put I. While I was still in diapers. They have had several large boats in their day but now just keep a small day boat on their private dock in a quiet bay in Falmouth and the large, deep side has been open for years.
I want my kids to know the joys that my grandparents have brought to my life while they are still around and even though they are in their late 80's, I feel like they will be around forever as they are healthier and more active than some 40year olds I know.
Well I was preparing the dock the other day while my wife played with our daughters on the grass and my phone to go, my grandmother called to tell me to ask if I can clean out the shed, she bought some new chairs and wanted to put them in their when she arrived. Inside I found a relatively newer outboard buried in the back on a stand. I had never seen it before and thought it must be one of the neighbors using the shed. My grandfather apparently went out to get gas for the little aluminum boat and came home with a brand new Yamaha 4hp 2stroke back in 1997 because "He was sick of dealing with the old one". We'll it has been in there since 97 or 98. I was in college then and for about 3 years, never made it to their summer house.
We'll Nana said "keep it, it's yours". PERFECT.

Dumped out the old gas from at least 16years ago and brought it home. I put the engine in a barrel and poured in a splash of 50:1 ethanol free pre mixed from true fuel and second d pull it fired, I am in complete disbelief. I shut it down and filled the bucket with water, let it run for about a minute and saw a lot of steam coming from under the I reread gas tank.
We'll my grandfather has always been a hard working, get up early, go to bed late, build it yourself kind of guy. Apparently he forgot to flush the motor back in the 90's and it sat with salt water in it. The pictures show a hole corroded right through the water jacket surrounding the cylinder.






the yellow in the pictures is a piece of plastic that i cut to help make a mold for the JB weld. the water was leaking from a tiny crack but when i started scraping the aluminum around it was weakened. The salt was solid inside and the pressure blew out the cast aluminum. I scrapped, gauged and flushed for hours. I took the exhaust covers off where the thermostat is housed and it was full of packed salt and a little pit of sand. This poor motor. I cleaned and cleaned and scrapped some more. Went to advance auto and grabbed some JB marine to try to save this little motor because, after all, it runs and runs well. I didn't want to buy a new crank case and tear it apart because the part alone is over $500 so JB Marine weld here we go.
The JB weld has cured, and everything is back together. i boiled the old thermostat and it worked perfectly. im going to let the JB cure for a couple more hours and ill be back with an update.mwish me luck

 

[dpmulvey]

Sounds like fun. Good luck. Keep us posted.

 

[RichardS]

WOW, it really demonstrates just how corrosive an environment many of us boat in. Me one of those guys. I'll bet your Gramps only forgot to flush it that last time he used it, but look at the results! I think it's awesome you're bringing it back to life....your grandparents are already proud of you I'm sure, but this will be a great success story to show them when you're done. Good luck with it!

 

[Lazy Daze]

It DOES sound like fun! A nice little project to give you something to do... as if we need more of "those"! :smt001

I've worked with many products, but never JB. Do you need to strengthen the hole with something more than just the JB? Like maybe a piece of fiberglass?

Good luck - if it works out, you've got a nice motor there.

 

[AFD]

so i started with the JB weld marine last night and it NEEDED 15hrs min to cure. of course i couldn't wait any longer so at 15hrs i started it up. the engine ran on and off for about 2 hours in a barrel. while checking for leaks. i do have one leaking gasket that i have already ordered and the old fuel must have gelled in the bottom of the carb and broke free when the new fuel was siting in it breaking it down. i got a clog and had to tear apart the carborator and blow it out with compressed air. a giant snot came shooting out of it. i cannot believe how well the gaskets held up to being taken apart and put back together. not one ripped gasket.
the JB is holding great. i did not end up using the plastic cap as a backer because the initial test proved to bond to it too well and i was concerned with removing it afterwards. i did use a piece of soft cardboard with printing on it as the epoxy kept slidding off of it during my trial and error prior to attacking the engine.
the cardboard worked like a charm. the epoxy, when hardened, slid right off with a small tug and the cardboard came out in one piece.
I have used JB products in the past and some are very think like puddy and easy to mold to certain shapes. this was not. it was pretty runny when applied and almost like cold wood glue. it was very difficult to keep in place and prevent running. i had to continue to roll the entire outboard for the first hour or so every few minutes to keep the product in place.
the epoxy has hardened to what feels like soft aluminum but will continue to harden for the next few hours. i will re apply it because there is one spot that remains flexible but it is due to the product being very thin in that area. I am convinced that once i re apply to that spot that the JB marine will hold perfectly. this area has no real pressure aside from the flow of water under whatever pressure the impeller is producing after it passes through several small passageways to get to it so no direct high pressure force. i am extremely pleased and wildly impressed with both Yamaha and JB products. also i could not be happier to have a light weight 2 stroke in like new running condition (aside from the labor and $8.38 in epoxy) it was free to me. i will be replacing the thermostat and the gaskets all the way around even though i only have on small drip every 45 seconds, piece of mind is worth more that the $30 in gaskets will cost me.

i'll have more pictures in a little bit but i'm actually on shift and have a meeting at HQ to go to.

also i may have a 1994 2hp johnson in like new condition for sale soon if this yamaha holds together as expected. i got this one as well as the inflatable from a barter for a new tile shower surround i did over the winter.

