Thanks for all of the replys guys. I think I took care of the fuel issue -- I found that the vacuum advance wasn't hooked up properly on the distributor. In fact, it wasn't hooked up at all. The next time I went out, it ran better... but still not perfect. There was a few instances when it did run perfect for a few seconds, and it felt and sounded great. I figured the rest of the problem may be from a bad tank of gas. I added some stabilizer and topped it off with some high quality premium and now I'm on the way back out this afternoon to try it out. I tried to get out yesterday but I had left my perko switch on and all of the batteries had drained out for some reason. I was dead at the ramp so I brought it back home and have been charging all day.
Mine is unique in that it has 3 batteries and a perko switch. So far I haven't really figured out how to make the batteries run the way they should. I'm going to try using 1 as a starter battery and then flipping the switch to all once its started. This should give it enough juice to run the stereo as well as recharge the battery.
I just finished the 3-step tweak restorer and it looks great. I've also fixed a few small little things that we bugging me. I also ordered a new fuel/water seperator and the bracket to mount it. My other questions were these:
There is a small canister in line with the fuel seperator/filter. It's a small brass looking thing -- is this some sort of pressure regulator? I haven't been able to find a replacement, anyone have a source or can even tell me what to look for?
I have no blower. The guy told me he removed it and never thought it was necessary. I'm sure it must be necessary or it wouldn't be in there in the first place. I have a spare blower but no idea where to hook it up. The air ducting in the front (on either side of the windshield and under the cockpit) is completely rotted away and full of holes. I can't figure out how these lines run to the engine compartment, as I can't find any evidence of them there. I also can't find anything thats hooked up to the vents on the very back of the boat. There are tubes visible on the inside of these vents, but again they are rotten and I can't figure out where they run to. The rear ski-locker and the entire area under the rear seat is filled with stereo equipment in my boat and quite hard to access. Can someone tell me if I need to spend all the time to redo these lines, and where I should mount the blower?
The only other issue I can think of is that I have water leaking from the prop-shaft when the boat is in drive. Water sprays off of the shaft right above the boot for the water jacket. I can tell that my prop has a few nicks on it ( I know ... I know... it will be fixed soon...) but is there a bearing or something that could have vibrated to death in there? Maybe this is normal?
Thanks again for all of the help. The season is almost done up here (maybe 2 more weeks if we're lucky) but its 80 outside today and I'll be on the water soon!
Thanks,
Rob