98 200FF build, lots of pics. lots of questions, hopefully not lots of mistakes!

[LakeFever]

Gents all input is welcome and encouraged. This is my first Merc build so I'll need guidance here. I dont have a manual for this motor im running on instinct so far but the tear down is the easy part.

While my helper is off I decided to get the motor side of my boat build equation rolling. If you havent seen my boat build thread I'll link it below this motor is going on a 79 Viking. I bought this motor initially for my Valero I had at the time and ended up buying the boat with this motor and now im restoring another hull for it. This motor is in excellent physical condition and ran great but ever so unfortunately that was short lived. The fuel line was pinched in between the cowl and pan so it leaned out and dropped compression in hole#2 to 30psi and hole#5 to 120psi. The rest all remained at 135. Time to rebuild and up the power while we are at it. Goal is a lake motor that has all the legs I'll need. Im sticking with the 40amp and hope I can spin it occasionally to 8000RPM but that wont be often. Build plan so far is as follows


1. clean up the rod slots
2. open up the exhaust slots and the downspout a little
3. Upgrade reeds
4. Fill oil injection void
5. Bore it, New pistons and rod bolts
6. Add brucato
7. Run it

My first questions are;

1. This motor has 4 petal reeds in it so is it worthwhile to upgrade this or should I replace with a bigger/better set up? Somehow I was expecting five petal
2. What should I be checking over and upgrading while im in here? Any known gremlins? spots to look over for casting issues or weak spots etc?



View from the back minus heads and cover. Top left hole is 30psi and bottom right is 120. Both are scuffed


Cylinder 2. Notice the sleeve vs the casting, wow thats some poor fit and finish there





Cylinder 5



Exhaust side of cylinder 2 you can see its pretty grey



Cylinder head from the even side. The only one that was grey the other side looks fine



Looking down the exit the alignment isn't too bad. There will be lots of smoothing and clean up going on in here









This is my boat build thread

https://www.screamandfly.com/showthr...9-Viking-build


Fire away im all eyes

[Mrzip]

Mota had the chitt run out of it

[nitro_rat]

1. Call Jay Smith and have him send you some TDR reeds.

2. Top pinned pistons are good peace of mind if you're planning to zing it to 8k. Also get the metal caged rod bearings, 514R (IIRC) from Pro Marine.

[LakeFever]

I read a ton of threads last night about the 4 petal reeds and it seems they are decent for my purpose so I think I’m going to run them. The 8000rpm target is not set in stone but I definitely want to go over 7000 so that’s the range 7-8000 rpm type thing. Will the 4 petal support that? What exactly is top pinning pistons? Any pics to show the difference I searched and came up with nada

[patchesII]

I read a ton of threads last night about the 4 petal reeds and it seems they are decent for my purpose so I think I’m going to run them. The 8000rpm target is not set in stone but I definitely want to go over 7000 so that’s the range 7-8000 rpm type thing. Will the 4 petal support that? What exactly is top pinning pistons? Any pics to show the difference I searched and came up with nada

There are guys turning stock 200 blocks with those cages over 10 grand. The 4 petal cages and laser injection will run

[nitro_rat]

I have had the standard 5 petal cages over 8k on a 2.0, never ran a 2.5 that hard so who knows? The extra displacement may tax the cages harder. As for top pinning the pistons:

http://us1.cc/weldedtoppinpistons.html

John Marles is the one who handles that.

[tnelsmn]

Subscribed so I can follow along.

[LakeFever]

I think im just gonna stick with the 4 petal and see how it goes because i have it and its easy to upgrade later if I dont feel its enough. I'll be updating with some more pics soon as I get the case split

[NeedOne]

I been tinkering with a 98 200 EFI, started a dummy and now an experienced dummy thanks to S&F and trial & error. here's some thoughts,,
--make sure fuel tank pickup, venting & filter are all proper & high flow
--do all peripherals while it's on the bench with added power it's gonna seek out weak point after weak point... Bleed system refresh, new crank case end seals, all new gaskets on front end and in exhaust plates, diaphragm pump rebuild and vst clean (vst housing oring not reusable it will pinch and leak, pony up $50) Injectors flowed. New CDI voltage regulators.. protect your electrics
---don't mod cooling it just cooks exhaust plate gaskets and runs inconsistent, keep stock cooling with T stats.
-- ccms stuffers add nice mid range punch
-- ccms head stud kit,.. you're gonna be pulling heads numerous times inevitably
-- i don't see cut heads on your list but that's another nice adder, & advance the timing to match added compression.

Hope this helps & will follow your build

[LakeFever]

Solid info I appreciate the guidance. I wasn't planning on head studs until I read that but I am now. Wondering about o-ring heads actually maybe thats also worthwhile? I hadn't considered new regulators either but I will now. I may even try two builds, first one mild then go wild, simply out of fear of dialing the tuning. I've burned down my share of two strokes...

[NeedOne]

For your reference, heres my current setup.. Its mild/reliable for all day lake, and it rips too
Refresh all peripherals like above
Delete idle stabilizer & oil modules, run stock ecm & 40 amp
Stuffers, reeds, 34 cc heads, studs, linc n sync, 24 degree timing, promax exhaust divider, 92/3 octane

[LakeFever]

Stock ECM! Now your talking and Im getting excited! Thats my biggest worry is dialing in the tune up so I might copy that set up for this first one. How high does yours spin to with the stock ECM?

[NeedOne]

I can't wind mine up due to plastic cages yet to be swapped out + hull gets squirrelly at 70mph...
That said I have glanced 6300rpm, with throttle remaining

[LakeFever]

Worth a try I think I'll give it a crack and see how high it will go. Do some plug reading and hope for the best at first. Plan now looks like

rod slots
stuffers and reeds
chest smoothing
open up dump to XR2 size
fresh bore, pistons and rod bolts
steel cage bearings
epoxy oil injection groove and hole and crankcase as per Forbesauto pics
34CC heads
head studs
ditch black boxes
lync/synch 24 degrees timing
all new gaskets seals etc
clean and flow injectors
freshen fuel system
new plugs/wires
fresh regs
STOCK ECU

Appreciate all the input gents keep it coming

[Whaaaaat]

Index your flywheel then set timing from most advanced cylinder. I think you can go 25 or 26 degrees safely. Don't take my word on that. But I'm pretty sure i have mine more than 24°