About to start a new project boat - need some advise

[blairv70]

Hi all

Starting a project with the Father in law's boat that has sat idle in the shed for 8 or so years. It is a Quintrex Fishabout Mk2 which from all accounts are fairly goo boats. Today I gave it a once over wit the pressure cleaner to remove allot of the accumulated gunk and flaking paint.

First Question - the paint is pretty flakey so I am thinking of using paint stripper as a first try to remove the paint. Can anyone recommend a good paint stripper to use?

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There is a fair bit of work to do to get this up to a usable standard - the interior is very basic though roomy. I will put in a false floor and also redo the dash and the steering which is the old cable and pulley method at the moment - as well as rewiring.

Second Question - I am going to put in a false floor and enclose the rear area between the Thwart and the Stern - does anyone know a good ally welder in the Capablaba Area or who is mobile?

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The Outboard is a 78 Mercury 700 70 HP - from the research I have done they were a good engine in their day. The father in law had it serviced a couple of years ago but it will not tick over now. It also has a hydraulic tilt and trim as a separate inboard unit. This looks ok but I think it has leaked due to the amount of oil and crud over the floor in the stern.

Third Question - Does anyone know a mechanic familiar with these old school Mercs and their weird inboard tilt and trim unit?

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Thanks

Blair

[Noelm]

That is a pretty common old Merc trim unit, not a lot goes wrong with the, make sure when you get the paint stripper you tell them it is for Aluminium, shouldn't be too hard to get the motor to go.

[blairv70]

Thanks Noel - very hard to find a wiring diagram for them though

[Fed]

I can probably help you with a circuit diagram.

Compression test it first & check the plugs for rust where they sit inside the combustion chamber, don't worry about rust on the outside of them.

[blairv70]

A circuit diagram would be great! It looks pretty industrial and I have measured voltage through to the starter and plugs and it is reading OK

Have not pulled the plugs as yet but they were repleaced 2 years ago - not that the boat has run since

[Fed]

Is the T&T switch in the controller handle or is it a remote 3 button setup?

What are you trying to do, get the motor started or get the T&T running?

I'll look for a wiring diagram, any old thing around the same vintage will get you out of trouble.

T&T switch or buttons power relays/solonoids that power the T&T motor one way or the other for up & down... very simple.

Start key powers solonoid which powers starter motor same as most outboards.

[blairv70]

Hey Fed

The T and T is the three button type but in poor condition - can't vouch for the wiring either on the actual T/T unit - it has two reds no visible ground wire and the three wires going to the control panel (blue up green down black ground I take it to be from research.

The starter has power - when I hook up the battery to the motor i get 12+ volts to the solenoid wire on top and to the starter motor but nothing from the key in the forward remote unit - this may also be a wiring problem I suspect. I there a way of bypassing the remote unit?

Cheers

Blair

[Kiwifisho]

try tony at marineworx on red land bay road next to superformance he has loads of experience worth older motors and knows an ally welder as well good luck

[Spin]

I have that exact motor here in the shed out the back
It also has a SS prop on the engine the control box and cables the tilt and trim motor
the switch should be there also
Ill have a look over the weekend and see what i can find

[Noelm]

I see there is a red, a green and a blue wire on the trim unit, common colours, red being positive, switch red to blue and the motor goes up, switch red to green and it goes down.

[bluefin59]

Mal at creek marine at Pickering street Alderley is a great source of knowledge on these older mercs he probably has parts for them as well ..Matt

[blairv70]

I have that exact motor here in the shed out the back
It also has a SS prop on the engine the control box and cables the tilt and trim motor
the switch should be there also
Ill have a look over the weekend and see what i can find

Thanks that would be great

[blairv70]

try tony at marineworx on red land bay road next to superformance he has loads of experience worth older motors and knows an ally welder as well good luck

Ok will do thanks for the advice and go the ABs!

