Hahahahaha thanks man! I wish I had your skills with the 351.
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Hahahahaha thanks man! I wish I had your skills with the 351.
Okay as of today the stereo install is completly done! Only thing left to do is wetsand, buff, wax, then put in boatlift. Should hopefully be in next weekend or maybe two. Teak needs a few more coats of sealant.
I am making plans to improve ballast system. First adding overflows, then adding a second pump. Hopefully this will allow me to remove some of the hand valves and make it much more automatic.
Mikey sounds awesome.... I was just in the water up in Northern MI and damn it's cold......Had the wadder's on and got the dock in, but called it quits before the hoist. Too damn cold!!!
I'm going to have to change the bunks on the hoist as it used to carry an I/O.... wondering if you've got any pic's of your set up on your hoist, height of bunk's, etc.......
Mikey
Irish is right you are the king of modification. You have done more in 1 year than I have
done in 20. Congrats on all your work, good luck on the wet sand and buff its a lot of work
but well worth the effort.
Haha thanks a lot guys that is very nice to say!! :) The boat is a joy and all of these upgrades were thought out as much as possible to be functional and quality, but budget.
Maple - I was really unsure what to do about a boat lift too. Turns out the one we used for the I/O worked just fine for the inboard. Some lifts have a large cut-out in the rear underwater cross beam. Most do not.
The secret here is simple - just don't pull the boat in too far. :) If you do, the strut (prop shaft support) will DING against the support which will tell you to back it off. My lift is made to hold 3500lbs and the SunSport is only 2400.
Our boat lift DID have flat bunks - not full length bunks, but a pair of short bunks in front and a pair in back. We put rollers on the rear bunks to keep the prop up out of the dirt. However, we found they were unneeded. We will remove them and go back to bunks. Our river is frequently running low in late summer so we have issues with too shallow of a spot to get the boat off of the lift. This should help. We also have a wheel kit on the lift to help maneuver it. The wheels stay on and can be raised/lowered.
I do have pics of the lift but they aren't great. Here ya are!
More new pics to come everything looks so slick now..
http://photos.wakeboarder.com/data/3...Mikey-FAE7.jpg
Michael Hunter - Thanks bro that means a lot coming from you! Your boat is a work of art. :) I will have to try and get some nice high res shots after she is all cleaned up, out on the glassy river, with racks full of boards, bimini up and all loaded down with ballast hehe!
We have been pretty lucky in that our boat and motor are in great condition. We have not had to do any major repairs yet, just tuning the motor up. So that has allowed me to get her just the way I would like.
I am somewhat concerned that my ballast system will be leaving me wanting more this year. It is very manual right now. The pump and all sacs are linked, but each sac has it's own valve and I have to fill one sac at a time. There are no overflow lines so when each sac gets full it must be watched and the water stopped, or else it gets real full quick!! All sacs are different sizes so they fill at different rates. Overflows will really help here.
One issue with my overflows is that some sacs are different heights. Some are on the floor, and one is in my ski locker, about 1.5feet off the floor. If it is linked with a sac on the floor, it will fill the floor sac almost to bursting (pops the seats up on rear bench hehe). I will try this year to see if I can leave it open with a different sac, like a bow sac. Maybe that would work better.
Since my sacs are different heights, and some sacs cannot get all the way full, the spot I drill through the hull for the overflow is very important. The locker sac thru hull would need to be higher than the others! That would look pretty odd. Still researching..
To help speed it up I would add a 2nd pump. This would also let me to leave more valves open all the time. I may just have one valve to turn regularly, the bow starboard (drivers) sac (400lbs). When I wakeboard, we want this sac full. When we surf on port wave, we want it empty. Lots to think about!
Wet sanding should be fun. Did some last year but need to do a better job and then wax and buff so it is a longer lasting shine. Can I get away with just one grit or do I need to use multiple grits and really take my time???
Enough talk time for pics!
Here is the finished tower wire quick connect. Again, for other users I would skip this kit and just run wire the whole way.
http://photos.wakeboarder.com/data/3519/Picture_005.jpg
Looks slick though. :)
http://photos.wakeboarder.com/data/3519/Picture_004.jpg
Tower speakers, nav light! So clean! So loud and clear it's gonna be greattttt! Note how little wire is exposed near the speakers. Lovin it~!
http://photos.wakeboarder.com/data/3...cture_0121.jpg
http://photos.wakeboarder.com/data/3...cture_0111.jpg
http://photos.wakeboarder.com/data/3...cture_0103.jpg
Why didn't I move the plywood sheesh!
http://photos.wakeboarder.com/data/3...cture_0081.jpg
http://photos.wakeboarder.com/data/3...icture_009.jpg
Here's a shot of the FAE all hooked up. The downpipe is backwards, we have since corrected it. Matches the tower, especially when it's underwater. ;)
http://photos.wakeboarder.com/data/3...cture_0031.jpg
That's all for today! Sorry I couldn't get shots of the bimini or the stereo yesterday. Will get them asap! It's clean as can be.
The tower looks great.... love that nav light, don't see them up there too often....Wiring's pretty clean...I hope I can get mine that nice!!!!
