496HO to 502

[gcarter]

I ended up painting my transom (instead of gel). The plan was; painting would be less work.

Again......nothing on this boat goes as planned.

At the risk of embarrassing myself, I'm posting pics of my crappy paint job.
I was way to anxious too get it done and although I didn't have the right tip for my gun, I masked everything off and painted anyways.

In the second pic you can see the massive orange peeling from laying on the paint too thick.

Attachment 82738 Attachment 82739

Instead of a light sanding as would be normal for paint, I had to knock it down with 320, then I progressed to 400, 600, 800, 1000, 1500, 2000, 3000. Sure glad it was a small area.
1st pic is after the 320. 2nd pic is after 3000. Although it doesn't show real well, you can see the shine coming up in pic 2. (Yellow doesn't show reflections nearly as well as dark colors)

Attachment 82740 Attachment 82741

Color match isn't as good as I would like. I took the back seat storage cover to a paint shop and they got a 96% color match, but when I put the color sample to the hatch (in the sun) it looked too orangy. I found a color sample that looked dead on and used that instead. Once I painted it though, it's more yellow than the gel (and a bit pale). The "too orangy" color probably would have been spot on.
I was going to repaint, but the wife threatened to me if I did. She said I'm too picky and I need to just get the boat finished. The saving grace, is I only painted the transom, so the right angle paint/gel line ends up looking like a shading difference.
This pic shows the difference. You can notice it more towards the bottom......as well as where a burnt through the paint. Maybe I'll repaint in the winter...

Attachment 82742

Edit: DAMN!! This picture posting is pissing me off. Never had an issue ever. This is the first time I'm posting with Windows 8.1, so maybe that's the difference.

Glen, I tried three times w/two different paint systems to find a match for my gel, and I was unsuccessful each time.
Gel color doesn't easily equal paint color.
All my non-powdercoated hull parts are painted and as long as they're bolted together, there's no problem.
Just don't add paint on top of the gel.....it's very obvious.

[yeller]

Just don't add paint on top of the gel.....it's very obvious.

You're not kidding. I repaired a small dime sized chip then painted it and it is horrible. You can really notice the difference where the paint overlaps the gel.

[yeller]

After Mr. Carter mentioned he blew the seals out of his crank driven water pump due to overpressurizing, I thought about putting in a pressure relieve valve before mine.

After some thought, I decided against the relief valve and feed my drive shower from before the water pump instead. This will relieve excess pressure before the pump and hopefully still allow enough water for the pump. I peg my 35psi water pressure gauge at speed, so I'm fairly confident I won't be diverting too much water.

I installed a backflow preventor inline to prevent the pump from sucking air when resting at idle

PressureRelief.jpg

The thru-transom fitting is threaded inside, so I just need to pick up a 3/8npt to 1/2" hose fitting. The hose in pic 2 will be replaced with a S/S sheathed hose

Driveshower1.jpg Drive shower2.jpg

[yeller]

As mentioned previously, my intercooler needed replacing.

I made some brackets for the new intercooler from 1/2" plate and 1/4" angle aluminum. The 1st pic is the old cooler and the 2nd pic is the new one.

Overflow hose.jpg NewIntercooler.jpg

Later I'll weld up a nicer set of backets and I plan to cut the 45deg intake off the old cooler and graft it onto the new one so I can install it closer to S/C and have a cleaner, tighter installation

[yeller]

Again....I was soooo close to firing up the motor but....

I hit the switch for the electric engine water circulation pump to purge out any air pockets, so I could top off the cooling before firing the motor up. The pump ran for about 20 seconds, then started rattling and died.

A couple months ago I took the pump apart because I wanted to drill out the body and install a hose fitting so I could have the thermostat bypass hose go directly to the pump, instead of to a T fitting on the pump inlet hose. When I took it apart, I found out the previous owner had installed the impeller seal in backwards. This was a brand new pump, but the PO had disassembled it to powercoat it. The motor isn't wired directly to a 12volt source. There is a circuit board inside the pump and it was still wet from when I ran it 8 months ago. It survived that running and I fully dried it out and thought I was safe.

I've decided to switch to a mechanical pump, but it's not a quick and easy changeover. The crank pulley sits tighter to the damper than a stock setup, so I don't think I can use the serpentine setup for the water pump. I do have a v-belt crank pulley that is being used as the spacer for the S/C pulley, but it too does not sit in the stock location. I'm pretty sure I can use that pulley to drive the water pump, but I have to locate just the right pulley for the water pump (so that it can be spaced to line up). I am also prepared to machine the mounting surfaces of the water pump if I have to, to get the right pulley spacing.

All this is just another delay. I hope to find the time to do this next week.

[gcarter]

Again....I was soooo close to firing up the motor but....

I hit the switch for the electric engine water circulation pump to purge out any air pockets, so I could top off the cooling before firing the motor up. The pump ran for about 20 seconds, then started rattling and died.

A couple months ago I took the pump apart because I wanted to drill out the body and install a hose fitting so I could have the thermostat bypass hose go directly to the pump, instead of to a T fitting on the pump inlet hose. When I took it apart, I found out the previous owner had installed the impeller seal in backwards. This was a brand new pump, but the PO had disassembled it to powercoat it. The motor isn't wired directly to a 12volt source. There is a circuit board inside the pump and it was still wet from when I ran it 8 months ago. It survived that running and I fully dried it out and thought I was safe.

