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Jamesbon
09-28-2000, 03:48 PM
Okay fellas, here I go for another round with engine number three!! Last night I slipped the 388 into the engine bay of my GT, stuck the motor mount and bell housing bolts in, drank a beer and called it a night. I'm over the biggest hurdle now. I still have to get two v belts, hook up alternator and battery cables, clamp on the stainless risers, install the new tach, and find some solution for a dipstick. I'm should have her fired up by this Sunday. I'll keep you posted.

GEOO
09-28-2000, 07:09 PM
James, glad to hear the mission is almost complete. Keep us posted on your progress. GEOO

GeneD
09-29-2000, 09:07 AM
The dipstick...man, what a problem in Tech!
I couldn't use my old dipstick in the new motor. The heads come real close to the manifolds and I couldn't get the tube between them. I had to use the dipstick and tube from the 305 parts motor. Now the thing comes out the front.
Not a good place for it on a boat in which the center engine hatch doesn't come up readily.

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GeneD
007
Melbourne, Florida

Jamesbon
09-29-2000, 11:09 AM
I feel your pain... I had to make an "S" bend in the old block mounted dipstick tube to clear the Stainless marine manifolds. Getting the dipstick in was sometimes a real pain in the a*s. After building this stroker block and putting the dipstick in, it's binding or hitting something in the oil pan and 5 quarts doesn't even register on the dipstick. My theory is that it's hitting the bigger 400 crank or something. I'm not really sure what to do at this point. I guess I'll try a few different dipsticks and possibly bending them at the end. I'll also remove the dipstick when running this thing, and plug the tube hole for fear of grinding it up in the crank. I'm past the point of making a pan mounted tube, as the motor's in the boat now.

Scott Pearson
09-30-2000, 07:43 AM
Little info on a dipstick. Lokar Performance Products in Knoxville TN makes a FLEXIBLE DIPSTICK. Its Alum. and braided stainless. This thing works great and looks awesome! It can be mounted in alot of different areas. Give E'm a call. (423)966-2269.

Good Luck!
(NJ) Scott

Jamesbon
10-05-2000, 07:26 AM
Last night when I popped the lid on the GT to install the rest of the bell housing bolts, water hoses, battery and electrical connections, I noticed dew all over the engine bay and engine. For those of you who store your boats outside, how do you guys keep your engine compartment dry? My boat is covered, but stays outside either on the trailer, or on the boat lift. Has anyone used a de-humidifier in their rig?

Forrest
10-05-2000, 09:27 AM
Hay Nate, dew on everything in the mornings is part of living in Florida. You ought to know that by now. At least you don't have to deal with frost all over everything like some of the folks up north are starting to see.

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Forrest

GeneD
10-05-2000, 09:45 AM
Oh man! I thought I was the only one!
Kind of a relief, but hey guys, how do we cure this?
I paint my motor probably once a month. You know, get the paint out and start touching up stuff? I don't mind it, but there are other things that take a lot of "dew" abuse. Such as the fittings going to the powersteering ram. Of course the other ends of them too, the ones on the PS unit itself.
I am considering buying some PVC and constructing a shelter. My bud has a big plastic tarp, and I was thinking about throwing that over a PVC frame.
What do you think? This should cut down on the rain intrusion anyway.
I only have the tonneau cover.

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GeneD
007
Melbourne, Florida

Jamesbon
10-05-2000, 01:32 PM
Whew!! I almost forgot about the old days when my boat stood covered in 1 foot of ice capped snow!! Thanks Forrest, I'll take the dew.

I think any kind of rain deturrent would help considerably.

I think I'll look for a real small, cheap de-humidifier and run it in the engine bay or cockpit. I guess the other option would be to dry her out, then put a layer of plastic sheet below the mooring cover. If only my one car garage was 5 bays bigger http://www.donzi.net/ubb/eek.gif

CDMA
10-05-2000, 02:02 PM
Ever thought about one of those Cover-it sheds. I have used one for my boat since I bought it and they are great. The only thing they don't work well with is large trees. I guess I should get around to ordering my new one...

Chris

Check the back of Popular Mechanics for an add if you want.

Jamesbon
10-05-2000, 02:41 PM
I'd love to add some kind of "roof," however I live in a deed restricted neighborhood. My neighbors covereed dock is the only one on the canal, as he was grandfathered in.....

GeneD,
If law permits, I'm sure 007 would love a PVC/tarp cover. If I could I would......

