Another aluminum boat saga : Arkansas Traveler

I haven't mentioned this yet but from my ankles to my kneecaps I'm covered in poison ivy. I have a bit on my arms as well, luckily none on my face yet. Just a tiny bit on my neck. It's progressed enough I had to get some steroids yesterday to help reduce swelling, which is a first for me. Never had it this bad before. I apparently was so wrapped up in how to drain the swamp and not get shredded by thorns that I failed to see the poisonous greenery waiting to make sweet love to my flesh. Oh well.

Last night I attempted to do a compression check. I pulled the cord start assembly to expose the flywheel nut. I tried to let a drill spin the crank for me but it was not meant to be. Even with a higher torque of an impact it wanted to just snug the nut further which was not what I wanted to do. So I put the cord assembly back on and gave it the best effort possible. Due to the awkwardness of the poorly fashioned stand, height of the cord, and me being only 170 pounds it mustered up a whopping 60 psi per cylinder. I think with a proper spin it would be 100 or better, I just couldn't get it spinning fast enough. I am happy to see both cylinders holding the 60 and being well within the standard 10 percent window. So I think it's been established to be a healthy-ish motor.

Then I plopped down on the couch to compare pics of flywheels that have a ring gear vs mine. I've been hesitant to buy anything that isn't necessary yet, and the flywheels I have found are priced about $50-80 shipped. Too much to consider right now. When you toss in the cost of a starter and bracket combo that's another $80 or more. So I'll wait for the right deal. Then I found just a ring gear being sold. It appears I can bolt that on to my existing flywheel and then only need to source a cheap bracket. Pretty sure I have a spare starter in the attic that needs some brush work, but will need to look it over. I paid a whopping $27 for the ring gear, so hopefully I can keep the upgrade well below the $100 belt line. I'll know soon enough if I bought scrap metal or am a genius. Pretty sure I know where I'd place my bets.

Janky outboard stand has been fashioned. I used my Burro sawhorse, some 2x4s, and some castors that were laying around. I just kinda pieced it all together with a super loose idea. It's far from the best, but it supports the engine and rolls around.

I was hoping to get some power washing done but the poison ivy has been kicking my ass. To avoid getting all itchy from crap spraying on me I tried my best to just blow off the cobwebs, dirt, and ant farm growing under the cover. I noticed the motor would tilt up and down but as far as steering goes it was locked up. I sprayed some pb blaster at the pivot points and gave it another go. Didn't budge. So I took a block of wood and a 5 pound sledge to the steering arm thing and it finally broke free. It's still a little tight, so I've been just moving it every few hours and lubing with more PB Blaster. I don't see any grease fittings which is kinda weird.

With that out of the way I pulled the carb and fuel filter assembly. A good ole fashioned soak in some old Berryman's carb dip did the trick. Everything looks good, just need to get some o-rings and misc. stuff for the fuel filter and one of the jets I think.

Before:

Afterish:

Before removing the carb, I figured it would easier to tinker with the pull start assembly out of the way. It was then I realized that there is a compression release connected to the pull start. Don't know how I didn't see that before. I decided to try another go at a compression test with that disconnected. Just shy of 120 psi for both cylinders. Heck yeah! I'm going to get a list together and start ordering some parts. Water pump and carb stuff mainly. Trying to keep my focus just on the outboard for now. I think if I get it sorted first the rest of the boat will go quickly and then I won't be staring at a pretty hull with a scuzzlebutt power unit that doesn't run yet.

The grease fittings may not be zerk fittings.  On mine it is literally just a little nipple of aluminum you shove the grease gun over.

Good to hear on the compression. Mine with the 6V starter spinning under 12V was ~85PSI on both cylinders.  That was before I got it running, though.  Wonder if it's different now.

Sucks on the poison ivy.

In reply to Mr_Asa :

I saw there was a little nub. Tonight I'll see if I can get some grease through it. I believe there was a small hole in it so that makes sense.