 

[BillK2632]

This is really good stuff! I love those little old 2 cycle outboards. As a kid (before the days of jet skis) we all had little 12ft boats with 10hp motors - a Mercury 9.8 was the motor of choice, a few Johnsons and Evinrudes, but mainly Mercury. I swear I would run 12gal of gas through that thing some weekends. We literally wore one out a 1973 model, then got a new one (1982 model) that probably had 1000+hrs on it when it went into storage. I got out of college, moved to Atlanta, got a job married etc and didn't use the little boat for years. Grandparents passed away and the motor was put in storage at my uncles lake house. A few years ago I went looking for it only to find out it apparently went missing from his shed at some point (ie stolen). I had planned to buy a 12ft boat to put it on, almost cried! Just a picture of an old motor like that takes me down memory lane, nothing like the sound and smell of a 2 cycle outboard! I remember pumping the primer bulb, pulling out the choke, and having to stand up and pull the start cord with two hands! Alright, I gotta stop, could go on for ever about this.

Keep us updated and take some pictures of it after you get it on a boat.

 

[magstang1]

Nice work!

Just keep some extra JB in the tool kit and if she ever lets loose and strands you, bang! 15 hours and you're back on your merry way.

I kid... I kid...

 

[dpmulvey]

This is really good stuff! I love those little old 2 cycle outboards. As a kid (before the days of jet skis) we all had little 12ft boats with 10hp motors - a Mercury 9.8 was the motor of choice, a few Johnsons and Evinrudes, but mainly Mercury. I swear I would run 12gal of gas through that thing some weekends. We literally wore one out a 1973 model, then got a new one (1982 model) that probably had 1000+hrs on it when it went into storage. I got out of college, moved to Atlanta, got a job married etc and didn't use the little boat for years. Grandparents passed away and the motor was put in storage at my uncles lake house. A few years ago I went looking for it only to find out it apparently went missing from his shed at some point (ie stolen). I had planned to buy a 12ft boat to put it on, almost cried! Just a picture of an old motor like that takes me down memory lane, nothing like the sound and smell of a 2 cycle outboard! I remember pumping the primer bulb, pulling out the choke, and having to stand up and pull the start cord with two hands! Alright, I gotta stop, could go on for ever about this.

Keep us updated and take some pictures of it after you get it on a boat.

Small tear in my eye remembering that over 50 years ago with my dad. Thanks.

 

[fwebster]

Here is a J&B Weld story for you:

About 20 years ago, I had 40 acres to clean up and needed a track loader or dozer for a few months. I don't like to rent or borrow equipment because I usually have to fix broken stuff to use either, so I went shopping. I found a pretty nice John Deere track loader with a rod thrown through the engine block right behind the fuel pump. I made the owner a "pay me to haul it away" offer and ended up buying it and all the pieces we could find that the rod broke loose when it came out of its home in the bottom end. I tore the front end off and lifted the engine out and found that the hole in the block was behind the fuel system was right below the deck and involved no internal supports cast in to it. The bonus we that the interior was intact and the rod just missed the water jacket, but it did leave a fist sized hole in the block and we found about 75% of the missing hunk of cast iron. I ordered a sleeve kit, one piston and and one rod figuring if my repair worked, I'd run the machine for a while and if t he patch held, I overhaul the complete engine the following winter. I used the original J&B Weld , ground 'V' grooves in the cracks and stuck the block back together. I formed the missing pieces using Formica by heating and bent it to shape, then removed the Formica, and ground the J&B Weld to give it a "tooth" and to smooth up the patch, then put on a couple of coats of new J&B Weld. The patch looked pretty good so I put the engine back together and reinstalled it. It fired up and ran fine in the shop. I figured it would come apart again when I loaded the engine up, got it up to temperature and put a few hours on it. Nope... the old John Deere ran great, I cleared the 40 acres up and sold the machine to a guy down the road, and never did rebuild the engine. That was 20 years ago and my neighbor was out on the John Deere last weekend pushing up brush with the same J&B Weld patch on the motor block.