GEOO
10-05-2000, 03:02 PM
I run in to the same dew problem in the summer. West Marine sells a rod and other company sell small heaters which are made for the bilge. I always wanted one but never bought one. I'll look in to it. GEOO

Jamesbon
10-10-2000, 05:08 PM
Fellas,
Okay, when I bump the starter, it spins but doesn't engage with the flywheel. Can anyone shed some light on this? I assume I'll have to pull the starter and double check that the solenoid is actually pushing the starter gear out, or is there another way to do this. If the gear is sliding out to the max, how do I get it close enough to the flywheel to engage?

I did add the 400 counter balance plate between the flywheel and crank which puts the flywheel just a hair farther out if measuring the distance between the block and flywheel. (but not more than 1/16th to 1/8th inch...the thickness of the counter balance plate)

I will admit, I've had this problem occasionally in the past, however, after enough attempts, it always engaged.

Is there a common "household cure" for this?

......I'm getting closer!!!!!

PaulO
10-10-2000, 05:36 PM
The spacer should not make a difference. If the teeth on the flywheel were OK, the problem is with the solenoid. Unless, of course, you connected the "start circuit wire" to the post on the solenoid that connects directly to the starter. I'm not sure if you can do that ( I have to look at mine to refresh my memory) but, if you did, that would bypass the solenoid and spin the starter.
PaulO

Jamesbon
10-10-2000, 08:25 PM
PaulO, you're right on the money! After doing a little homework (taking the starter out) I found this:

I think I did bypass the solenoid post. The LARGE copper post obviously accepts the LARGE positive cable providing starting power. Then, I had one smaller red wire hooked to the "R" terminal and the other small wire hooked to the large post where the LARGE battery wire was connected.

Once I had the starter on the bench and hooked up to the old battery charger for power, I found the following, with the starter grounded, I touched the positive lead to the large post and - nothing. Then I hooked positive power to the "R" post and - nothing. Then I hooked the positive power to the "S" post, and wha-la, the solenoid forced the starting gear out! And, when I touched the positive lead to the "copper pipe" (part that attaches the solenoid to the leads going into the starter), it spun the starter. So does the solenoid transfer power from the LARGE post to the "pipe" when starting?

So I assume, that the "S" post needs power only when the starter is turning, this keeps the gear out, and that the "pipe" needs power at the same time to spin the starter. (Hope I didn't lose anyone)

Here's the legend for the pic below.
R = small bolt on the left
S = small bolt on the right
LARGE post = large copper post on top
Pipe = phillps screw looking thing on bottom of solenoid

http://albums.photopoint.com/j/View?u=1229726&a=9073806&p=30399063&Sequence=0

GeneD
10-10-2000, 08:43 PM
Okay, I promised myself I wouldn't post tonight. I just worked all day on the Donzi, and reluctantly gave up for the day.
My battery is blown out, I am getting 10.5 volts out of it, and even with a jump start.
Cables on, and hooked up to the Corvette's 100 amp alt., still wouldn't get over 10.5 volts.
The battery is swollen and it was bubbling the whole time. I thought I could wait it out, but it never came up, and I could only rotate the motor very slowly, agonizingly...slowly.
So here I am answering Nates problem.
Nat, the little screw on the left is the Ignition contact. You attach your ingition wire there and when you turn your keyswitch to th eone position, it gives the coil juice.
The little screw on the right is the starter wire.
When you turn your keyswitch to the start position, it sends juice through this wire and energizes the solenoid. When the solenoid is energized, it makes an electromagnetic field which will suck in a loosely fitting steel piston, when the piston is sucked into the solenoid, it touches a brass button. When it touches the brass button, it makes an electrical contact with the battery, the big post in the center there (3/8-16 thd). That is where the battery hot lead (+) gets attached. When this contact is made, the starter gets full power to the little "pipe thingy" via the battery cable. The "pipe thingy" sends an equal amount of full battery power to the armature and field coils, where another electromagnetic field is formed. This electomagnetic field makes the armature turn and in turn makes the flywheel turn via the starter gear teeth.
Whew!
Left screw, ignition.
Right screw, starter wire.
Big post in center, main battery cable, (and on Mercs, the alt wire going to the hot lead on alt., and the main fuse panel hot wire).
Simple right?
Oh, and one more thing...
I know you replaced your solenoid, did you get the correct length? A shorter length, as is commonly sold in a plastic bubble pack, will energize and make the starter spin but not the flywheel cause the bendix gear teeth aren't making it far enough out to meet the flywheel. To check, either take it off and look inside and see if the cavity is as deep as the old one, or you may just be able to look at it and tell if it is shorter or not.
(I've done the spinning routine before!Believe me, been there and done...well you know.)
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GeneD
007
Melbourne, Florida

[This message has been edited by GeneD (edited 10-10-2000).]