Yeah, it stinks. I'm dancing a fine line between staying busy so I don't try to itch, and smacking up against stuff that makes it all itch. All things considered I'm still getting stuff done so that's nice.

Yeah, I noticed the poison ivy in the pictures and hoped you didn't come in contact with it. Figured there was no sense in saying anything as what was done was done. I hate poison ivy and my kids and I go through the tree line and property several times a year on "poison ivy patrol," carrying brush killer spray. We were over run with it when we bought the place and it's much more manageable now.

Here's hoping the motor fires up easily! It's amazing how much they can put up with some times. Volvoclearinghouse had that big block Ford with a nasty watery milkshake that came out the oil drain plug and it ran well enough for Lemons racing.

Almost forgot.  The compression release is supposed to engage when you pull on it with the cord and (I think) not engage with a starter.  Lot of people disconnect them as they don't ever pull start their motors.

In reply to dculberson :

I used to keep an eye out on it like crazy, but our house the past 3 years has luckily been completely devoid of it. My senses have failed me now because I have become pampered.

These old 2 strokes appear to be super resilient. I assume a lot of that has to do with them just being parked when they start to run like crap and are left for dead. Usually a clogged carb I would guess. I've found that old motorcycles share the same fate luckily and are easily brought back to life.

In reply to Mr_Asa :

Never would have thought of that. If this ring gear works out and I find cheap enough starter setup I'll be sure to pull that.

I noticed you have some fancy new fuel lines on yours that look OEM. Where did you get those?

I think you can just pull the lever system.  If you dig through my Lonestar thread you should find an example of what the head looks like without that stuff as my Lark didn't even come with the lever

90% sure that would be T.A. Mahoney's, a local mom n pop shop that has been around for 50+ years.  The grey hose definitely came from there, the black may not have.

The other possibility is O'Reilly's, I dug through there a few times when it was too late in the day to get to T.A.M.'s

There are places that sell much closer to OEM, but I usually don't bother.

The ring gear for the starter conversion came in. It fits! I mean, I don't have a starter or bracket yet, but it looks like it should work. I'll keep my eye out for a good deal and pounce when something cheap pops up.

Right now I'm waiting on new fuel line, primer bulb, and carb kit. Should have them here on Friday, so we may be making noise very soon. Once the noise is made it's time to start power washing and making things purdy again. Wahoo!

Your pic reminds me, I need to order a fuel pump rebuild kit for my Lark.  I didn't like the bare metal so I tore it apart and painted it.

Back to the top on this one. Things have changed. New direction but with a little more spice and fun factor.

Where I left off was messing with the outboard. I installed some new fuel lines, bulb, and half ass installed some fresh carb gaskets. Also did a quick Berrymans dip with it, but ended up with a leaky carb worse than before I touched it. I tried to just get a quick spurt of life and wasn't able to get it to fire. Never replaced the plugs, cleaned or checked points, but remember getting spark so who knows.

So then everything just sat. For months. I've been messing with the K swapped FRS and a few other cars I've been buying and selling like a ding dong. Last car hopefully will be wrapped up soon and out of my way so this vessel is back on the menu.

Yesterday I officially struck a deal with an automotive/watersport enthusiast that happened to have a Seadoo. A cheap one. $300 cheap. It's a 93 GTX which has the smaller 587 but from what I can tell swapping in a larger 720 wouldn't be difficult. Why do I need a Seadoo? Cause this thing is turning into a jet boat. I have wanted to do one for years. In fact I watched fellow member Toyman splice one together quite a few years ago <<CLICK HERE>>

There's a ton of information out there now on how to scab the hull of the ski to the boat hull. Lots of different ways to do it, but it involves cutting up two to make one. I'll probably spend a few days just staring and measuring. This is gonna be fun.

Here's a couple pics of the donor.

Oh, hell yes.

I've been very interested in building a project like this for years as well.  I've resigned myself to not actually doing it myself (plenty of projects on the list already).  So I can live vicariously through you.  Or...just maybe, change my mind as a result ;)