With regards to the hoist, I too have a slight shallow watewr issue and I was thinking adjustable height full length bunks, if I setém too low I'll just lift them til I get it right. Your hoist looks better than mine does now....I've got an old HarborMaster set up with floopy bunks front and rear, they gotta go. I also don't have the cut out on the rear frame. Hence the lifting of the bunks...
The cables are good and the awning's in great shape so I should be good to go when the bunks are in the right spot, I'm going to somewhat copy the layout on my trailer I think??
The plywood's cool, makes it a more real, your boat still looks amazing.....
You do some fantastic work.....It looks great!
My boat lift does NOT have a cut on the rear frame.
Well what you really need to think about is where on the boat will the bunks rest. If the boat is too far back on the bunks (if you are playing it safe so the strut can clear the bar), it can be hard to crank it up. What I did at first was push the boat on, then hold on the swim platform and stick my feet underwater to touch the strut and the rear bar with my toes to be sure they weren't touching.
A couple times I did crank the boat up with the strut ON TOP of the bar. Scary and not fun but it cranked up like normal, and when I noticed I said CRAP and recranked the whole thing to fix it. With that said it did not cause any issues to the strut but try not to do that obviously lol.
If you have shallow water you want the boat to sit as low as possible on the boat lift. We did not think the fins on the bottom of the boat (sorry not thinking of the correct term) would clear the bars either, without putting rollers on top of the bunks, but they did with no problems at all. I would recommending seeing if it will fit on top the bunks before taking the time to weld or bolt on rollers.
We also considered buying new full-length bunks. I found a place that sells them pretty cheap. But like I said, we have since found no mods were req'd to the original boat lift. Good luck!! I'll get you a couple more pics this weekend.
Cool, I was thinking the same thing about my bunks now (after reading about yours)... I should get the boat on there and see what works....maybe nothing but a little adjustment is necessary. My local marine shop in Frankfort, MI wanted $ 313.00 for new aluminium rubber upper bunks, and since the boat won't be there all summer, that money is better spent in the boat!!!!!!
I'll get to wrench'in and see what gives......
Even the flat short bunks that are factory on the boat lift have a little up and down adjustablility I think. Definitely take a look into full length wood bunks they were very reasonably priced. Why do you need a new alum upper bunk? The rubber on ours gets a little torn sometimes but we will screw it down real goodthis year so nothing can scratch the hull.
Okay well I worked on the boat all day Sunday and last night after work til 10pm. We got the hull sanded, scrubbed, buffed and then waxed. Whew! My arms are numb... I got to see the LED's in the dark last night and DANG they are kewl time to order a few more hehehehe! The teak shines like new, hope it's not slippery. Did a couple coats on the bottom of the teak deck to protect it. FAE and new prop are ready to go, and stereo is done and DANG is it loud!
My parents bought a fixer-upper house on the Mississippi River north of Minneapolis (first major city) about 10 years ago. We got two boatlifts in the water and the dock set up. Water is actually pretty nice!
All we have to do now is change the oil and drop her in.
How many of you lube your motor raw water impellors????????????????? How the heck do I access it?
You've got the 351, right? Should be lower drivers side of the engine... follow the raw water access from the trans-cooler. Pull the belt and pulley off and you should find the bolts to access the impellor cover.
I don't lube mine. I just plan on replacing it every other season as a preventitive thing. Only time I've roached one is when I forgot to turn the valve for the water-inlet back on.
So wait, The previous owners actually used the boat? You really can't tell! Have you had the boat out yet? What do you think of the FAE? Right now my Sunsport sounds more like a monster truck than a boat, Haha.
Haha thanks FF yeah it has a could hull scratches from trailering and the vinyl is getting a little dryer and we have put a very small nicks in a few spots. :( I have some Exquisite brand cleaner and it really conditions it well but I will get some 303 as well because it needs help. We are looking for something to fill the a tiny tear in vinyl like some kind of glue or liquidvinyl patcher...
The old owners used her for barefooting! She has really undergone some changes. I like to think they are all for the better. :) This boat was BORN to be a wakesurf beast imo. She was just before her time. I haven't had the boat out yet this year I actually got the FAE last fall didn't get to it before it was too cold. Everyone like the loud boat but I can't even yell to a surfer it's so loud. This should REALLY help. I am super excited!!! I will try to take a short movie with my camera.
http://photos.wakeboarder.com/data/3...90525_0587.JPG
New stereo is done!!
http://photos.wakeboarder.com/data/3...90525_0587.JPG
New stereo is done!!
What's that just under the dash???
A switch bank or something?????? Looks good....
Mikey,
How did you mount your eq under the dash, do you have any pix?
Boat look's great,
Sorry I should've commented... :) We removed the factory radio completly and there is no new cd deck at all. All speakers (four in boat, four on tower and one 12" sub) are all powered by one 5channel amp hidden in the gunwale right behind the sub.
The amp is connected to the Equalizer (Clarion EQS760 very common $60) which is glowing blue. Controls all eq as well as volume to the sub. The tower speakers are wired into 'front' on the eq, and boat speakers as 'rear'. This way the fader controls how much volume the tower speakers get independant of the cabin speakers.
