Look what followed me home today...

[Merc 2.5]

Na not so slow, doin a fine job ,except u ain't suppose to have so many hammers laying there
good job , gonna have to post a video of it runnin

[Merc 2.5]

I also run the 22s, have have no complaints and just good all round

[baja200merk]

The XT are fun to drive. Mine ran 86 with a bone stock 2.4 200 and a 28 chopper with no low water pickup.

[nitro_rat]

Na not so slow, doin a fine job ,except u ain't suppose to have so many hammers laying there
good job , gonna have to post a video of it runnin

Sometimes when you're thinking outside the box you have to beat the parts into submission!



Feels like I have a long way to go, still have to run bleed lines, electrics, do the carbs...

I ordered a pile of jets, maybe they'll arrive on Monday!

[nitro_rat]

I ground a little on the chest while I was waiting on gaskets to arrive...

[Merc 2.5]

I ground a little on the chest while I was waiting on gaskets to arrive...

Nice! Should make a gud runner. Bout 2 gud hrs and u can have all electrics done and idling on hose! Ha

[nitro_rat]

Nice! Should make a gud runner. Bout 2 gud hrs and u can have all electrics done and idling on hose! Ha

I guess I'm not quite as fast as you! Been working all day. Got the bleed lines run, most of the electrics sorted out.



Still have to finish up the fuel system and linkages...



And a few shots of the clamshell brackets:





The bottom could use a little more work but I'm concentrating on getting it running for now!

[nitro_rat]

Got a test fire today, started right up and sounded good! Got side tracked by the wiring. Ended up tearing everything out. Going back with ABYC color coded stuff run neatly so everything makes sense! Lots of solder and heat shrinks. Got all the wiring on the motor and in the back sorted out and everything run up to the front. Dash wiring tomorrow...

[tlwjkw]

tha cowl will be kinda cool and keep all tha "newby's" at tha lake really scratchin' their butts.... good job.

[Merc 2.5]

I got to hear it for a sec and it sounded gud!!, gonna b cool boat. What in hell is abyc wiring?

[nitro_rat]

I got to hear it for a sec and it sounded gud!!, gonna b cool boat. What in hell is abyc wiring?

"American Boat and Yacht Council" They set a color code that all the manufacturers follow.

http://www.acbsphl.org/Tips_and_hints/ABYC_Wiring.htm

Makes it easy to know what does what if it's wired to the standard! Also easy to see when somebody who has no idea what they're doing has been wiring a boat...

[nitro_rat]

Well, it all fits into the clamshells! The trim relay harness from the 97 was tricky to get in there but it all fits with no interference.

Been running on the hose some yesterday and today just trying to get some heat cycles in on 32:1/fresh pump premium. Cranking compression on this idle relief motor is 135 psi hot. It may continue to climb as the rings seat. It sounds strong, I'm awaiting the arrival of some 78, 80, and 82 jets before I take it to the water for some more break in.

[AZMIDLYF]

[nitro_rat]

So, in that last pic (thanks for fixing it for me AZMIDLYF!) I cheated. It's airbox off with the 2.0 latches. Yesterday I decided to cut the front of the cowls to install the 2.4 200 latch. Long story short, I F***** up big time and gashed way to much off (I know, I know; measure twice, cut once!). Then I noticed that Mother Merc was kind enough to have scribed a faint cut line on the inside...

I was pretty p!$$ed off at myself and wasn't in a picture taking mood!

This morning I came in early and fiberglassed up the whole front of both sides. I re-did my cuts and fogged some satin black on.



The end result looks okay!



Inside you can see how much material I had to add back!



Pulled the 200 latch and hardware out of my stash. NOS baby!

For the record, Mercury really screwed up the clamshell when they put the plastic latch on it! If I had it to do over again, I think I could run velocity stacks with 2.4 200 bottom front piece (the thingy where the rigging goes in and the latch for the faceplate is) and use the 2.0 latches! Plus it would be LOUDER!!!



As always, hindsight is 20/20!

I'm really not looking forward to finishing up the rigging. Got the main dash panel wired up last night amd need to finish the switches and a few extra gauges some PO decided it would be a good idea to hack into the dash. At least the main panel will unplug from the baot for easy service in the future!



Another random fact about this build - it's kinda a "sweep the floor" project. So far I have only purchased the hull, gaskets and bearings for the motor build, and the decal set for the cowlings! Everything else (including all the rigging and wiring I'm using) is stuff I have purchased for past projects or salvaged off of parts hulls.

Was looking forward to running this weekend but weather will be bad and the Hellions Casino Run has been postponed. I'm still on target to finish breaking in the motor on Friday but I probably won't if it's COLD!!!

[Merc 2.5]

Awww. U cheated 1st time Haha, nice job refabbing cowl tho. I gotta ask. Why didn't u use BP cowl?