5.7 MPI starts to stumble after flawless 1 hour run

[jimn]

Like that older Four Winns! I have to pull out the coaming panel on the starboard side because the wood in the rear portion of it is falling apart. I fixed the port side about 8 years ago and it's held up well. At the same time I think I'm going to install a Sea Star CH 1700 control to replace the sloppy old OMC OEM unit. I also have to have the big sunpad re-done, the 25 year old vinyl is starting to come apart.

About the Cobra drive, there is one local guy who will work on them. I have a spare drive and might get the lower & upper rebuilt, so I have a spare. The other options, SEI makes a conversion kit to put one of their Alpha copies on a Cobra transom mount. I hear it works pretty well. I guess you could use the conversion kit and just use a rebuilt Alpha 1 Gen 2. Another more expensive option is to convert to a Volvo SX, using most of the Cobra transom mount with the Volvo pivot housing. This is possible because the Volvo SX used a modified Cobra transom mount when OMC and Volvo were in the joint venture period. But used/rebuilt Volvo drives are expensive, and these are getting old now too.

What I liked about this boat is it is small enough to trailer (20'9") but is a true deep V with a 21* deadrise, so it rides great in the chop we get here. My local areas are 2 harbors that lead out into LI Sound, and we are about 8 miles across from Norwalk Ct.

Hope the one I have to do now is as easy as this one was....
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I Used MDO plywood for the wooden replacement parts- it's the same material used for road signs, so it's resistant to weather/water. I gave any that would be more exposed to moisture a few coats of Polyurethane, just to be sure it can't absorb water. The tips of the seat cushions, backrests, coaming pads were very pointed and that doesn't work for wrapping foam & vinyl tightly, so I reshaped them and rounded the tips- I had two exposed screw holes at the front- I put the Boater's Checklist on the Port side and the new safety switch ahead of the helm control. I hated the interior- too soft, felt bad and the buttons weren't doing it for me. Also, I never liked back to back seats.They changed the materials and methods before your boat was built and I definitely prefer it to the way mine was made. You can see the pointed end on the plywood- it can't be wrapped without overlapping and it's more likely to eventually pierce the vinyl.

It's too bad OMC was shut down- the Evinrude FICHT cost them a lot of money and COVID was the end of them.

 

[Droid]

Cobra was valid competition to Mercruiser especially after OMC signed the 3 year ironclad agreement with Bayliner. So Brunswick buys Bayliner, agreement expires & Cobra sales drop. Gulf War starts, economy tanks, boat "luxury tax" enacted & boat sales drop. Enter FICHT & end of story.

 

[jimn]

Cobra was valid competition to Mercruiser especially after OMC signed the 3 year ironclad agreement with Bayliner. So Brunswick buys Bayliner, agreement expires & Cobra sales drop. Gulf War starts, economy tanks, boat "luxury tax" enacted & boat sales drop. Enter FICHT & end of story.

The American Way- buy the competitor if they're eating your lunch and use your own system, so the previous company can feel some pain. That led to a lawsuit for Brunswick, due to unfair pricing.

The first FICHT I worked on came in because it stopped, completely. Couldn't crank it. I pulled the plugs and looked into the cylinders and in one, the piston head had melted- looked similar to the photo, without the color. That's also when I learned about the spark plug indexing.

c

 

[Droid]

Young guys have no idea what we are talking about.

 

[louc]

I Used MDO plywood for the wooden replacement parts- it's the same material used for road signs, so it's resistant to weather/water. I gave any that would be more exposed to moisture a few coats of Polyurethane, just to be sure it can't absorb water. The tips of the seat cushions, backrests, coaming pads were very pointed and that doesn't work for wrapping foam & vinyl tightly, so I reshaped them and rounded the tips- I had two exposed screw holes at the front- I put the Boater's Checklist on the Port side and the new safety switch ahead of the helm control. I hated the interior- too soft, felt bad and the buttons weren't doing it for me. Also, I never liked back to back seats.They changed the materials and methods before your boat was built and I definitely prefer it to the way mine was made. You can see the pointed end on the plywood- it can't be wrapped without overlapping and it's more likely to eventually pierce the vinyl.

