We made it....Just.
In all honesty I never expected to have my rib ready this year but a stroke of misfortune turned into a silver lining as my 10 weeks off work with Vertigo allowed me to put in some serious graft on the boat.
It all came together pretty well in the end and on budget (horse crap did it lol) but this build was never about money it was about rescuing an old 5m Tornado sat in a field in East Anglia....I just felt it was worth rescuing.....it never needed to make sense.
I took my boat down to a local marine engineer and asked him to check everything was safe to use and set the carbs up. I wasn't anticipating any problems but then a phone call a week last Sunday very nearly killed my dream. " I can't advance the timing and if I were you I wouldn't spend money on this outboard " these were his words to me. We went back and forth with idea's...but no Joy. It just didn't make sense....I checked the motor out including a compression test and I even had it running...but it was a little fast at tick over.
I jumped in the car and headed straight down the mariner...I needed a face to face.
The mechanic had convinced himself that the flywheel had been changed at some point and the wrong one had been fitted, as he had seen that before. I said to him that having looked at lots of photos of the mariner 75hp that it was indeed correct ( aesthetically at least) . I sensed that my man was a bit stressed as he was indeed very busy....I had to wait 6 weeks to get in! And I got the feeling he wanted to give up.....but I wouldn't let him.
I said that I would pay him to remove that flywheel and hopefully that would reveal the problem....even if it couldn't be fixed.....we had to have the answer...right?
I said someone hasn't changed the crank or flywheel and I pointed out that the powerhead had never been split apart as it looked factory and that if the crank had twisted it wouldn't run let alone sound smooth and his reply " well if the flywheel had jumped the key it wouldn't run either"
Four days later I received a phone call....."it's running " honestly I could have kissed him. The flywheel had indeed jumped the key....but as it had been stood a while it had rusted in place....hence why it run. He stated that in 22 years he had never seen that happen before and I think secretly he was pleased he had found the problem.
So now we know why it had been stood.....The tubes needed replacing and the engine wasn't running right....and a simple fix as it turns out.
Right from the get go I knew the engine would be a gamble but worst case I was prepared to part it out.
My long term plan is to purchase a newer four stroke as the old smoker is quite noisy and not very good for the environment.....but if I can get three or four seasons out of it I will be glad and hopefully at some point outboards will be more realistically priced again....but I wont bank on it.
So off to Cornwall we go (untested gulp) my first trip out will be from Gorran Haven as that coastline is often calm...unlike the Northcoast and the harbour is easy to deal with...remember I'm new to Ribs as Sibs are a different animal.
So next week is going to be busy....1. collect the new Caravan on the way down...drop wife and Son off and set up...relax Sunday.2. go to Plymouth for powerboat level 2 on Monday 3. Get drunk Monday night as I'm staying in Plymouth and on my own 4. finish course then hightail home to collect my boat 5. drive all the way back to Cornwall on Wednesday morning 320 miles give or take.
So this is pretty much the end of my build.....And even though it makes no sense financially or otherwise I can say I'm proud of the Journey both the boat and I have come from.
Thanks to all of you that offerd help and advice and to those that have followed this journey
Most folks it has to be said have been kind enough to humour me and for those that just dropped the odd sarcastic comment....well that's ok too.....I'm just me...100% genuine....and for that I make zero apologies.
Hopefully if all goes well I will post some pictures on the water....that would be payment for all the hard work.
Cheers , Stay safe... Foxy.
Ps if anyone needs to do powerboat level 2 there is a space next Mon/Tues as a student cancelled....pm me if interested.