[This message has been edited by GeneD (edited 10-10-2000).]

RickR
10-10-2000, 08:58 PM
Also, some solenoids (trim type) are externally grounded.

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RICKR
mailto:riggerb@aol.comriggerb@aol.com</A>

GeneD
10-11-2000, 08:00 AM
Nate,
I forgot to ask you what kind of ignition you have.
This makes a difference in the hookup.
If you have electronic ignition, you will have no wire coming down to hook up to the ignition terminal. If you have regular points type ignition, it will have a wire going to that terminal.
You didn't mention the ignition wire in the other post about solenoids, so I'm thinking you have the solid state type of ignition.
If this is the case, and you have the wires correctly hooked up, it is beginning to sound as if you have the short solenoid.

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GeneD
007
Melbourne, Florida

Jamesbon
10-11-2000, 08:15 AM
Gene,
You are the man! I completely understand the solenoid now, and when I hook her back up, I'm confident she'll work!!

Now, for the other stuff, I run a Mallory Marine distributor with the Unilite conversion. (NO POINTS....a hot topic in the past) and a standard hi-po coil with a rusting ballast resistor somewhere in the mix. The distributor has a 3 wire plug that plugs into another 3 wire receptacle....I'll have to trace the wires beyond that point. From what I can recollect, I think one wire is grounded, one goes to the coil, and the other, well, who knows. I'll have to take a look when I get home.

If all else fails, I'll have someone turn the ign., and starting circuits on with the key, and I'll sit back there with the wires in my mouth and when I light up, I'll know what wires go where.

GeneD
10-11-2000, 08:48 AM
LOL!!!!
You're a riot.
If you think you completely understand the solenoid now, then I did a good explanation job and frankly, I'm shocked!
Last night, I was bone tired. But I know you were agonizing over this and both of us need to at least get our motors running.
Who will be first?


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GeneD
007
Melbourne, Florida

Jamesbon
10-11-2000, 09:40 AM
I don't know Guy, being newly armed with all that solenoid info. has made me a formidible player.....ha ha ha ha I need all the help I can get, still have to put the starter back in, stick the raw water belt on, fill w/antifreeze, set the timing and crank position, and prime her up.

(I bet you still beat me though)

Is a fat bubbling battery all that's holding you up? (lucky!!)

GEOO
10-11-2000, 09:08 PM
JB, I found the gadget!!! Checkout http://www.overtons.com/ for $ 44.00 they have a Happy's Air Dry Model 1000 to keep your bilge moisture free. I might spring for one. When you get to the site, on the right you'll see a beige, circular, plastic, swiss cheese, looking thing, That's it!! GEOO

Jamesbon
10-12-2000, 08:29 AM
GEOO, THANKS!! I'll need it. I was mortified to see the cockpit after 7 months of covered outside storage. I hope bleach or Super Clean will remove the stains on what was brand new white interior last year. http://www.donzi.net/ubb/frown.gif

GeneD
10-12-2000, 10:11 AM
Oh man, I have the same stains on my rear seat. Looks like where it contacted the tonneau cover got all funky looking mildew looking stains.
I'm going to use some Bleach White. That stuff is pretty damn good.

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GeneD
007
Melbourne, Florida

CDMA
10-12-2000, 10:23 AM
They work great. We have three of them and West Marine sells their own version which may be cheaper. We have one in each watertight ( condensation not so tight) bildge in my dads trawler 365 days a year.

Chris

Jamesbon
10-16-2000, 08:26 AM
SHE'S ALIVE!!!! After breaking a brass fuel pump fitting, going to the hardware store again, and having to break the raw water pump free with a screw driver, (hate to see what the impeller looks like) she fired up with the gracious help of my girlfriend Kelly (she gets to turn the key as I squat in engine compart next to an unborn angry beast who'w first sounds are those of an animal straight from hell.) It took a bit of cranking to dial in the timing close enough for her to fire. This engine appears to very sensitive to small timing adjustments. I revved her up and set the total advance around 33 degrees, let her run at a varying high idle for close to a half hour. By the end of the initial break in, I noticed the temp. climbing a little high, so I called it a night. This morning in the shower I wondered why the temp got so high, then it dawned on me that I probably never closed the raw water intake valve, thus the raw water pump probably was ingesting air with water during the whole break in period. I'll double check tonight. As I recall, the last 355 with the same FWC set up, never rose above 180 degrees, even when cranking out 5400 rpm's for short blasts. I also noticed that as the temp. rose, the engine also sounded like it was almost popping or something through the intake side. Tonight I'll remove all rockers, re-torque all head bolts, then re-adjust all those pesky needle bearing rockers to the correct valve lash for the solid roller cam, close the raw water gate, then crank her up again for another round.

