Can You Point Me in the Right Direction

[Ranger185A]

The top cap was sprayed with Imron clear. I have to thank (AW) Awesome Bullet for that tip. When I bought the boat I saw several posts from him detailing the great job Imron would do. He had sprayed his Bullet with it. I sent several emails back and forth with him and decided that was the route I wanted to go. My brother owns his own body shop in Bandera TX and he sprayed it for me. I purchased a Gal of Imron and thinner at a body shop up here and took it with over the Christmas Holiday for him to do. I am really happy with how it came out. From what I have read Imron is used primarily in the trucking industry. I had some stress cracks in the Gel-coat in a few places and it filled them in real nice. Anyone restoring an older glass boat, I would recommend it. One thing though, it is nasty stuff MSDS wise, my brother used a respirator when he sprayed it.

Mike

[A Fn Noob]

That looks just like my boat, except mine is a 17'
I had to move that steering to the center a little, it was a tight squeeze for me!

The forward of the console, to the right of the livewell, you can cut out a hole there and stick one of those built in tackleboxes. It's just foam behind there.

What's the max hp on that model?

Ranger sent me a .jpg of the brochure for my boat, you should email them and see if they have one for that model.



Also, remind me at some point to tell you some places that you need to keep an eye on as far as water intrusion. I dont want to turn this thread into an old boat thread! You should post those pictures in the restoration forum!

[Ranger185A]

Not sure how to check the Tach. It may not be the Tach, I have seen several guys saying the Rectifier was bad. I will see how to check that and get back to you.

Mike.

[Ranger185A]

Max HP 150. I posted it in the Restoration section as well.

Mike.

[Ranger185A]

Do you have an Ohm/voltage meter? If not they are not that expensive for the cheaper models. The Ohm is good to have to check wires to see if there is a break in the line or bad connection. If you have one I can give you the process to check your Rectifier to make sure it is good.

Mike.

[kf4pfw]

Yeah, got an older Fluke DMM. Wire is new and has good continuity....hadn't thought about it being the rectifier either. How did you learn so much about these motors?

Mike

[Ranger185A]

I bought the service manual off ebay. When in doubt, read the manual. It still helps to ask questions here or just read what problems people are having and what the solution was.

I will need to buy another though, the one I got is in PDF for the computer and the guy who scanned it missed some pages. Oh well, that is life. I will just get the printed version next time, as long as some clown has not ripped out pages to take to the shop.

Mike.

[Ranger185A]

I am thinking about new decals for mine down the road, I really like these.

http://www.garzonstudio.com/MyStore-OUTBOARDS.html

Mike.

[kf4pfw]

Damn Mike...these look good! Prices aren't bad either. Thanks for the link....I'll have to explore it more tommorrow. Gotta get some sleep! BTW, would you be interested in possibly sharing the SM in PDF form you have? Also, Ken Cook has the ORIGINAL OEM Service Manuals....http://www.kencook.com/evinrud...7919 will take you straight to the right page. Parts, Service, Owners and Accessory Manuals/Catalogs are all available.

mike

[A Fn Noob]

I got a factory svc manual for my 76 135 on Ebay for $15
Also the factory parts manual for that motor for about $5

The parts manual is good because of the diagrams. Like when you take something apart and are trying to remember how to put it back together

Hey Ranger185A, the Ranger "A" models hulls are from Allison molds. The top section is all Ranger, but the bottom is the same as the Allison XST, which was the fastest thing around in those days, they say. Look at the boat of the month at Scream and Fly. Same hull as yours. I think the SST was the 17' model and the XST was the 18' model. There was also a 15' model Allison SST,but I didnt know Ranger offered it unitl I saw a recent picture of one.

My boat, after doing the floors and all, only weighs about 550lbs without the motor. That was before the polyflake job though! I bet Ive added 20-30 lbs to it now.

Im going to look at those decals now!

[Ranger185A]

Mike, send me an email to mfriederich@msn.com


Mike.

[Ranger185A]

Yep I bought the service manual and parts on ebay. I think I am going to order the manual from Ken Cook. My boat was barn kept in Texas, so I was lucky when I started the restore. The floors were rock solid. The one thing I did do, was where the top cap sits on the floor . They ran the carpet under and it was screwed down. I removed as much of the old carpet as I could and glassed it in solid. By design that would let water run under there and I did not like that. Now the water only has the 2 drains.

I also removed the transom tie down eye bolts. There had been some leakage issues there but nothing major. I also removed the rub rail and replaced it with the newer plastic Taco style. Bought 2 big tubes of 5200 and sealed everything real good.

From what I have read, every few years you should remove anything attached to the transom and reseal. I have seen so many boats with rotten transom’s from owner neglect.

Mike

[A Fn Noob]

Yes, I was going to mention those areas. Also under the vent scoops, if you take them off, you're looking right down into a the foam blocking that runs on each side of the boat. I added 4lb pour foam in there to bring it up higher, and then glassed it in so that if water gets in the scoops, it will run down to the bilge.

Also, the battery straps are screwed in the floor too.

The main thing is taking those screws out of the cap/floor joint though.

There's one more thing: The plywood is not sealed on the underside, and the glass will delaminate from the plywood flooring. They used small nails to tack the floor down. If you ever pull your carpet up, Id sink some stainless short screws and then coat everything before laying down the new carpet.

The worst spots for floor rot are where water can stand still, like in front of the seats, and in front of the console.

Nice talking to you, cu around.

[Ranger185A]

Thanks Bro.

Mike

[kf4pfw]

Sent!

[kf4pfw]

Guys I removed a ton of stuff from my transom and as a result have several holes of various types. I thought about mixing some 2 part epoxy and mixing in some chopped up fiberglass to push into the holes (these are all from #6 and #8 screws). Reckon that would be a good way to seal them up so they don't leak?

Mike

[A Fn Noob]

[Ranger185A]

I used a (2) part epoxy putty. I found it in the automotive paint section in wal-mart. It is gray on the outside and the inter core is cream colored and is rated for below water use for marine applications. It used to be in the boat section but they moved it. Once it sets it is tuff stuff. I have not put it to the water test yet so I hope it works as advertised.

Mike

[kf4pfw]

I bought a tube of that last night.....as my luck goes, it had been on the shelf a little too long.....the white side had dried up!

Ended up going to AutoZone and got a .98c Blue RTV Gasket sample pack to use as a temp fix so I could fish this AM...caught 7, 5 of which were in the damn slot size so they went back in to grow up....one of the others was a 1 1/2 Spot and a 2 1/2-3lb LM...they are going to taste mighty good for supper tonight!

Mike

[Ranger185A]

The newer style is shrink wrapped in plastic inside the package. I guess they had complaints of what you experienced.

Mike.