It's too bad OMC was shut down- the Evinrude FICHT cost them a lot of money and COVID was the end of them.

I agree about the back to back seats, I like the bench better but the boat has to be big enough (like at least 19') for that to work. The problem I had with it was the difficulty in servicing the engine. What I did was replace that huge heavy bench seat with two easily removable 36" seats that are really pontoon boat furniture. These go in front of the engine bulkhead and fit into a notch I cut in the lower side panels, so the backrest just pulls out and I can lift the bottoms out and move them. For the wood frame work around the engine, I used machine screws and wing nuts to hold it all together and it comes apart pretty easily. I would prefer a simple dog house and 2 jump seats to give more room for fishing but it would take a lot of work to make it look good. I cut that big bulkhead in half and mounted on a take apart hinge, so I can open it like a door to get at the oil filter.

Engine bulkhead that opens like a door. Excuse the dirty deck lol.

Rear seats in place

works well enough, if I weren't so lazy I'd convert it the way I'd like it for fishing, but I figure if I ever sell it most people would like it this way better.

 

[jimn]

Young guys have no idea what we are talking about.

And that's the way we likes it. (Abe Simpson, paraphrased)

 

[jimn]

I agree about the back to back seats, I like the bench better but the boat has to be big enough (like at least 19') for that to work. The problem I had with it was the difficulty in servicing the engine. What I did was replace that huge heavy bench seat with two easily removable 36" seats that are really pontoon boat furniture. These go in front of the engine bulkhead and fit into a notch I cut in the lower side panels, so the backrest just pulls out and I can lift the bottoms out and move them. For the wood frame work around the engine, I used machine screws and wing nuts to hold it all together and it comes apart pretty easily. I would prefer a simple dog house and 2 jump seats to give more room for fishing but it would take a lot of work to make it look good. I cut that big bulkhead in half and mounted on a take apart hinge, so I can open it like a door to get at the oil filter.
View attachment 36971
Engine bulkhead that opens like a door. Excuse the dirty deck lol.
View attachment 36972
Rear seats in place
View attachment 36973
works well enough, if I weren't so lazy I'd convert it the way I'd like it for fishing, but I figure if I ever sell it most people would like it this way better.

One reason I wanted to get rid of the back to backs was because I just don't like them and the other is because when adults are sitting on them, the legroom for the rear seat passengers isn't great and since I and most of my friends are tall and leggy, that's not great. As I posted, I have captain's chairs for the front and pedestals if I mount them to the floor but I may build a storage enclosure and put them on that. The top can be used to make stepping in from a dock easier and each will have a lid. It will increase storage, a lot.

 

[louc]

One of the reasons I kept these pontoon style seats for the rear is they have great storage and I’m a pack rat. I have motor oil, spare fuel filter, belts, thermostat etc and an emergency 2,000 gph bilge pump. Because the boat lives in the mooring all season & it’s much beadier to have what you need…

 

[jimn]

One of the reasons I kept these pontoon style seats for the rear is they have great storage and I’m a pack rat. I have motor oil, spare fuel filter, belts, thermostat etc and an emergency 2,000 gph bilge pump. Because the boat lives in the mooring all season & it’s much beadier to have what you need…

From the factory, it's hard to find boats that have enough storage unless it's a yacht with a very large engine compartment. I like containers that seal well- bucket lids from Home Depot have a rubber O-ring that many others don't. I just cleaned one of those a few days ago and i had sat on the ground & been outside for several years- the ring was still pliable. If the container will hold metal tools that can rust, I put a desiccant pack inside with plastic zip-lock bags.

 

[louc]

That's always the problem, trapped moisture and rust!