One thing I noticed is that the timing, when viewed on the harmonic balancer through the timing light, appears to jump around (only 3-5 degrees, very rapidly) when revving fairly high. Is that normal? Maybe the old Mallory needs a re-curving? ANy how, she's runnin and I'm pretty happy!!!! I have some under the dash re-wiring, a few switches to replace, and have to replace the shifter cable and she'll be ready for the water. More to come.

Thanks for your help along the way everyone. By the way, Gene and CDMA, you were right on the money ewith the starter solenoid!!!!!!!!!

rayjay
10-16-2000, 10:22 AM
jb,

How old is your Mallory? rayjay

Jamesbon
10-16-2000, 10:28 AM
Whew! I have no idea, let's see, I've had the boat for 11 years, and bought it with the mallory installed, so.... My guess is that it's at least 12 years old. I have a back up distributor from a Crusader....maybe I should convert that one to LED and give it a shot. I did re-curve the existing disty. once about 8 years ago.

rayjay
10-16-2000, 01:18 PM
jb,

If your Mallory is that old, whether it's points or electronic (is it a uni-lite, with the "light" instead of points?), it is possibly getting old and worn. Have a good high performance auto electric's (distributor) shop test it. It may just be worn bushings or distributor drive (or shaft coupling). If I remember correctly most Mallory's are rebuildable, but compare the cost between rebuilding and buying new (and more modern) before deciding. If all of those are okay, how is your cam drive? The distributor controls a fair amount of the power your engine puts out. It will not make the engine produce more power, but it can prevent the engine from producing as much power as it is capable of making. rayjay

RickR
10-16-2000, 01:22 PM
Impeller?
How much do I owe you? http://www.donzi.net/ubb/wink.gif

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RICKR
mailto:riggerb@aol.comriggerb@aol.com</A>

Jamesbon
10-17-2000, 07:05 AM
RickR,
How 'bout a COLD beer? http://www.donzi.net/ubb/wink.gif

Well, I found out last night that I was runnin on 6.5 cylinders the night before during break in. When I removed the valve covers, I found two completely loose rocker arms, thus causing the popping sound. So I went round for round and re-adjusted the lash on all 16....whew!!! WHat a difference, she's real smooth now, idles much better (although major "lope"), and the timing seems more stable under the light now.

Cables - Anyone know if a Morse cable can be removed from it's sleeve? I tried to remove the shifter cable from it's sleeve to lube the entire thing, but something stops it from going through. (Of course, I took the whole cable assembly out of the boat before trying this)

Jamesbon
10-18-2000, 09:45 AM
Re-built the old Morse shifter last night, only to find one of the springs still on the workbench when I was done!! Just have to pull a pin or two and stick the spring back in. Should shift like a dream.

RickR
10-18-2000, 02:04 PM
Don't you just hate those leftover parts! http://www.donzi.net/ubb/biggrin.gif

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RICKR
mailto:riggerb@aol.comriggerb@aol.com</A>

Forrest
10-18-2000, 02:55 PM
Nate, you can ditch that rusty old ballast resistor if you are running a Unilite or other electronic conversion. The ballast resistor is there to drop the voltage to about 8-volts across the opening closing points to extend their life. The wire connection from the + side of your coil to the "I" terminal of the solenoid is to provide a full 12-volts to the points while the starter is cranking in order for the engine to start quickly.


Hay! RickR, the weather extra nice down here on the Big Bend area of Florida right now and the Gulf is smooth as glass, AND folks are catching fish. I just caught a big 'ol load of grouper, oysters, and shrimp, at My Way Seafood this past weekend . . . and out of respect for those Donzi owners in the Pacific Northwest, I washed it all down with ice-cold Red Hook ESB!

Hurry on down!
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Forrest

[This message has been edited by Forrest (edited 10-18-2000).]

Len
10-18-2000, 04:00 PM
You're brutal Forrest. Raining here for about 4 days now. Cold, not a fish in sight, seas are rough. Foggy as Sh##@$t. Depressing as hell. Just scattered my 350 in my delivery van. Life sucks right now. Trying to think about Woodsy's 18 in Massachusets but everything around me is falling apart! I'm not having fun anymore...

