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Finally bought a Starliner.

Mocked it up today.

18 1/4" of set back, 4" of up/down w/a button.

Down, prop shaft is 4" bellow. Up, it is even.
The motor is now far enough back to delete the splash well and build a bracket/platform/sun lounge.

Down, I'm OK with. Up, I think it will come off the motor board and kill me.

#1 is down, and #2 is up. If someone can turn the picture (2) for me, please do. It is correct on my puter.

I rotated your picture Gary.:thumb:
 
you definitely have my interest here! that motor is WAY back there! you thinking of deleting the coolers and putting a pad all the way across the back?
 
Yes as atc posted I had a Bob's static 8 inch plate with a 5-1/2 inch hydraulic and running a 27 Trophy hit 76 or 77, cannot remember but honestly we rigged it that way and really did not push for speed.

Chuck
 
Another, if I did it proper like.
I didn't buy this boat to reinvent the mouse trap though. That would be the easiest and make the most sense.
We'll see what this winter brings.

CK, very cool. I like all things fast but the last few trips full of good friends w/ear to ear grins.., we'll see.
If I can get low/mid 70's, turn key, no drama................., I'd probably be OK w/that.
For a while anyhow :brickwall:
 
A bit of headway....

After 8 yrs in Fla it took me a while to accept the idea that Carharts and a torpedo heater in the barn was fun :o

Hydraulic steering is in w/the exception of fittings on back of the pump to accept the hoses (arrived today)and a new steering wheel.

Been like Christmas here the last few days.

Just rec'd:

New rigging tube w/the port for fuel line

Steering wheel

Dual blinker style trim switches

12" trailer bunk brackets to raise the boat up so the motor doesn't have to be tilted up to save the skeg.

Remote filler for oil tank

26" ET (for light loads)

22" Chopper (for surprising the boys w/the light boats from a dig or slow roll and define the word "torque")

Jack plate gauge

Dual pyro

And more to come.

Here's a couple in process. Also installed a new/used swim ladder.
 

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Looking great, Instigator! Love this thread.

Thanks Mr. Sam.

Has been a long time coming and I'm enjoying the hell out of it.

After work today, I spent a 1/2 hr suiting up and getting the heat going in the barn and got the steering in and trim buttons mounted.
Another cool page in the equation....., found a guy on e-bay w/two new, never mounted dual control foot throttle and bought both.
We'll see if I can make it work...
 
Don't remember seeing this addressed before but I put a level on my bottom last night and there is noticeable hook on pretty much the entire trailing edge of it.
I'm going to start w/straightening mine on just the v/pad leaving the rest alone to aid in mid/low speed attitude.

That and the previous recommendation of removing the foam from the bow............., I am expecting good things come spring :thumb:

The old motor left for Michigan yesterday so I've got some work to do.
 
Got to play with it Saturday for the 1st time in 3 months.

Spent all day on the trailer.
The boat sat way too low on it, requiring a fully tilted motor to tow it and the boat guides sucked as well as scuffing the gel.
Bunks are all reconfigured and OEM guides are gone and waiting on real ones.

Now I get to install, wire, rig, mount all the cool stuff I bought for it over the winter. (Doh!)

Also got two of the matching Checkmate boat towels for it that Gigi alerted us to ;)

Stopped in Harbor Freight the other day and they have their rolling gantry's on sale and I almost did something really stupid.
Been wanting to build a set but nothing yet.
Would have made my two day trailer re-fit, a 2 hr job.
Also thinking for taking the hook out of the bottom......
 
So this morning I told the wife I was going to the pole barn to assemble her new from Vietnam, via Amazon.com teak patio furniture.

Here's what I accomplished.

Ever since I finished the 3.3 it has cranked slow. Like slow enough that it probably wouldn't even start.
The starter was out of the junk bin so I bought a gently used replacement off of e-bay.
No improvement. Even w/my battery charger set to boost/50 amp, it still cranked slow. That should have been a sign.

I convinced myself it was just tight as I planed the mating surfaces between the block and case on this motor and though maybe I took off too much.

Last fall when I hung the 3.3 I was getting no spark and figured I had a loose plug somewhere which is common on the OMC loopers.

Today I started thinking about the slow cranking speed and the no ignition last fall. These motors are also notorious for that.
You can use the factory manual to ohm out ignition components and fail a bunch of funk due to slow cranking speed.
So today I pulled the plugs (reducing load/drag on the starter) then hooked up my spark tester and cranked the starter.

