2001 SPRINT 280 PRO Repower

[Nikon Man]

Since the restoration of the boat is complete, it's time to move onto the new motor build/a.k.a. "REPOWER". Current 2000 90 HP Yamaha that came with the boat is severely under powered, won't even get on plane with water in the wells. Boat is factory rated for 150 HP. So I bought a blown 1999 Merc EFI (minus a lower unit). So follow along as the "REPOWERING" journey begins as this is an over the winter project which will include a complete gut of the Yamaha wiring and converting to a Merc harness.

Donor Motor 1999 Merc 175 EFI:




Getting ready to strip it down:




Upon disassembly I found the cause of why motor blew.
Motor spit out the rod bearings on one cylinder that caused
all the block damage. With flying roller bearings in the block
when it happened it was like shrapnel from a bomb going off.
Needless to say the crank was trashed as well...........

Here's what I found:






Sleeve damage:




Numerous holes in the block webbing:




Hole in cylinder floor":





20" Mid and Stock Heads off to Chapman Racing for some mod's.
Mid will be cut to 15", installing a new 200 Tuner, Cutting Heads to
run Premium Fuel, adding Bob's solid motor mounts (top & bottom):








Started to do some exhaust port work while waiting on parts to be delivered.......




I'm a little behind on documenting this project, I'll update shortly....................

[Bassmeister]

[Les Young]

I had an old sprint that was a good one. Wouldn't care a bit to own another one too.

[Nikon Man]

I had an old sprint that was a good one. Wouldn't care a bit to own another one too.

This is my second Sprint and I'm like you, I only shopped for a Sprint when I bought this one, no other boat was even being considered !

[lifetime1962]

Amen to that . Love mine

[Bassmeister]

From the first time I looked at the rig and the deck layout of my 207 I have loved the room and storage on this thing.....The only rig now, that I've lost the speed demon in me.....would be a 221 with a 300 Erude on her....I'm still a Sprint and Evinrude nut !!

[Nikon Man]

Amen to that . Love mine

[Nikon Man]

From the first time I looked at the rig and the deck layout of my 207 I have loved the room and storage on this thing.....The only rig now, that I've lost the speed demon in me.....would be a 221 with a 300 Erude on her....I'm still a Sprint and Evinrude nut !!

I've owned 2 Bass Boats in my lifetime and both were SPRINT's, that shows my dedication to the brand ! First one I bought because the price was right, second one I bought because of what I learned about SPRINT BOATS from the first one !

[Nikon Man]

Sold the Yami, listed it Monday, sold it Tuesday, talk about being in the right place at the right time.....


Stripping motor and controls to make room for the new build......









CCM Head Stud Kit (not of good quality, had to run a die over every fine thread, nuts would not free spin down the stud which would have a impact on final torque values):





I'm kinda at a stand still right now as my incoming part flow has sorta slowed down. I removed the aluminum
angle transom cover and noticed ....WOW, there's allot of material overhang from the top cap. Pics coming later today
on that issue. Rather than grind the stuff off, I'll just add two 3/8" thk. aluminum plates to space the Bob's Jackplate
away from the transom.

[Nikon Man]

Here's a closeup of how much the top cap overhangs the transom, approx. 5/16 to 3/8 along that length. Since the jack plate needs to sit flush on the transom, it's either grind all that material down and probably dig into the transom gelcoat (by accident) too or just leave it, seal it up (there were some open gaps) to ensure it's water tight and just add two 3/8" spacer plates to the jack plate mounting surface and make a new piece of angle that covers it all. Decided on spacing the jack plate off the transom 1/2".

[Nikon Man]

Motor build has come to a stand still as noted before, waiting on Mid, Cut Drive Shaft, Injectors from Don Weed @ European Marine.


But I did get the new Opti Top Cowl & Lowers painted, decals added and clear coat over it all, looks "KILLER".........:





I did make a new aluminum angle top cap cover to replace the old one, sealed the top cap to the transom area where the overhang was then installed the new angle top cap cover:



Also made 2 Transom Support Plates from 3/8" thk Aluminum Flat Stock:




My Jack Plate spacer plate material should arrive today so I'll machine those this week and it'll be back to at least the J/Plate install to keep the project moving.

As you can see in some of the pics, also started to install the SeaStar Hyd. Steering by running the hoses in the hull.

[Bassmeister]

Looking good Gary....I don't understand the topcap hangover of that much.....Mine just had the aluminum topcap cover and the jackplate was notched to clear it.

[Nikon Man]

Looking good Gary....I don't understand the topcap hangover of that much.....Mine just had the aluminum topcap cover and the jackplate was notched to clear it.

Here's a little diagram to further explain the "HANGOVER"..........
The hangover of 3/8" doesn't allow the motor or jackplate to sit flush on the transom, so it was either grind it all down to be flush with the transom and fill the shop with fiberglass dust (NOT GONNA HAPPEN) or space the motor/jackplate 3/8" out from the transom with 2 spacer plates to clear the hangover. I opt'd for 2 spacer plates to fix the problem and a new aluminum angle cover made as it had to be relieved for the spacer plates.



New aluminum angle cover with the relief area for the spacer plates:

[Bassmeister]

[Nikon Man]

Bob's 8" Action Plate finally bolted up with the 1/2" aluminum spacer plates.

[Nikon Man]

Latest update:

Chapman Racing stated my mid, heads and other parts will be ready to ship back to me next week, . Can't wait to get started on putting it all back together.

[Nikon Man]

I'm happy as hell to post this update......... My Mid is completed at Chapman Racing and on its way back to me for the remaining motor build. It looks Bad AZZ !!!!!!!

[Bassmeister]

Looks awesome Gary !!

[Nikon Man]

Looks awesome Gary !!

Thanks Michael, appreciate it very much.

My 15" Mid and 34cc Heads are on there way back from Chapman Racing to start the final assembly. Block is waiting for the heads and then the motor will be finished as well except for timing.



Lower unit case all painted, lower water supply port added and ready for the new short shaft:

[lifetime1962]

That is going to a awesome ride I bet