1966Mustang
New member
Been a while since I've posted, here's a list of things I've done so far:
Rebuilt/Replaced:
Riser, Exhaust Manifold, Trim Pump w/ new style quick connects, fuel pump filter, fuel/water separator filter, oil/filter, coolant, carb, fuel feed line.
Installed:
breezeworks 3 wire Alternator conversion
And of course the basic make it pretty steps - compounding, polishing and waxing and the thankfully not too much brightwork, etc.
For the first trip, headed out on a sunny Sunday afternoon (2 weeks ago). At the gas station, I topped off the tank. It took less than 10 gallons. Odd I thought... but, coming out the overflow, so I stopped. I was expecting to put at least 20 in there. Oh well, good deal and off the the launch we went. I took her out in the Lafayette River here in Norfolk, VA - it's a pretty protected body, lots of boaters, lots of people near by and close to populated areas. The launch is a pretty nice City one, easy in and out. Launched the boat, fired right up, and set off to see what the old 3.7L would do. She does about 40. So, after thinking wow - great - no probs - Temps right around 160ish. All good, let's head out into the Elizabeth River and down towards the center of Norfolk.
If you're not familiar with Norfolk and the Hampton Roads area... It's a major shipping and Navy area. So, heading out into the Elizabeth and cruising down to Norfolk with my wife and a buddy, I started to notice some different engine noises... I think it started as a stumble, then fine, then another stumble. WTH... So, not wanting to push it, we turned around and headed back to where we came from. Flipped the engine cover up - everything looked fine (as it often does...). Anyway, I wasn't able to give it much fuel before it started spitting and sputtering, so we just puttered it back to the launch. Got it home, pulled the carb and the screen was clogged with old gas crud. The bowl didn't look too bad, the screen under the accelerator pump had some crud under it too. So, I cleaned and rebuilt the carb. In the process, I noticed that the choke spring wasn't doing anything because it wasn't catching the lever. I made sure to put that together properly. Replaced the fuel pump filter and made sure the steel line to the carb was cleaned out as well. Put it all back together and - engine started right up and was sounding fine. Choke worked, temps good, etc. Ready for another Sunday test drive...
So, today was that another Sunday.
Prior to today's trip, I did a mental and visual inspection of what I had done previously, connected the battery charger, checked oil, checked coolant, got the boat ready, etc. We headed out about 3:30 today - basically to do a replay of the first trip but expecting better results. First 30 minutes or so - no problem, hit 41 mph or so, everything sounding fine. Temps good. Headed out into the Elizabeth river and headed the other direction - towards Chesapeake Bay, rather than Norfolk. No sooner had we got into the channel proper - where the cargo ships be... sputter sputter... And this time with an actual cargo ship being tended to by tugs heading in our direction etc. I made the executive decision to turn around and head back to the launch. "Ya hear that honey? That means we're heading back..." We made it out of the channel to where people were fishing and about 5ft of depth... then the engine stopped. It sputtered out! Well, at least we were in a better position to think a bit. The weather was good, waters calm, people near by. Dropped anchor, lift the hatch - no obvious anything wrong. Try to give it a start - seems like it doesn't want to crank - Real slow.. Then no crank... Damn! - Was the alternator not charging? Vapor lock? WTH... Wait another five minutes. Cranked up and started. WHEW... Throw it in gear and limp it back to the launch. It seemed to clear up, hit WOT, idled down, no problem. Idling along thinking, it sputtered and died again. Wait five minutes.. started back up. WTH... Now I'm thinking I've got some bad fuel in there. Who knows what is comprising the 50+ gal that I did not put in there. I'll find out tomorrow when I drain the fuel/water and start draining the tank.
I will say that the 3.7L engine's ability to resurrect itself is a great feature... But it's certainly a feature I don't really want to test again. It was an Adventure for sure.
Can't wait till the next run!
Rebuilt/Replaced:
Riser, Exhaust Manifold, Trim Pump w/ new style quick connects, fuel pump filter, fuel/water separator filter, oil/filter, coolant, carb, fuel feed line.
Installed:
breezeworks 3 wire Alternator conversion
And of course the basic make it pretty steps - compounding, polishing and waxing and the thankfully not too much brightwork, etc.
For the first trip, headed out on a sunny Sunday afternoon (2 weeks ago). At the gas station, I topped off the tank. It took less than 10 gallons. Odd I thought... but, coming out the overflow, so I stopped. I was expecting to put at least 20 in there. Oh well, good deal and off the the launch we went. I took her out in the Lafayette River here in Norfolk, VA - it's a pretty protected body, lots of boaters, lots of people near by and close to populated areas. The launch is a pretty nice City one, easy in and out. Launched the boat, fired right up, and set off to see what the old 3.7L would do. She does about 40. So, after thinking wow - great - no probs - Temps right around 160ish. All good, let's head out into the Elizabeth River and down towards the center of Norfolk.
If you're not familiar with Norfolk and the Hampton Roads area... It's a major shipping and Navy area. So, heading out into the Elizabeth and cruising down to Norfolk with my wife and a buddy, I started to notice some different engine noises... I think it started as a stumble, then fine, then another stumble. WTH... So, not wanting to push it, we turned around and headed back to where we came from. Flipped the engine cover up - everything looked fine (as it often does...). Anyway, I wasn't able to give it much fuel before it started spitting and sputtering, so we just puttered it back to the launch. Got it home, pulled the carb and the screen was clogged with old gas crud. The bowl didn't look too bad, the screen under the accelerator pump had some crud under it too. So, I cleaned and rebuilt the carb. In the process, I noticed that the choke spring wasn't doing anything because it wasn't catching the lever. I made sure to put that together properly. Replaced the fuel pump filter and made sure the steel line to the carb was cleaned out as well. Put it all back together and - engine started right up and was sounding fine. Choke worked, temps good, etc. Ready for another Sunday test drive...
So, today was that another Sunday.
Prior to today's trip, I did a mental and visual inspection of what I had done previously, connected the battery charger, checked oil, checked coolant, got the boat ready, etc. We headed out about 3:30 today - basically to do a replay of the first trip but expecting better results. First 30 minutes or so - no problem, hit 41 mph or so, everything sounding fine. Temps good. Headed out into the Elizabeth river and headed the other direction - towards Chesapeake Bay, rather than Norfolk. No sooner had we got into the channel proper - where the cargo ships be... sputter sputter... And this time with an actual cargo ship being tended to by tugs heading in our direction etc. I made the executive decision to turn around and head back to the launch. "Ya hear that honey? That means we're heading back..." We made it out of the channel to where people were fishing and about 5ft of depth... then the engine stopped. It sputtered out! Well, at least we were in a better position to think a bit. The weather was good, waters calm, people near by. Dropped anchor, lift the hatch - no obvious anything wrong. Try to give it a start - seems like it doesn't want to crank - Real slow.. Then no crank... Damn! - Was the alternator not charging? Vapor lock? WTH... Wait another five minutes. Cranked up and started. WHEW... Throw it in gear and limp it back to the launch. It seemed to clear up, hit WOT, idled down, no problem. Idling along thinking, it sputtered and died again. Wait five minutes.. started back up. WTH... Now I'm thinking I've got some bad fuel in there. Who knows what is comprising the 50+ gal that I did not put in there. I'll find out tomorrow when I drain the fuel/water and start draining the tank.
I will say that the 3.7L engine's ability to resurrect itself is a great feature... But it's certainly a feature I don't really want to test again. It was an Adventure for sure.
Can't wait till the next run!
