New 1996 Grady White Islander 268 with twin 200 V6 Mercs

[greauxpete]

First coat of gelcoat. Not too pretty but it's going under the deck:



Port side motor is baselined:

New lower unit water pump kit installed
Soaked and Rebuilt carbs
Rebuilt fuel pump
New thermostats
New bleed lines
Tested over heat alarm
Removed oil injection with mercury kit

First startup - video:

First startup after baseline

 

[Hookup1]

I can't tell if you did this but make sure you do. Overdrill the deck screw holes, fill with epoxy and re-drill to correct size. Protect that plywood coring!

 

[greauxpete]

Hookup, I left a gap around the perimeter and filled it with thickened epoxy for that purpose.
The holes should not be drilled through wood at all, but will definitely double check to make sure I havent penetrated the plywood once I redrill.
If so, I will over drill and fill with epoxy.

Thanks for the heads up!

 

[efx]

Quick question, how does that trailer work out for you? I’ve never seen a trailer on an Islander where the tires are completely under the hull.

 

[greauxpete]

We have not trailered the boat significantly as of yet, but first impressions are it seems to pull better than the trailer for my 2320 Robalo.
It has a longer tongue which helps reduce tongue weight.

 

[greauxpete]

Floor Panel finished:

 

[greauxpete]

Both motors are running.
Soaked all carbs for a week, blew out all passages/jets several times, and reassembled with new gasket kits. Rebuilt the fuel pumps. Replaced all thermostats/gaskets. Rebuilt both water pumps with new gaskets and impeller. Changed bleed lines and fuel hoses. Deleted oil injection with mercury block off kits. Confirmed idle operating temps - see videos below.

Port motor running:

Port motor running

Starboard motor running:

Starboard motor running

 

[greauxpete]

Steering system is now functional.
We changed out the two hoses at the stern, which run from the bulkhead connections to each side of the hydraulic cylinder. Then we purged the old, nasty hydraulic fluid until we saw clean fluid and proceeded to bleed the air from the system.

Here is a video of the steering functioning:

Steering Video

 

[greauxpete]

We were able to get the trim tabs working. Hpu was not working. A friend gave us a spare (used) hpu. We pulled the old one, installed the working unit, filled it up with ATF and functioned the tabs up and down 3 times to bleed and everything looks good.

The port side tabs appear to moving slower (maybe 2 seconds slower to fully stroke up/down) than the starboard side tabs, but both function up and down. Is this due to the longer hydraulic line run to the port side tabs?

 

[greauxpete]

Rear 70 gallon tank was full of 10 year old gas. I pumped it out and disposed of it, but there is loose crud/varnish/particles in the bottom of the tank (see pics). My plan is to angle the boat up and over to allow the water to flow to one corner and pump it out then repeat the process, blow out the fumes and shop vac the remaining water and fuel particles.

 

[family affair]

I would suggest some type of detergent with your water or non flammable solvent - if it exists.
I'm sure you already know this, but be careful about static sparks with the compressed air and vac untill you are 100% sure the fuel vapor is gone.

 

[greauxpete]

I was able to clean out both the 70 gal and 130 gal tanks with a water hose and shop vac with a clear 1" vinyl hose taped to the larger suction hose on the shop vac:

70 gal tank:


130 gal tank:


Shop vac hose adapter:

 

[family affair]

70g tank looks good, but the 130 looks to have a lot of varnish. What's the plan?

 

[greauxpete]

May try to let it soak in water overnight..
Aside from that it may be time to bring out the big guns.. Steam cleaner..

 

[family affair]

Where is Doc Stressor when you need him? He is a chemical engineer and I believe no longer an active member.
The interwebs say vinegar will take care of the varnish, but it will react with aluminum. The question is how bad will it react for the time you have it in the tank? I don't think water alone will accomplish much.

 

[greauxpete]

Familyaffair,

Thanks for the tip on the vinegar. I may try vinegar and a pressure washer. I can dilute the vinegar after giving it a try with water and suck it all out.

Note: The varnish is only in the rear of tank. Will get a video today after my 2nd attempt.

 

[greauxpete]

Pressure washer did the trick:

 

[seasick]

Alcohol will dissolve the varnish. That is what when Ethanol fuel was introduced, many folks had issues with the fuel components getting gummed up.
On a different note, using a shop vac in a gas tank is a terrible idea. You are lucky the vac it didn't blow up. Seriously, gas fumes will linger in a supposedly empty tank for just about forever and fumes are what explodes, not liquid gas. The shop vacs are not ignition protected.
There are some methods to prevent gas fumes from accumulating; pumping a lot of air through the tank is one. Putting dry ice in the tank is another. It will freeze the gasoline vapors. But no shop vac

 

[ROBERTH]

When I cleaned out my tank, flushed with water and heavy soap solution, rinsed again and again and no more fuel smell. Once it was clean, and I didnt smell any more fumes, I used a long vac hose and cleaned it out. Then put in alchohol to give it a final rinse and let it dry. No issues.

 

[Pfu]

A lot of work you are nailing it. Great job and thanks for the blow by blow!