Will it fit or only cause a fit ?

[2texoma]

Hello fellow boaters and will be boaters soon as the old gal is seaworthy. As you can see,I'm new here. I'm also new to inboards and Sea Rays. Realizing many members injoy sharing expertise and visiting with those in need,I hope I don't give the impression I'm atempting to circumvent. I recently bought a 1977 CRV200 w/228 Mercruiser that somone had already began "fixing". While lurking for 2 months,I saw that diy boat owners have similar concurns to diy truck owners. I frequent Fordtruckenthusiasts.com to get information on my 6.0L Ford diesel engine. We will return to boats momntarily,but I feel that seeing what members of FTE have done to make information available makes the case far better than I could hope to. An example; A member with transister knowledge dismantled his fuel injection control modul (go's bad often on 6.0L and very expensive to replace) to observe several solder joints had overheated and came apart. With nothing to lose,he resoldered and reinstalled it. Truck ran better than it ever had. His thread was "stickyed" in what is called "Tech Folders"and now thousands 6.0L owners would like to tounge kiss DrQuid for his no cost 30 miniute diy fix that saves them each hundreds of dollars on a new ficm and makes the part better than new because the problem seldom reaccures. There are many many more repairs and up grades in the tech folders that came from members who figured out what Ford Motor Co didn't resulting in millions of dollars spent throwing parts at the engine. A visit to FTE should be educational. Back to boats. While lurking it became obivous a sticky folder could be a welcome find for SR owners and especialy Classic owners. To mention a few issues that come up offten and linger with varieing opinions/answers , will a ________ part sold for a 5.7L pick up truck engine fit a 5.7L marine? What tempature should a ________ maintain under full load? If a 50/50 mix anti-freeze is good,is 80% anti-freeze better? Should I do anything different to winterizing when I lay up my _________ for 5 years while I am over seas?
I hope this subject isn't in bad form in a vinue sponsered by the very company who's parts and service depts might suffer lose in the end. :smt021
What are your thoughts on this or other means of making selected info easier to find and share? I am especialy interested in the Mod(s) take. I certainly have found a lot of valuable information while reading here.

Thanks for listening to an old mans ramblings.

 

[Lazy Daze]

Welcome aboard, Tex!

First, just an FYI, this forum has nothing to do with Sea Ray (the company). It is sponsored (developed by, maintained by, etc) a gentleman named Jim - he owns BOE Marine out of Maryland. Actually, to be more specific, it's also sponsored by many of us who donate a few bucks to help keep it going.

Back to your question... the problem with maintaining an easy-to-find database for questions like yours (which are good ones) is that there are SO MANY different combinations of hulls, engines, running gears, etc that it would be near impossible. On the automotive forums, you can easily have a subsection devoted strictly to a particular engine - it gets very tough to do that with boats.

However, there is a Technical Articles subsection. And, many of the questions you posed are actually already in the forum... finding them using the search can sometimes be hard, though. Somewhere there's a very good "how to" thread on "how to search"... but I can't seem to find it....

 

[Loneranger]

I agree a FAQ or more stickied threads would help a lot. For example, why discuss portable generators yet again?

The trouble I see it is takes effort and a lot of work by moderators and administrators to assemble FAQs.

John

 

[2texoma]

Welcome aboard, Tex!





However, there is a Technical Articles subsection. And, many of the questions you posed are actually already in the forum... finding them using the search can sometimes be hard, though. Somewhere there's a very good "how to" thread on "how to search"... but I can't seem to find it....

Thanks for the warm words of welcome and enlightment Dennis.
I see that what I am saying about easy access is alread recconized but is difficult to resolve without creating somthing that would be beound capiabilities of average e-tec knowledge.
However,I am still learning since undertaking rehab of this boat and reading about other people's endeavors to preserve their boats. Like I never understood why skippers don't skip ship when it go's down. I believe he knows his wife will kill him anyhow when he comes home without it and tells her they still have to pay off the loan.

 

[fwebster]

There are sticky topics here, but if you are asking for a cross-over list of automotive to marine applications, it doesn't exist and probably never will. Some of us know enough about the technical aspects of the base engines to know what parts are interchangeable, but there is a liability issue when one recommends using auto parts on boats. Many components are very similar but will create substantial risk of fire, explosion, corrosion, etc. if used. We don't know how or if a reader is mechanically savvy or competent to understand the risks. For that reason, many of us won't post a recommendation for using auto parts of any kind on a boat.

 

[2texoma]

There are sticky topics here, but if you are asking for a cross-over list of automotive to marine applications, it doesn't exist and probably never will. Some of us know enough about the technical aspects of the base engines to know what parts are interchangeable, but there is a liability issue when one recommends using auto parts on boats. Many components are very similar but will create substantial risk of fire, explosion, corrosion, etc. if used. We don't know how or if a reader is mechanically savvy or competent to understand the risks. For that reason, many of us won't post a recommendation for using auto parts of any kind on a boat.

Yup, I know some have those kind of reservations. No reason to question another man's judgment when it comes to action or inaction he feels might cause him problems. If I can help others and injoy it, hopfuly somone I offered tips on laying up fiberglass don't drown himself as a result of the patch falling out and sinking his boat. At least I will be content until it happens otherwise I would always be miserable keeping the pucker string taut 24/7. I do refrain in cases like one a few years back. Kid called me for instructions in removing the oil pan from his car. I advised him there is nothing inside he qulifies to mess with if he doesn't know how to remove the pan.

 

[wileecoyote]

I believe Dennis has hit the nail on the head. Auto forums are useful for the points you make only because hundreds of thousands of vehicles are produced using the same parts with limited suppliers on an assembly line. Most components come pre-assembled and are simply installed on the chassis. Aside from the pre-assembled powertrain a boat is more like and RV or custom van.
You would be as surprised as I was when trying to locate a manufacturer for the electroluminescent lighting behind my dash that 3 different people with the same model boat all had 3 different module manufacturers. They are simply not as cookie-cutter as most automotive applications.

If you choose to support the site and become a sponsor you will have access to the tech articles section where some of us have posted DIY repairs and guidance similar to what you are referring. I know the duckbill guide that FourSuns did saved me loads of time and headache when diagnosing and repairing my VacUflush head!

I would start by reading the posts in the forum listed for classic boats and find someone with the same or similar boat as yours and read all their posted info, then bounce questions off of them. The Pre-Clintonites post is one that RonDDS started and a bunch of us with 80's vintage boats have passed lots of useful info amongst ourselves.