Al the Mirthmaker (Mark III)

[Texoma Toon]

Awesome Todd!

Ditto.....I have really enjoyed your rebuild!

[Blessed]

Any regrets? Anything you would have done different given the chance to start over?

[tuned]

Any regrets? Anything you would have done different given the chance to start over?

Woulda shoulda coulda. Maybe a really big outboard instead of an I/O.
Those SouthBay hulls don't come by all that often, so I took what I could find.

Otherwise, I'm pretty durn happy with my morphodite cross between Northern swamp farmer engineering and really, really nice running gear in most places.

[tuned]

Well, I warily peaked out my door and saw a small drip of water fall from the eave today. Thus it is time for us northern bears to come out of hibernation and start rustling around for food, beer and boat parts.
Not much winter activity to report due to a tough illness and a brutal Bobcat rebuild. Spring projects are just gaining speed tho. I have three majors on the plate:

1. Major rewire---scrap my two 8 year-old batteries. Replace them with THREE. Photos later. This also includes breakers and heavy wiring to accommodate a large (1500W) inverter in order to run a small band on the front deck . I have crunched the numbers and it is doable. Pulling the new cable, however, is another matter. I seem to recall advising CaptainJohn to install as much wiring as possible before putting the rubrails on. Sage words. Taking off some of my rubrail as we speak...at 15 degrees....sucking.

2. Fuel area needs much attention. New filter plumbing is giving me a headache (dealing with Parker/Racour sux a$$). Note to self-NPT threads and NPTF threads do NOT play well together. Also, water has been getting onto the top of my tank and I am afraid that it will get past gaskets and O-rings and into the tank. So I have a bunch of 'water management' things to take care of. It won't be easy.

3. Engine runability issues to solve. The new MPI system still isn't quite right. With all my problems last year mechanically, plus a hundred year flood, I was lucky and grateful just to float that beast. Stlil fighting hard starting and a bit of a hiccup around 1200rpm. Otherwise it is running great. I suspect a vacuum leak which I couldn't find last year. I did a ton of work in the intake area last season and know every gasket etc...that could be the culprit. I will be going over it very carefully this spring once it is warm enough out to run it. Stethoscope and spray-ether. Prolly lots of annoying phone calls to FAST (the manufacturer) as well. I'll get it.

All in all, its been a very mild winter (only 2 or 3 spells at thirty below or worse). Snow is only 2 feet deep in the woods. 2 feet of ice on lake. I realize that others who may be less prepared have had it very tough and I watch the news of the storms in the east in horror. Hopefully it melts quickly for you. AND WELCOME BACK NORTHERS!!!

[ToonGuy]

[curtiscapk]

here we go again! Good luck Todd!

[peterb803]

enjoyed the read. Good luck in year 2.

[captainjohn]

And we complain about it being 85 degrees out here making you sweat while working on the pontoon boat. Guess I should be greatfull for what we have and not what so many of you are going through.

[tuned]

Brand spankin new Interstates on deck! I got a great deal on some blems with full warranty.
They are identical AGMs, a type that I have never used before. After doing a ton of research, I now feel fairly well read on types of batts and charging systems. The AGMs will be nice in that they don't 'gas off' which is much safer for fire danger and/or corrosion. They are a bit touchy in that you can't draw them down completely (although they have GREAT storage capacity).

Along with good output for cranking, they should be ideal as combination starting/deep cycle.

[tuned]

Here's the latest:
Snow is still fallin', making work with blue fingers a bit of a challenge


My new looming tool kept me from cutting my fingers too bad. Doing 4AWG cable here. The 2 Gauge was even more funner.


It was a nightmare trying to pull wire (using a nylon pull rope). Everything was under the floor, packed with other cables, and a right angle to boot. I finally gave up and cut a big a$$ hole where the Ell went. Fortunately it ended up being inside the building and under a bench just by coincidence. I put a round hatch on it later to seal it up.


Those Purdy AGMs are all mounted and hooked up. LOTS of hours. New solar controller and monitor. A bunch of new breakers.



1500 Watts of Pure Sine Wave on the new inverter. That outta run some band gear (with delicate electronics). Not quite sure what kind of staying power it'll have.


The red light that you see faintly in the window is the LED interior lighting. Yeah I gots all the other colors too. It also means that the power is back ON and the tunes are bumpin' Yeah Baby


Next up. A bunch of work in the fuel tank area, hopefully without blowing meself up

[curtiscapk]

Nice work Todd! My 2 AGM's have been going since 08 and 09. I hope I didn't just Todd myself!

[tuned]

Nice work Todd! My 2 AGM's have been going since 08 and 09. I hope I didn't just Todd myself!

No no no, Craig. There will not be a 'Latest Launch Trophy' on my mantle this year. I intend to break some ice in a few weeks

[tuned]

Finally finished my upgrades. As posted elsewhen, I was getting water on top of my slightly concave fuel tank. I was more than a bit concerned about water intrusion into the fuel. Here is my solution (in 3 parts):

#1-Wider aluminum seal strips and thicker, better quality foam glued to the strips for primary seals.




#2-If water does happen to get past my primary foam edge seals, I used a whole dollar's worth of aluminum rain gutter to help divert stray drops to the OUTSIDE edges of the tank, thus out of the compartment via the bilge.


#3-If water STILL finds a way past my secondary diverters, a couple of high-quality sponges should wick it up so that there is no standing water on the tank. I will have to check these every couple of weeks.


In the process of working in the area (my aching back), I put in a better fuel filter and some new hoses. No leaks!! FINALLY movin on. Into launch phase now. I should be starting motor on the hose shortly (still suspect a vacuum leak). Weather looks great for this coming weekend. Ice just went out on the lake. It's time to kick the tires and light the fires!!!

[tuned]

Aaaaggghhh. Update isn't good (as usual )

Put in a massive day yesterday. Boat is almost water ready...except....IT DON'T FRIGGIN RUN!!

I have fuel pressure, but it doesn't sound as if I have fire. My ECU monitor kept setting a code for O2 sensor. I pulled it out and it didn't even heat up, so either the sender is bad (hopefully) or the ECU isn't working right (hopefully not). Now I gotta scramble and find a new sender ASAP. It appears to be a standard Bosch style which might help to find locally. Otherwise, the waiting game begins again.

Grumble grumble. Stupid 'latest launch' awards.

[curtiscapk]

Don't worry Todd... I won't be launching till memorial day weekend. Going down this Thur - Sun to redo trailer walls due to a roof leak general lot cleanup and get THE FLOATER ready (she better start) . Won't have time to put her in though do to everything else on the list. You have plenty of time.