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boat maintenance questions
Hey all,
I am somewhat of a newbie and am trying to revive a 1987 Larson 25 foot cabin cruiser and I have several boat maintenance questions... figured the nice people that participate in this group probably have the answers. - The engine on the boat is only 2 years old, looks really clean, and starts with ease. It's a 160HP engine and should not have trouble propelling this relatively light boat (4500 lbs.) However, the boat strugles to go more than 18 mph or so at full throttle and I can't get it to plane at all. A guy I befriended a couple of slips down the pier said that this boat should easily be able to go 25-30 with that engine and the reason why it can't is probably stuff growning on the bottom. I intend to have it pulled out and bottom cleaned/sanded/painted and believe that could speed it up, but it's hard to believe it could have such a large impact. Any thoughts? - The fiberglass on the deck has lots of markings and is generally very dirty. Should I just give it some elbow grease by scrubbing with household cleaners or are those expensive cleaning solutions intended just for boats better? - I went to the local marine store, and I thought the non marking shoes that grip well to the deck were overpriced and uncomfortable. Any tips for shoe brands/models available in a run of the mill retail store that won't mark the boat and will give sure footing? - The colored part of the gel coating is rather faded... and I heard that waxing it will shine it up very little... what is the best approach whe dealing with faded gel coats. thanks! Phil |
#2
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On 6 Aug 2005 23:11:02 -0700, "sfcarioca"
wrote: Hey all, I am somewhat of a newbie and am trying to revive a 1987 Larson 25 foot cabin cruiser and I have several boat maintenance questions... figured the nice people that participate in this group probably have the answers. - The engine on the boat is only 2 years old, looks really clean, and starts with ease. It's a 160HP engine and should not have trouble propelling this relatively light boat (4500 lbs.) However, the boat strugles to go more than 18 mph or so at full throttle and I can't get it to plane at all. A guy I befriended a couple of slips down the pier said that this boat should easily be able to go 25-30 with that engine and the reason why it can't is probably stuff growning on the bottom. I intend to have it pulled out and bottom cleaned/sanded/painted and believe that could speed it up, but it's hard to believe it could have such a large impact. Any thoughts? Outboard or inboard? Because of no details, it's kind of tough, but you may have a fuel restriction somewhere, most likely a fuel filter or it could be more serious than that. Look at the plugs, wires and ignition and make sure they are ok. Do a compression test. Or have all that done for you by a good mechanic. Perhaps you might have a throttle adjustment problem. - The fiberglass on the deck has lots of markings and is generally very dirty. Should I just give it some elbow grease by scrubbing with household cleaners or are those expensive cleaning solutions intended just for boats better? On my fiberglass boats, I use regular Soft Scrub (no bleach) or if I can't find that, then I use the unscented Soft Scrub only less of it. It's always worked well for me. There are other cleaners on the market, regular household cleaners, which work just fine. You might also want to look for these products which are cost effective. http://www.starbrite.com/ I've had success with this stuff. It's bio-friendly and actually works, but it can be hard to find sometimes. http://www.303products.com/main.php?...rospacecleaner Although the 3M products, while a little pricey, work very well. If you look around, you can usually find them at a good deal. - I went to the local marine store, and I thought the non marking shoes that grip well to the deck were overpriced and uncomfortable. Any tips for shoe brands/models available in a run of the mill retail store that won't mark the boat and will give sure footing? Try a Nike or Reebok outlet store. They have several styles of non-marking deck shoes that fit and wear well. - The colored part of the gel coating is rather faded... and I heard that waxing it will shine it up very little... what is the best approach whe dealing with faded gel coats. Not much - the UV has done it's damage and changed the color pretty much permanently. The only good way is to repaint and that can get pretty expensive. However if it's just a case of the gel coat being chalky or needing some help, 3M makes a great product for just that issue. http://tinyurl.com/97pbu It's not a lot of help, but it should get you going in the right direction. Good luck. Later, Tom |
#3
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4500lbs is not a light boat, especially with only 160hp.
"sfcarioca" wrote in message oups.com... Hey all, I am somewhat of a newbie and am trying to revive a 1987 Larson 25 foot cabin cruiser and I have several boat maintenance questions... figured the nice people that participate in this group probably have the answers. - The engine on the boat is only 2 years old, looks really clean, and starts with ease. It's a 160HP engine and should not have trouble propelling this relatively light boat (4500 lbs.) However, the boat strugles to go more than 18 mph or so at full throttle and I can't get it to plane at all. A guy I befriended a couple of slips down the pier said that this boat should easily be able to go 25-30 with that engine and the reason why it can't is probably stuff growning on the bottom. I intend to have it pulled out and bottom cleaned/sanded/painted and believe that could speed it up, but it's hard to believe it could have such a large impact. Any thoughts? - The fiberglass on the deck has lots of markings and is generally very dirty. Should I just give it some elbow grease by scrubbing with household cleaners or are those expensive cleaning solutions intended just for boats better? - I went to the local marine store, and I thought the non marking shoes that grip well to the deck were overpriced and uncomfortable. Any tips for shoe brands/models available in a run of the mill retail store that won't mark the boat and will give sure footing? - The colored part of the gel coating is rather faded... and I heard that waxing it will shine it up very little... what is the best approach whe dealing with faded gel coats. thanks! Phil |
#4
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"sfcarioca" wrote
A guy I befriended a couple of slips down the pier said that this boat should easily be able to go 25-30 with that engine and the reason why it can't is probably stuff growning on the bottom. I intend to have it pulled out and bottom cleaned/sanded/painted and believe that could speed it up, but it's hard to believe it could have such a large impact. Any thoughts? If the bottom of your boat looks like green shag carpet, yeah, that could be the problem. |
#5
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sfcarioca wrote: Hey all, I am somewhat of a newbie and am trying to revive a 1987 Larson 25 foot cabin cruiser and I have several boat maintenance questions... figured the nice people that participate in this group probably have the answers. - The engine on the boat is only 2 years old, looks really clean, and starts with ease. It's a 160HP engine and should not have trouble propelling this relatively light boat (4500 lbs.) However, the boat strugles to go more than 18 mph or so at full throttle and I can't get it to plane at all. A guy I befriended a couple of slips down the pier said that this boat should easily be able to go 25-30 with that engine and the reason why it can't is probably stuff growning on the bottom. I intend to have it pulled out and bottom cleaned/sanded/painted and believe that could speed it up, but it's hard to believe it could have such a large impact. Any thoughts? - The fiberglass on the deck has lots of markings and is generally very dirty. Should I just give it some elbow grease by scrubbing with household cleaners or are those expensive cleaning solutions intended just for boats better? - I went to the local marine store, and I thought the non marking shoes that grip well to the deck were overpriced and uncomfortable. Any tips for shoe brands/models available in a run of the mill retail store that won't mark the boat and will give sure footing? - The colored part of the gel coating is rather faded... and I heard that waxing it will shine it up very little... what is the best approach whe dealing with faded gel coats. thanks! Phil If the bottom proves to be clean you may be overpropped. Got a tach? If so, check your rpm at WOT against the factory specs- if you're coming up short its likely that a previous owner hung too large a prop on the boat. No tach or just want an easier check than running the boat? See if the prop is stamped for diameter and pitch (D x P) and compare that to mfgr specifications. You don't have to be off much to have performance suffer notably. And fair warning- if you think boat shoes are "overpriced", get in, sit down, strap up, and hang on. You ain't seen nuthin, yet. :-) |
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