[BigE]

starting old school merc's is an art form, but once you got it down pat it will start every time. first of all make sure no one is holding a plug lead (or touching) as those old mercs have a pretty good magneto system and will blow you arm in to next week if you get a boot from one.
from what I can remember the process is

1 have the motor level, have a good battery. replace the champion spark plugs with anything else (i like NGK's)
2 prime the carbswith the fuel bulb.
3 lift the throttle lever to about half way (more than you would think until you get use to it)
4 use the key choke twice ( that's more than once but less than three do not get this wrong)
5 turn the key - engines starts
6 block your ears and wipe the smoke from your eyes- apoligise to the neighbours from said smoke and noise.

I'm sure other ausfisher with more experience will chime in but that process (apart from 1 and 6) is from the merc sticker i got with my first merc (an in line 6)

The fishabout will be awful quick with a 70hp

Big E

[Fed]

That one would have the choke button mounted above the key and butterfly chokes so pushing the key twice will do nothing.

[blairv70]

That one would have the choke button mounted above the key and butterfly chokes so pushing the key twice will do nothing.

Yep thars the one but the choke button is a bit stiff - almost stuck

[blairv70]

starting old school merc's is an art form, but once you got it down pat it will start every time. first of all make sure no one is holding a plug lead (or touching) as those old mercs have a pretty good magneto system and will blow you arm in to next week if you get a boot from one.
from what I can remember the process is

1 have the motor level, have a good battery. replace the champion spark plugs with anything else (i like NGK's)
2 prime the carbswith the fuel bulb.
3 lift the throttle lever to about half way (more than you would think until you get use to it)
4 use the key choke twice ( that's more than once but less than three do not get this wrong)
5 turn the key - engines starts
6 block your ears and wipe the smoke from your eyes- apoligise to the neighbours from said smoke and noise.

I'm sure other ausfisher with more experience will chime in but that process (apart from 1 and 6) is from the merc sticker i got with my first merc (an in line 6)

The fishabout will be awful quick with a 70hp

Big E

Sounds like it will be fun once she starts - I would have thought a 50HP would be enough 70 will be mad!

[Aussie123]

You will find buying paint stripper will cost a lot of money by the time you strip an entire boat.
You can make your own very cheaply using caustic soda crystals dissolved in hot water and then add corn flour to thicken it to a thin paste.
Once the paint bubbles and you scrape it off,hose the boat to neutralize the acid.

[blairv70]

Well spent a bit of time over the weekend experimenting with paint removal methods.

First I tried the home made soda blaster which was a dismal failure - could have removed more paint fating at it I suspect!

Next I got the Chemical Brothers involved with some heavy duty paint stripper which works ok but is still a long process and not a pleasant in any way shape of form. I needed two coats minimum, a lot of waitin around and then a fair bit of scrapping and water blasting and there was still paint on there.

After some more overnight research I popped into the hardware store and picked up some sanding discs for the grinder - which worked a treat. I will go through a few of them on this journey but at least I am making progress.

I am not applying to much pressure and not allowing areas to heat up too much as I go just to be on the safe side. Slow work but at least I am getting results now.

I also pulled out the dash and most of the fittings this weekend.

Dash ripped out

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Some of the paint off at last

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And the trim and tilt control which has seen better days - need to fin another one of there or a suitable replacement

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[Spin]

Here is some pics of the tilt motor for you

The green wire has a thing to change it to a smaller wire to fit the red plug Better

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[cwcarter]

I used paint stripper on the bottom of my fishabout resto a couple years ago. About 3 coats from memory. The worst of it was the yellow colour primer. The top coat just fell off.
Using the stripper kept the bottoms like new. The rest of the boat was sanded then repainted.
There's a heap of photos in my profile if you want to check it out.

[blairv70]

Here is some pics of the tilt motor for you

The green wire has a thing to change it to a smaller wire to fit the red plug Better

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Thanks for that Spin - it gives me some idea of what goes where - my earth wire is actually red just to confuse things - will have to get this cleaned up

[cwcarter]

Hi Blair,

Hope u don't mind me moving this from my inbox to here.


Hey Carter

Awesome photo and a great restoration. Couple of questions for you:

1. Did you replace the dash and if so what with? I was thinking of Marine Ply for this but you may have had a better idea

2. Did you paint strip the inside completely? This looks like a bitch of a job to do! Did you weld in any supports for a false floor or just lay one in?

