Boat Modifications Continue

I have been continuing to work on the Crestliner. Today I installed the 9.5 evenrude on the trolling bracket. The bracket seems to work fine, I am a bit worried that the motor will be deep enough in the water to push the boat. I am hoping for a water trial tomorrow if all goes well.

I ran into immediate snags when trying to hook the connecting rod in the front of the motors. I was not getting sufficient torque to push the motor to the left. The little motor was hanging a bit, and the rod was starting to bend. I looked it over several times, and came to the conclusion that this was not going to be viable. I had used a different method several years ago, with a rod in the back of the motors, but again with issues.

I decided to hack up the original steering rod, and combine it with an aluminum tube. I cut the tube to the length I needed, and installed the hook up into the tubes. After connecting it to both motors, the rod worked better than expected. I was able to tilt the 50hp with out popping the rod off. I am also able to reach over the motor to disconnect the rod when necessary.

I still need to mount my rod holders, but I felt like I made some good progress today. I am still a bit concerned with the 50hp. It initially ran good the first day, but the second time I was out, the motor was loosing power at high speed. This appeared to me to be a fuel problem. It is intermittent and the problem goes away. I have a feeling it could be a dirty carb, so I purchased a can of sea foam, and added it to my fuel. Hopefully this will solve the problem. I am also removing all of the plastic zip ties and replacing them with real hose clamps. Some of them were turning by hand, so I figure it may have been letting air in.

I hope this solves the problem, but don't forget this motor got a bath last year, so I am sure there will be some ongoing issues with it. But hey, I will deal with it one thing at a time. TheWebMaster