EricG
10-18-2000, 06:42 PM
Hearing that you're drinking our beer warms my heart Forrest.....Now if I could just warm my hands, feet, face........Is there really a place in the world where it doesn't rain every day from October to May????

Eric G

Blewbyu
10-18-2000, 10:31 PM
JB-Boatersworld carries the dehumidifiers-page 215 in their current catalog-same price as Overtons.They work great......even in the Pacific Northwest.They have a store in your neighborhood!
Forrest-Red Hook ROKKS doesn't it?I don't even drink beer,and I love the stuff.
Len-Stop that whining noise-you grew up here.Whaddaya expect-white sand and sunshine?????Buy Woodsy's boat-and you can sit in the garage all winter and just LOOK at it.That's what I do.Red Hook helps a lot......

RickR
10-19-2000, 04:27 PM
Forrest
I'm in the middle of our busiest season, 7 days a week for a couple more then I'll be headed south after all the tourists go home.

When I get to Fla I have to play captain for some friends for a few days, I'll call after they head home.


Did you mention, to Debbie at My Way, I was comming down, I fish with her husband when I can (after I fill our own freezer) He even pays me, go figure?

How are this years oysters? I usually don't start eating them till November. I'll bet the're great because of all the dry weather.

Debbie always has the BEST seafood, my favorite is the cocktail crab claws.
My speciality is Grilled Grouper stuffed with Crab Dressing. Damn I can't wait to get down there, my freezer is empty and I'm getting hungry.

Those calm seas will be over soon. As soon as I cross the Ga/Fla border the wind starts blowing.

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RICKR
mailto:riggerb@aol.comriggerb@aol.com</A>

Jamesbon
10-20-2000, 07:44 AM
RickR,
Will you be just South of us again this year? Looks like we'll finally get to do some boating, I'm one 14' Morse cable away from putting her in.

All that talk about seafood is going to drive me to Salt Rock this weekend!!

Forrest
10-20-2000, 11:19 AM
RickR, the oysters were great! First batch for me this season and I'm ready for more. Also, I forgot to drop your name to Debbie, but I will for sure the next time I'm in My Way. . . maybe this Saturday. The St. Marks Stone Crab festaval is going on this weekend, so I figure I would hang out there since I keep the Magnum directly across the street in the high dry. It runs (for now) as long as I keep it under 3200 RPM. Above that, the oil pressure starts to drop on the engine that was run with a 50/50 mix of motor oil and salt water due to a cracked head. I'm still collecting parts for the 383's that will go in this winter. I have the short blocks still sitting in my dining room and will soon buy the Dart heads and and other stuff to get this project under way.

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Forrest

RickR
10-20-2000, 02:20 PM
Forrest
If you have an hour to spare, ask Ike (Debbies son) which is the best college football team. Clif and Ivanhoe are doing a great job with Bayside. Check them out, you may want to move the Magnum.

Jamesbon
We hope to be is South Fla in March. My panhandle trips are for Grouper fishing with my brother in law.
Good luck with the GT.

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RICKR
mailto:riggerb@aol.comriggerb@aol.com</A>

Forrest
10-23-2000, 04:21 PM
Are you trying to say that Ike is NOT a Seminole fan? Believe or not, there are a few around here! In fact, I starting to see just a few too many Gator fans around here. But, but, Gator fans with a Donzi, like GeneS . . . they're OK.

Yea RickR, Chris and Ivanho are doing a great job, I just wish that they didn't close down the restraint bar for the winter . . . I was just getting to like that place! Bayside is great, but the Magnum may be out of place over there since its just di-hard fishing over there. But you know, I always like it when someone walks over to me while the Magnum is sitting the water and ask how many fish did I catch!

Oh man! It's fly season out on the Gulf up here and I don't mean the kind that you use with a fly rod either. I'm taking about the little bastards that look like regular house flies but the bite the crap out of you. We ran about eight miles out in the Gulf Sunday. Again, it was a smooth one-foot or less, crisp, dry 85-degrees - perfect. When we stopped the boat to relax and drink a beer, immediately I saw four or five of flies - no big deal, but after 20 minutes or so, there were HUNDREDS!!! And I think that if we didn't get moving, there would have been thousands . . . eight miles offshore? Go figure. Off, Repel, and Skin-So-Soft doesn't seem to do anything. The longer you stayed the more flies accumulated and the more they bit. Don't ask me where they came from because they are not on shore. Those SOB's can go away . . . like right now. Folks at the marina say that the flies have been around for a few weeks now, but with a little luck, they'll be gone before you get down here.

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Forrest

[This message has been edited by Forrest (edited 10-23-2000).]