'79 SN Commander Build

Right, Just curious as I'm deciding between copper and stainless for my straight pipes.

On the vibration dampening note - what is a good modern material to use for pads under the new straight pipes?   I imagine they can get a little warm on the outside, especially copper?

Just get some of the cheap black indoor/outdoor carpet from Home Depot etc. and wrap the pipes like normal. Buy it in bunk size cut if you need to replace the trailer carpet.

8122pbrainard wrote: Off Trail wrote:    Replace muffler with 3" copper or stainless. Are either readily available used/cheap, or am I likely buying new tube cut to length? . Aaron, There are plenty of on line stores to shop for metals but one thing to consider is stainless VS: copper. The typical copper (plumbing) you find may be sized by the I.D. so 3" will have an O.D. of 3.125" and that makes it harder to get the exhaust hose on. Stainless tube will be sized by the O.D. and then the wall thickness.. So, a 3" tube (.065" wall is plenty) will fit nicely on the exhaust hose. Some will say 400 series (muffler grade) is adequate for corrosion protection but I recommend using 304.

You'll have valve cover gaskets if you buy them.

I was gonna mention a day or two ago that you should have bought a complete Felpro marine gasket set and saved some trouble but you already bought stuff and asked questions later[

Go back to my post on 10/12 @902am and the link there talks about the spacer.

It's not needed but the plate is

KENO wrote: You'll have valve cover gaskets if you buy them. I was gonna mention a day or two ago that you should have bought a complete Felpro marine gasket set and saved some trouble but you already bought stuff and asked questions later[ Go back to my post on 10/12 @902am and the link there talks about the spacer. It's not needed but the plate is

Bummer. I was trying not to ask too many questions. I had read about the gasket kit, but forgot about it when I was actually on summitracing buying stuff.

Also - I had read that post you linked, but glossed over the comment that - 'removing the plate does not affect mixture'. Good to know, plate will go in a box with the mufflers.....as soon as I figure out how to get this damn floor up.   P.O. had new carpet run right over the old carpet, and up into the sides behind the ski shelves. Because there are 2 layers of carpet, I can't find the seam to cut. I'm going to tear it all out when I'm ready to park the boat for good. 42 degrees and sunny today, so I think I'll have to take it out for a shakedown ride.

Someone will probably post the link that I should have found, but I swear I searched....

So that sticker on the side of my engine says 94 Octane. I guess I missed the era when you could buy 94 Octane.   What does everyone run in these 351's?

I can buy ethanol free 91 Octane, which is what I run in my other boat and all small engines. I can also buy 88 Octane non-E.   Being at high elevation I know I am safer running lower octane and can get a little performance bump doing so. Is it worth playing with the 88 Octane or am I asking for trouble?   I'm assuming these engines don't have a knock sensor like the Malibu does?

Got a nice warm day, so had to get her out for a spin before I start taking things apart.

Finally started on the dirty work. I pulled 'newer' carpet that had been laid right over the original, and then peeled up the back half of the original carpet.

I was hoping to stop at the seam near the pylon for now. For this winter I want to focus on the structural and mechanical, and make sure I have a good-running, solid boat before I spend the time and energy pulling the whole interior apart. So, plan would be to clean out the bilge hull thoroughly without pulling any more floor, then do the heads/intake/exhaust/new carb, put some removable/temporary carpet in the back for one summer and call it good.

Long term I would like to redo the floor covering throughout, which will require redoing the side carpet, all the way into the bow, etc.

I took some pictures of the progress and was hoping someone that has more experience with stringers, floor work etc. could tell me if they see any red flags, surprises, etc. in the photos. Everywhere I can touch and see them the stringers seem solid. The scupper holes through the stringers have a very small amount of mush (quarter-sized) at the bottom, but the sides and top of the hole feel like dry solid wood. That's good, right??

I'm assuming there is still foam hiding under the outer glass floor, outside the secondary stringer? In my long-term plan I will cut up the outer glass floor and clean out whatever is under it - but I'd rather save that for next winter. Any thoughts?

Aaron,
It sure looks like the PO has been doing some work in the bilge. Yes, that 2x isn't original and nether are the furring strips on top of and on the sides of the stringers. What's the removable panel aft of the engine look like? Beyond a visual, what have you done to check the condition of the stringers? Here's a link to Tim's video on checking stringers.

Looks like significant structural work has been done to that boat... all sorts of unoriginal going on (and yes Carpet definitely is on that list).