Splash

Mid to upper 80s in NC this weekend, so definitely good weekend for first splash, so I did too. Sadly, between gale force winds and nobody wanting to come out and play, no first of season pulls. Lake looked like 4th of July yesterday.

So while I was thinking about it. When I posted about new 176 last spring, folks asked for pictures, which I never got around to posting. So I took some today.

Nice rig Larry.

Very nice Larry. The 176 has been and always will be my favorite.

Nice boat Larry, they really are sharp looking hulls.

Though it may or may not be legal to ski without an observer depending on where you are, that might be the way to go and maintain social distancing. Definitely not as much fun as having a small gang in the boat though.

DVskier wrote: Looks like a brand new one

It is in very good shape. Had the benefit of being unused, sitting in a barn for something like 8 years, as it was tied up in an estate. It had 188 hours on it when we got it. Purchase was agreed to before seeing the boat, based on the reputation of the rebuilder and about 100 pictures sent as the restoration proceeded. You know how pictures always make a boat look a little better than it really is? Not this time. We got to the ramp for the test drive before Zach. When he pulled in, my ski buddy and I saw the boat and thought holy crap, that looks better in real life than in the pictures.

phatsat67 wrote: Nice rig Larry.

Yes it is. Overhauled and prepped by one of the best in the business.

Gary S wrote: That is an awfully nice looking boat Larry. Did you do the rudder upgrade? Good to see you got the sailboat out of there as well

I did not do the rudder upgrade. I actually have no issues with the stainless. Seems to perform just fine with that. I do have an 11A ready to go in if I am ever compelled to see if there is much difference. ( I think I will start a separate thread with the rest of the rudder story - just for grins since most people know the general gist of it, but it is still fuzzy)

After sitting in the yard for 2 years, waiting for me to get around to trying to patch a leak one more time, I cut the sailboat up into bite size (dumpster size) pieces and took it to the dump) The autopsy once apart revealed the leak up in the center board slot. No way to get to it. I had deduced that when trying to repair, but this confirmed it.

Riley wrote: Real clean, great looking boat, Larry!

Thanks Bruce. We are really enjoying it. It is perfect for our purposes. Tell Dave that nasty loping idle he experienced when driving it last fall is gone. Needed a little carb attention.   (Note: not an oversight by the rebuilder. It ran fine for him and for my test drive. But an hour or two into it, after delivery it started loping. Maybe this crappy NC gas. But all is good now.)

I had a Laser with same center board slot crack.

I think I cause it by standing on deck when it was on a trailer.

Never did repair it, sold as is.

Great looking 176, if I am reading correctly it was just rebuilt? With 180 hours why? or is it 180 hours after rebuild?   The boat looks fantastic, could be brand new.
Reminds me of a nice 1995 I bought 6 years ago with 99 original hours.

I skied behind a 176 in Winter Haven in 97 that had a got 40 engine, what a beast! It had the strongest hole shot I ever experienced. Out of the water in 50 milliseconds! Small wake but a bit harsher than my 97 SN was at the time. Great boat for your small lake. Drives like a go kart, very nimble.

Good summery Larry. I believe the brother of the deceased acquired the boat and did not have any interest in using it hence sitting for a long period of time. It had antifreeze it in when I got it.

It was a .040 overbore but everything besides the cylinders was the cleanest engine I have ever pulled apart. The cast iron was so grey still without any hint of oil discoloration you normally see.

Nothing special inside. Stock Cam/Cast good quality pistons and rings. Heads completely gone through. Tried some new King bearings in it (very nice looking pieces) and the tolerances ended up exactly where I would want them to be running thicker 40 or 50W oil. Fords are typically very tight tolerances.

It's got a honey of a block too. Factory roller with factory in pan windage tray. Not even a hint of blow by on first break in so the thing sealed up almost immediately. I think its running about 44.5 mph correct? It's a non HO motor set up stock other than the .040 overbore. Felpro marine gaskets throughout.

The boat turned out beautiful only needing a quick buff and has a sweet matching factory Ramlin under it. I think my brother still has remorse over not keeping it and selling his 89.

Yeah, one hole was pretty rusty. Must have been the one with the valve parked open. The guy tried cleaning it up himself which probably made it worse.

I like what I see from the Kings and the engine guy loves them. I will have to check notes but I think we just used the standard bi metal they offer.

I have always used the tri metal Clevite 77s with good luck but I really haven't ever seen any evidence of bi metal aluminum not being up to the task in a stockish engine.

One neat thing about King, they offer many different options of bi metal and tri metal based on different needs for the applications. I will be using them again on the next build and giving some of the other bi metal lines a shot.

Typically with most bearing guys, bi metal is what it is and so is tri metal until you get into the super racy stuff. These guys give you options of each to custom suit your needs. I think Dave Hart ended up with Kings in his 81 motor as well.

I can't share any current information on King but I sold Federal Mogul bearings against them for around 20 years.   
King is an Israel built engine bearing. They bought some old FM equipment years ago and started making bearings.   In the 90's our engineers told us the bearings King was building were similar to bearings FM made in the 70's. Not bad stuff just not as good as current product.
King's strength was building every odd size that other companies chose not to build.
King was always about 60% the cost of FM or Clevite bearings. Another competitor ACL also chased FM and Clevite and was about 80% the cost of FM and Clevite.
FM and Clevite competed for the OEM business in most cases back then.

I am not saying the King bearings will fail in your boat, I think they will be just fine.   I do think the FM engineering offers a lot more protection for long life and since bearings are the heart of the engine that is not where I would choose to save cost. And I do not work for them any more, I do believe in the product.

Main's and rods are very different. IIRC he used the very very racy King's on those rods Bruce. What did they do on the mains? Clevite 77 P series?

phatsat67 wrote: Main's and rods are very different. IIRC he used the very very racy King's on those rods Bruce. What did they do on the mains? Clevite 77 P series?

H series.

Hopefully will have pics of the 97 in the water in a few days. For now, this will have to do.

9.9 Evinrude was purchased new by my Dad back in '78. 100% Original (Pete would love it) and runs like a top!

I remember skiing ( barely ) with a 9.9 way back when I weighed about 60 lbs.