To the right of the EQ is a wired remote for the sub which gives it a little more boost if needed. The only music source is the ipod. I wanted a minimal, almost stealth look. If you are standing up you can't even see the EQ under the dash.
The EQ and sub remote are mounted to little blocks of wood that are screwed into the dash (only where the dash is covered by the black vinyl!). For the EQ we made the block of wood into the shape of a wedge. Two flat pieces of ply, spaced apart by small triangle-shaped pieces of wood. I will try and get a pic. It is a little DIY and not the most professional install ever, but my goal was really budget and clean.
I may yet mount the ipod somewhere. Apple also makes a small ipod mounting dock that is usable with a remote. :) It is all hooked up to my 2nd battery which is on a seperator/combiner smart relay from SurePower (polarbill on wakeworld hooked it up for half of what a bluesea add a batt costs).
Mikey,
I'm installing a system just like your's, I'm adding a tower speaker's with a amp this year and a eq. ws 420 eq, kicker kmt6 tower speaker's with a kicker 450.2 amp, I all ready have a amp with 4 cabin speaker's and a 10 sub,I'm going to take out my cd player, it's to big and in the way.. I'm going to run the eq and Ipod set up like you did..plus I have a roady XM i'm going to use...
Can you show me a picture of the Eq mounting bracket you made?
Thank's for all your post, it's been very helpful!!! and fun to follow!!!
Tony I will try and get one tonight! Good luck with your system it is quite a project lol!
I think something is wrong with me I cant stop fixing things...
http://photos.wakeboarder.com/data/3...90527_0613.JPG
did you try out your new prop yet? going to start on the 87 here in a week or two. had to find a new shop and move all the tools ect. also built a wakeboard winch that was cheap and worked great for memorial weekend. I am curious to hear about the prop so I can order one asap if it is a winner. your boat is getting too nice to use anymore
The prop is awesome I know it is a winner, but I can't get rid of the vibration. Today I will try the old prop just to be sure, then call Nettles and see what they say. I know they will make it right.
My buddy has a motor to donate to a winch but I don't really know how to convert it. Nice simple one.
We got a little 'surging' in speed last night. Small changes in the throttle would result in large drops or spikes in speed. Going to try changing the plugs tonight, otherwise thinking it may be a vaccume line, not really sure....
Hey Mikey did you get that prop from Nettles props in Austin Tx? I live down in Houston about 4 hrs from Austin. I might make a trip up to pick that same prop up next Friday. My 13x13 just doesnt have the hole shot with all the sacs full.
Quote:
Originally Posted by 87SunSportMikeyD
I know the feeling.... my projects seem NEVER ENDING! I gotta take some pics of my progress.... have done some really nice upgrades in the last couple of weeks.
Hema Yup the prop is from nettleprops.com of austin. I've heard nothing but good about them and their prices are the best I have seen. Their website should calculate shipping if you want to compare to driving. :)
wotan it's time to get riding dangit! :)
Patience is not my vertu....lol. If I can get it friday I'll eat the gas just to get my mits on it.Quote:
Originally Posted by 87SunSportMikeyD
Yep. I've been out surfing 3 times so far. Should be going tonight (roomie just called to let me know he's vacuuming the carpet) but I've got to finish the pop-up cleat installation or it will never get done. Boat ownership!
Get some pics of that for sure!
Sweeeeeeet it's like "pimp my boat".
Looking good my friend!!!:cool:
So I was out last night and the engine was acting up AGAIN. Once we started boarding and she was all warmed up, she wouldn't stay running in idle. Every time a rider fell it took two or three times of restarting it and then I'd have to start pretty quick out of the hole or she would die. Last year this happened and we corrected the timing and or idle with pretty good results. Grr!
sounds like your float valve in your carb. after boats, cars or anything that has a carburetor sit for a while crap in the float bowl can get or just an old valve and seat don't entirely stop the flow of gas from the bowl. dirt can get in the valve or whatever may be in the bottom of the bowl. if it is the float valve it may start to work better just by running the boat but the sure fix is to replace the float valve and clean the float bowl. sometimes just cleaning everything works too. my 89 would do the same thing and the 87 did the exact same thing on its first run. I put in a new valve and it ran perfectly. hope this helps
It could be the carb.... it could also just be that your idle is set too low. Should be around 1000 - 1200RPM.
Well manual says 600prm is correct idle. Sometimes it idles perfectly and never dies, sometimes it dives to 3-400 and fluxuates up and down for hours. It will also blowback when we're boarding or surfing if it is acting up.
Carb kit w/ spacer gasket is on the way along with new dist cap and fuel filter/water seperator. Already replaced plugs and oil and oil filter. New gas. I did not know to use high octane non oxygenated and add stabilizer to every tank. I will start doing that.
Got a couple pics of last time out. Rain all weekend GRRRRRR
http://photos.wakeboarder.com/data/3...90602_0634.JPG
http://photos.wakeboarder.com/data/3...90602_0631.JPG