I was rewarded w/clean, white spark on all six holes!

I then decide to run a pre-start compression test on this franken motor.
While holding the button on my remote starter and watching my digital compression gauge, the power lead from the starter solenoid to the starter starts to smoke!
The lead looked perfect but I investigated further and found massive corrosion under the insulation.
I replaced the lead and the cranking speed probably doubled!

I re-ran the compression test and picked up 10 lbs.

Now I'm exited for Spring.
 

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God, clearly this is a test?? :brickwall:

Three steps forward, 2 steps back.

So I'm making headway but as w/any big project I've attacked, I stub my toe a few times.

Finally got the hydraulic lines for the new steering run through the bulkhead connectors and they look great.
Also had lines made for the jack plate and did the same with it through opposite side of splash well and also looks great.

Fabbed up a pc of PVC to mount the jack pump and it also came out great.

Went to re-attach the hydraulic lines to the jack plate lift cylinder (for the umpteenth time) and cross/threaded and stripped the port in it!!
Anyone that's messed w/these know they're a pain. Your fighting the hoses to align the fitting, working on them in the middle of the plate, attaching to a round cylinder made from aluminum and only get about three threads of engagement! Actually thought I had it and the hose blew during testing.
Argh!!
Better in the garage than on the lake I guess.

Decided to tackle the new automatic bilge pump ( mandatory if leaving in the water, out of site for long) and hoped to get to it w/out removing the tank.
No such luck.
Thought the tank was empty and instead find out my gauge was malfunctioning.
Doh!

Did get Frank III to light off for the first time and that was quite gratifying :devil:
Although it only runs in the start mode!
Wiring under the dash is a mess and the harness in the boat is for the old style, single red plug motors and Frank has the new style deutch connectors so I installed an adaptor harness.
So who knows where that problem is.

The dash needs done anyhow to be safe/reliable and I run my junk hard enough that I don't trust anyone else's work so it seems I re-rig all my new/used boats.

I'm running the vaunted big bore carb's that were only produced in '86/'87 and I modded the hell out of them so of course they puked fuel all over the place.
So 6 rebuild kits later...

Here's some misc pix's to make you smile w/your morning coffee.
 

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Gary, only idiots like us (guys that constantly take on boat projects swearing it's the last one only to find another boat to wrench on) know the pain of having what should be an easy fix turn into a nightmare! I know your pain all too well! (as I'm in the middle of a twin engine re-rig on my 2800 and fabbing up a new motor bracket) Hang tough, it all works out in the end...you just never know when the end is!:devil:
 
Gary, only idiots like us (guys that constantly take on boat projects swearing it's the last one only to find another boat to wrench on) know the pain of having what should be an easy fix turn into a nightmare! I know your pain all too well! (as I'm in the middle of a twin engine re-rig on my 2800 and fabbing up a new motor bracket) Hang tough, it all works out in the end...you just never know when the end is!:devil:
No doubt.

After restoring the last Sonic, in Fla......, outside....., and building two motors out of spare parts....., this will be cake.

This was one of those projects that I had to take a deep breath starting it cuz I knew it would take a while.
As I told a friend yesterday, when it's done it will be perfect and be done my way.

It will also be a mere motor change when the V-8 finally comes along.

This is one of the projects that I should have just stripped the boat at the start and begun w/a bare hull.

I'm anxious but not in a hurry. Still have foam to dig out of the bow too.

Being that the motor is such an unknown, I will have quite a bit of time in dialing it too so no hurrying there either.

BTW, I think you'll really like your boat w/the new power.
On a heavy boat the adage is true that says there ain't no replacement for displacement!
 
As my dad would say......

Finally starting to look like a boat again.

I wish I could own ONE boat w/o feeling the need to re-rig every freagin one!

But, we're getting close now. If I was a bit further ahead I'd drag the thing to the rally.
Deck needs buffed first though :p
 

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you get this monster wet yet?!

No but I'm close.

About the same time I tore the Starliner apart I:

Started mowing our 3 1/2 acre yard myself, started a new job working 50 - 60 hrs a week, bought our 22' Formula cuddy for a band aid Lake Erie boat, an just bought a real cruiser for Lake Erie (meaning the Formula is now for sale) and trying to find a motor for the dinghy.

On a positive note, I think my prop collection is finally prepared for testing.
Everything from 24" to 27".
 

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