Thanks

The dash was replaced with a new piece of 3mm aluminium.
Inside paint was cleaned and scuffed up real good, primed then 3 coats of Tredgrip http://boatcraft.com.au/informationpages/tredgripcommonlyaskedquestions.htm

I didnt have a floor in mine. If I was doing it again I would of removed the middle seat and had a false floor with either a side or centre console.

New dash and yellow paint scuffed up. this stuff is tough as nails, very hard to remove. floor left as is
http://www.ausfish.com.au/vforum/attachment.php?attachmentid=87970&d=1357390620


Primer going on.

http://www.ausfish.com.au/vforum/attachment.php?attachmentid=87972&d=1357390724



Grey Tredgrip applied
http://www.ausfish.com.au/vforum/attachment.php?attachmentid=87984&d=1357391527

[blairv70]

Hi Blair,

Hope u don't mind me moving this from my inbox to here.



The dash was replaced with a new piece of 3mm aluminium.
Inside paint was cleaned and scuffed up real good, primed then 3 coats of Tredgrip http://boatcraft.com.au/informationpages/tredgripcommonlyaskedquestions.htm

I didnt have a floor in mine. If I was doing it again I would of removed the middle seat and had a false floor with either a side or centre console.

New dash and yellow paint scuffed up. this stuff is tough as nails, very hard to remove. floor left as is
http://www.ausfish.com.au/vforum/attachment.php?attachmentid=87970&d=1357390620


Primer going on.

http://www.ausfish.com.au/vforum/attachment.php?attachmentid=87972&d=1357390724



Grey Tredgrip applied
http://www.ausfish.com.au/vforum/attachment.php?attachmentid=87984&d=1357391527

Carter

Thanks for that sounds like an awesome idea and will also save some work - stripping back the whole inside is a heck of a job.

Who made up the dash piece for you? Did you get it welded in?

I am warming to the idea of a side console - the boat I am working on is a 16ft model so heaps of room for a good casting deck etc

Thanks

Blair

[cwcarter]

Carter

Thanks for that sounds like an awesome idea and will also save some work - stripping back the whole inside is a heck of a job.

Who made up the dash piece for you? Did you get it welded in?

I am warming to the idea of a side console - the boat I am working on is a 16ft model so heaps of room for a good casting deck etc

Thanks

Blair

I had a sheet of 3mm lying around so cut my own out and had the bottom lip folded. You can either stitch weld it in or use full aluminium rivets.

Mine was the 4.4mtr version and had a 40hp on the back. WOT was about 63kph loaded.

Side console would be the roomiest option. Thats why I sold mine and moved to my next project - good for a family cruise but crawling over thwart seats and eskys was a pita.

[blairv70]

o ripped out the tilt and trim unit today and did a bit more sanding (1.5 sides done now - what a horrible job it is!)

Just wondering if anyone can shed light on these old units. The wiring has me a bit stumped as i have two red wires running from it (I suspect one is the earth wire)

Looks in OK condition and there are no leaks so fingers crossed - any advise would be appreciated

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[Spin]

That red wire with the rusty bolt looks like the earth at the top of the motor on yours
mine has a black wire coming out of the motor on the other side

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[Spin]

I would say take that red wire away form that rusty bolt
and put a Black wire on your solenoid where that black wire is and run that to the battery earth
like mine has

Or just change that red to a Black it looks like an earth to me

[McKnight]

@blairv70 I sent you a pm that should help out if you wanted to start from scratch with new wiring. That link should have the wiring diagram your pump in it.

[Fed]

I think the only mystery is which wires are the positive & negative (probably the reds) and what has been done to the wiring at the buttons (centre button removed & wiring altered accordingly).

Trace the wires to make sure it's right then hook it up & give it a run.

[blairv70]

I think the only mystery is which wires are the positive & negative (probably the reds) and what has been done to the wiring at the buttons (centre button removed & wiring altered accordingly).

Trace the wires to make sure it's right then hook it up & give it a run.

I will have a go over the weekend - after I have finished sanding, sanding, sanding etc........