What I learned is J&B Weld is real good $h!t. I takes a lot longer to cure than their packaging says.....I always wait 2X the time the label says brfore stressing it. I always have a couple of fresh packages in the shop and on the boat.......I couldn't do without it.

I hope you have the same results on your outboard as I did on the old John Deere.

 

[Gofirstclass]

AFD, good job bringing that old motor back to life. In these days of 'disposable everything' it's nice to see someone taking the time to restore an old motor to good use.

The comments above about boating with dads and grandpas brings back a lot of memories to me also. We had a cottage on Lake Huron at the time and my grandpa bought me a rowboat when I was about 6 or 7, then an old 7 or 7.5hp Evinrude a couple of years later. I was on top of the world with that speedy boat. I don't know how many hours I put on it but I was on that boat every day during the summer for several hours. I don't know what ever happened to the boat or the motor. I left home at 15 and never did use them again. My guess is they were given to one of the neighbors near our cottage.

 

[Jeremygavin]

AFD, I am in Falmouth harbor. Where is your grandparents place?

 

[Bob & Sue]

I've used JB weld on many projects I had a Bravo II now spare prop that the exhaust ring came off several years ago when I dropped it. The prop shop said they couldn't guarantee fixing it so it came home for a good cleaning and fit used a steel shaft with dial indicator to make sure it ran true. Applied the JB weld marine to it let set up for a few days checked it again ran within .003 run out, that prop is on the boat right now while the newer prop is being tuned it hasn't failed or had any vibration at all.

I've also used the JB weld plastic bonder on several projects this stuff works & can be sanded and painted to match John Deere hoods when you hit a low hanging branch.

Added edit:
I'd watch the bay to see if a case shows up in case the JB fails. Just because gramps owned it.

 

[AFD]

AFD, I am in Falmouth harbor. Where is your grandparents place?

Eel pond, 4 inlets east of you across from washburn island. i used to swim across about 1/4 mile to the island but now there are too many boats going by to make the swim across the channel. before they trusted me with an outboard, i had to prove i could row around washburn island. any of you know the area, it a lot for a 12year old to do but my grandfather sat in the back of that 10' aluminum row boat and watched me row around the entire thing, open water and through 2 inlets. took most of the day but i did it and will never forget.

 

[AFD]

the motor runs great. temp stays the same as best as my hand can tell across the block. the JB has hardened completely and the soft spot from before is rock hard. I will still thicken up the area but just for piece of mind.

i dont know why the surface looks so lumpy, its almost perfect in person. i think its just the flash shaddows.


Side note. the oil level is a little low but i'll be replacing it anyway, does anyone know what "WASH" means while i go look this up?

 

[Jeremygavin]

Eel pond, 4 inlets east of you across from washburn island. i used to swim across about 1/4 mile to the island but now there are too many boats going by to make the swim across the channel. before they trusted me with an outboard, i had to prove i could row around washburn island. any of you know the area, it a lot for a 12year old to do but my grandfather sat in the back of that 10' aluminum row boat and watched me row around the entire thing, open water and through 2 inlets. took most of the day but i did it and will never forget.

That's a great spot. We hang out on Washburn from time to time on the left side of the inlet to waquiot bay. I grew up in sandwich on the marshes near the boardwalk. Spent my youth in a 9' hydroplane with a 9.9hp on it. Good times. My friends father owned Prince Cove Marina so I spent a bunch of time in cotuit bay as well. Look us up when you are down this summer. We are on the end slip in front of Flying Bridge restaurant almost directly across the harbor from the gas dock at McDougals Marina. We are on the boat every weekend.

Nice work with the outboard. Can't beat a home repair that is cheap and easy.

 

[AFD]

HIJACKED my own thread


Jeremy,
I used to take my sunfish over the other side of washburn when I was a kid and spend the day combing the salt ponds for hermit crabs and shinners for bait. The back side where you beach is directly across from my grandparents and used to have the best clams in the world, pure white shells in the cleanest sand.
I have friends that live on Almy rd over by the boardwalk and I have renovated a ton of those houses when working for my old boss in my earlier days. Great neighborhood. Spent a lot of hot days jumping off the boardwalk bridge.
Our boat will be going in soon and sea trialed after the engine install and then we are bringing her to falmouth by water. If you head up the eel pond around the north side of washburn on your way to waquot bay, we will be on the left, bow in. Boat's name is ACDC (our initials).
My old roommate is one of the managers at Nancy's so you will probably find me there more often. MMSI is in my sig. Really interested in finding out about the cape by boat. Aside from fishing vineyard sound, and circling waquot in the sunfish, I don't know much about the area.

 

[Jeremygavin]

You will love cruising around down there. Lots to do and many places to go for a day trip. We spend a lot of time in OB so I am sure we will cross paths.