I've decided to switch to a mechanical pump, but it's not a quick and easy changeover. The crank pulley sits tighter to the damper than a stock setup, so I don't think I can use the serpentine setup for the water pump. I do have a v-belt crank pulley that is being used as the spacer for the S/C pulley, but it too does not sit in the stock location. I'm pretty sure I can use that pulley to drive the water pump, but I have to locate just the right pulley for the water pump (so that it can be spaced to line up). I am also prepared to machine the mounting surfaces of the water pump if I have to, to get the right pulley spacing.

All this is just another delay. I hope to find the time to do this next week.

Glen, it's a shame you haven't found a good, unmolested Mezziere remote pump. Life is so simple w/such a device.
The advantages are really important w/a supercharged engine (i.e., the pump runs a constant speed after you chop power), no to mention packaging advantages.
BTW, someone gave me a relief valve and mounting Tee, just in case you end up needing it.
I really like the shower water source, and execution.

[yeller]

BTW, someone gave me a relief valve and mounting Tee, just in case you end up needing it.

Thanks George.
I decided to go with the mechanical pump, because it's one less thing to break down. I feel the reliability is better. Plus, if an electric pump fails, you're dead in the water. Mechanical pumps usually give you a warning with a bearing rattle or water leakage and you still have time to make it back to the dock.

I purchased a mech pump and did a trial fit, but the inlet port hits my belt tensioner. I think I can make the serpentine setup work, but I have to relocate the tensioner 1st. Going to do that in a couple days.

[yeller]

Finally fired the boat up after installing the new cooling setup.

No alarms this time and it didn't overheat. Temp did start to creep up a tiny bit, but I think that may be due to not enough water. The place I fired it up at is on a well system and the water is less than I'd normally get from the city system. Were suppose to have temps close to 60 Mon/Tue so I plan to do a water test Tuesday.

This is the first time I've done a youtube video and link, so let me know if it doesn't work

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YhHJ...ature=youtu.be

[JParanee]

Looks and sounds great

[Ghost]

Sweet! Nothing like finally firing up a project...

[Carl C]

Nice. Sounds much better than a 496. Hope you're boating this summer.

[RickSE]

... but I think that may be due to not enough water....

Yes, doesn't seem like very much water coming out of the pipes.

[yeller]

Thanks guys. Going out tomorrow, so keeping my fingers crossed.

Carl, although it may sound nice, I fully regret swapping in the 502. It's been a pain in the a$$. I should have stuck with the 496. For far less than I have into this project I could have put a forge rotating assembly in the 496 and been back on the water years ago. Plus I have far less room now, with the bigger S/C, new intercooler, headers, and closed cooling setup. When I started this, I wanted to make the wiring and plumbing as neat and unobtrusive as possible. With the changes I've had to make, it's an embarrassment to open the hatch.

I already have a mental plan to replace this engine. Just need to formulate a plan to get it by the wife. That's a lot of shoes she'll have to do without.

[Carl C]

Thanks guys. Going out tomorrow, so keeping my fingers crossed.

Carl, although it may sound nice, I fully regret swapping in the 502. It's been a pain in the a$$. I should have stuck with the 496. For far less than I have into this project I could have put a forge rotating assembly in the 496 and been back on the water years ago. Plus I have far less room now, with the bigger S/C, new intercooler, headers, and closed cooling setup. When I started this, I wanted to make the wiring and plumbing as neat and unobtrusive as possible. With the changes I've had to make, it's an embarrassment to open the hatch.

I already have a mental plan to replace this engine. Just need to formulate a plan to get it by the wife. That's a lot of shoes she'll have to do without.

You just need to work faster! I've never regretted for a second putting the 525EFI in my boat, it's also a 502 you know. Do you have Q&Q exhaust? If so that explains the low water out the pipes. A lot runs down the Y pipe. Also you're on a hose with limited volume. I think you're good to go. Engine can't look that bad. How about a pic?

[yeller]

Took the boat out for a 40~50 mile run yesterday and it didn't overheat. I'm running a 140 thermostat and it stayed there the whole time. I'm not 100% sure it's going to be good all summer, because we were running in pretty cold water, so that definitely helped pull heat out of the motor. Temp started to climb when we were cruising along at an idle. It got up to about 180~190, then I bumped the revs up to 900 and it started to drop. That has me concerned I won't be able to keep the temp under control once the water warms up, or I take the boat south. I guess I'll just have to wait and see, but I'm happy for now.

Motor seemed to be down on power from what I expected. I could only spin it to 4900, where as I could hit 5200 with the old motor. I might have to get someone in the boat that can tune a MEFI. It was definitely running too rich.

I was also able to shift the drive out of gear properly, now that I changed the cone clutch and set it up properly. Had to put major muscle into pulling it out of gear before.

All in all, it was a good day. No alarms, no overheat, no shifting problems.

Only problem was putting the boat back on the trailer. I installed extra center bunks, but hadn't finished the job. I forgot they weren't bolted to the supports yet. I guess the boat "pressed" them onto the supports, because they didn't come completely free when the trailer hit the water, but the front of one of the bunks did float free. I couldn't fully remove the bunks, because I was worried the remaining support bracket would hit the boat when going down the road, but I was having a hell of a time trying to get it back in place without getting wet. Eventually I had stripe down to my undies and get into the 40deg water and hold it in place while my buddy winched the boat up.