To continue where I left off last week, here is what I have now done to my 5m Tornado project.
After collecting my boat from XS ribs I was left with a bare hull with spanking new tubes..let the refit begin.
You know when your planning a project you tend to spend hours on the net thinking how you should do this that and the other.....well when the time comes to put it all together all that planning pays dividend.
Having installed my A frame and freshly wrapped console it was time to fit the flooring. I went a simple rubber flooring (£60 for 4 meter roll) with the penny design on it. I was super nervous installing the matting because I had to trim it to shape whilst in the boat with a razor sharp Stanley cm's away from my rather expensive new tubes...one slip and the tubes become second hand in seconds.
Floor down I then fit the jockey and bench seat.
I could put it off no longer...time to get physical with the outboard (my Son was having kittens about having to move it again) I backed the boat up to the shed door and both my Son and I dragged the great lump across the shed floor and gently hung the motor on the transom.....simple lol.
Now when it come to thinking about doing the cabling I imagined it wouldn't take too long.....WRONG!
With new gear to add including switch panel and the like it took day's not hour's and for me it all got a bit much at times. Don't get me wrong I enjoyed the challenge of being taken out of my comfort zone but when you have been hard at it for 3 days it gets a bit much. The time consuming bit is soldering (which I love doing) and making new connections but making them tidy too... ( I hate to see scruffy wiring.
So having spent 3 days grafting I got to the position where I could turn the key just to see if she would crank.........nothing....nowt....bugger all. All I could hear was the choke solenoid clicking....not the starter solenoid. So I checked the battery connection in the console...nowt, checked the wiring on the motor all seems fine but still nothing.
It is at this point I was getting frustrated (to hear it crank would be a small reward for my efforts). Having checked the obvious stuff I started digging a bit deeper. I opened up the remote to check the neutral switch was ok and on inspection it was damaged (this had to be the problem) I bridged the connection and turned the key and guess what! .......nowt
I was convinced I had found the fault.
I left the boat for a day did the old youtube searches but didn't get anything from that. I tested the starter motor by bridging the contacts with a wire and the motor spun freely and at speed.
Now I have to tell you that everytime I turned the key the ignition fuse blew (20 amp) so I new something was wrong but finding it was tough. I went out to her this morning with the idea that I would go through the connections around the starter solenoid etc and guess what? I noticed the negative wire on the ignition side of the solenoid was touching the positive ( not easy to see as they are small ring connections) hence the fuse blowing when I turned the key. When I went through all the connections whilst it was still in my shed on the engine stand I must of nipped up the nut and the ring connection must have slid round to touch the positive ring connection.
Now was this just another red herring time to turn the key......it cranked yeah. Time to put two stroke in the tank and put a can of petrol in her. I primed the fuel line until the bulb went firm ...checked for leaking petrol.
Water on ....stand clear ....contact.....up she fires.....She's Alive.
She was running but a bit fast....I expected it to run lumpy too . I had stripped the carbs and cleaned them and I also replaced the throttle linkage...a bit of tinkering and she was running pretty good.
At this point she was running on the muffs so she is very noisy......I gave her a couple of blips and BANG followed by a shower of metal fragments...(total engine failure! ) but she kept running....how could this be so?
I looked at the fragments and it was clear it was bits of a magnet....so I thought the starter motor had stuck on and let go.....but no it was intact. I bent down to pick up a bit of rubber up and I instantly knew what had happened.....you're not going to believe this.
You know you can get those small metal trays with magnets on the bottom, well I remember putting one of those on top of the flywheel to hold my nutts and bolts and what happened was one of the round magnets must have come unglued without me noticing it....It was black!
The magnet has scored the flywheel cover to the point its worn through. I was very lucky not to be blinded by the magnetic debris as I was standing next to it operating the throttle on the carbs.....would you Adam n Eve it?
I have booked her in at my local marine mechanic (June 21st) so he can fit new seals in the trim ram and set up the carbs properly and check it over to make sure it's good to use.
The motor pumps water really well and i haven't put the new impeller in yet so hopefully this is a sign it's been looked after. I Have a full service kit to install too.
I collected my newly upholstered seats....cracking job (just waiting for the Stainless backrest to be made)
I'm searching for a navigation antenna (little white dome) if anyone has a spare to sell to me.
I have included a picture of that troublesome connection...like I have said all along...I'm no expert and I'm learning as I go along....I dare say a few of you would have found the problem quickly...but never mind I got there in the end.
Be good....until next time....bye.
(Not Another) Nutkin
