BC pretty much took the words out of my mouth.
1) Engine: Simple in theory: It pretty much is all about delivery of
perfectly timed spark with the proper amount of clean fuel. But in
practice with 40+ year old parts it's another story, that even taken a
step at a time can interfere with our basic need to "I just want go
fishing/skiing/diving/wakeboarding/crusing, not spend a lifetime
working on this old tub." You basically need to step back and commit
to learning how to do basic engine tuning )setting points, dwell,
timing, etc and performing some mechanical repairs such as carb
cleaning, rebuilding, adjusting. Or find yourself a trusted mechanic.
The single largest contributor to electric shift failures is that
people don't know how to keep them running at their design idle speed
properly. Your Buick should idle smooth as butter at 550 RPM, after a
few minutes of warm up time (130 -140 deg F at thermostat.) when it's
dialed in or properly tuned up to published spec. These are things you
need experience, tools and manuals to accomplish or alternatively a
trusted mechanic.
2) Fuel -- Fresh fuel "helps" (maybe) but the entire fuel system can
"hide" varnish, rust and moisture and can take literally dozens of
hours or even entire seasons to fully filter or flush out. I always
start any vehicle restoration by pulling the tank and having it
profession cleaned and re-lined, you really have to start all the way
up the chain.. Do a google on the RENU tank process. Also installing a
modern fuel separation filter is a good idea over the off-season.
Replace the existing fuel filters as well. Drop the carb bowls and
check float levels and valve seating. If you decide to go the rebuilt
carb roue (and I'm not saying you need too -- be sure and get a MARINE-
rated replacement. Trust me, taking short cuts rarely pays off. She
wants and needs the TLC treatment, skip it and she'll embarrass you at
the worst possible time!
3) Steering -- 99.9% of the OMC built boats use the aircraft style
rope-over-pulley (I believe I am one of the few who converted to
TruCourse, a OMC push-push type steering). Is it perfect no? Can you
avoid issues YES! Never raise the power tilt unless the drive is
pointer straight ahead. Don't turn the drive while it is in the up
position. Try to resist extremely fast lock-to-lock helm wheelspins )
you know, Cowboy turns to show off your OMC stringer's wonderful
sharp turning ability? . (Don't install a "necker" knob on your
steering wheel.) If you follow this advice you probably won't
encounter steering problems.
4) Table/windshield thing? You'll need to provide more detailed
photos. Perhaps another 67 Surfer owner can chime in? Nothing like
that on my Sportsman. Have you downloaded the free. available Surfer
owners manual? It usually explains these model-specific features. BRP/
OMC may still carry your owners manual as well. Grab one while you can
if they still have your specific model.
Lee
On Aug 28, 2009, at 6:22 PM, BC Howk wrote:
> Justin,
>
> Not much experience with the Buick V-8....
>
> Some new Gas certainly won't hurt. Are you adjusting just the idle
> speed? have you messed with the idle mixture yet? Did you check the
> timing? Did you let it get good and warm? Sounds like you have some
> mechanical experience so sure you got most of this covered but have
> to double check.... My experience with the V6 nailhead has been....
> Fresh oil, fresh plugs, warm it up, check/ adjust the timing (if you
> havent put on a pertronix kit yet check your points and dwell and
> consider the kit), adjust the mixture (with a vacuum guage) adjust
> the idle speed, then repeat, timing, mixture, idle until I can get
> no further improvement, and she runs great. Once it's dialed in the
> seasonal tune up isn't so bad.
>
> I think it is just about universaly accepted that the cable and
> pulley set up is......"sub-optimal" particularly compared to the tru
> course system...that being said.. I still run the cable and pulley
> system and it works pretty well. Just check the cable for any
> fraying in the vynil jackets as this can cause you to slip a
> pulley , then you have to crawl under the dash and take apart the
> pulley get the cable back on, yadda, yadda, yadda....
>
> If you have the time, run across a good deal on a true course set up
> and feel you want a project, convert!! Otherwise, if you take care
> of your cables/pulleys they will serve you fairly well. I restrung
> mine a couple years ago and think it may not have been the first
> time, but I detected some less than desirable methodology on the set
> of cables I replaced (missing shock springs ect.) If your set up is
> in good shape, just take it easy with the wild manuvers and you'll
> be fine,.
>
> Knowing what I have under there I actually find the steering
> suprisingly crisp and easy at speed (remember, judging on a curve, I
> know whats behind that steering...amazing)
>
> Cheers,
> B.C.
>
> On Aug 28, 2009, Justin DeSantis <duc1098desmo@...> wrote:
>
> I found a few things. It fired right up, but the fast idle level seems
> to make it idle way faster than I'd like. I had to turn it almost all
> the way down to get it in to what I felt comfortable with. And no
> amount of warming up seemed to let it want to run without the lever.
> If I tried to get it to 1000rpm on the tach it would die. I'm thinking
> (hoping) that filling it with fresh gas and running it a bit will cure
> that. Not other major problems found. Horn has resumed normal
> operation, I'm thinking the battery was just low.
>
> Let me ask this, how reliable is the steering system? That cable
> running back the length of the boat and changing direction a few times
> seems like a good place for a failure to happen. Anything to worry
> about there?
>
> Still haven't figured out the table windshield holder thing, but
> didn't really put any time in to it.
>
> Looked at the transom. Sort of hard to read. It's maybe a little soft,
> but not rotten. It pretty much looks and feels like 42 year old wood.
> Anything I can put on it to strengthen it or keep it from getting
> worse?
>
> I think that was all the questions I came up with today.
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Received on Friday, 28 August 2009
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