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

[LakeFever]

Finally dug this motor out of storage and have started to assemble. I spoke at some point with just about everyone over the past couple years. Had an awesome 2hr talk with Jay Smith what a helpful and knowledgeable man he is. Ordered some TDR reeds and managed to get them installed. When i inspected the stock reeds some of the gaps were huge. No wonder the thing sounded like a big block chevy with a lumpy cam at idle. Also the reed block faces were far from flat. I read a few threads on four petal reeds and some guys remove the rubber and whatnot but i figured id try and lap them and see how that went. It takes quite a lot of time because rubber is squirmy so i couldnt apply much pressure. They did eventually come out perfectly flat though and the reed fitmemt is very tight there is no light passing through the reed/block seal now. Heres some pics of the process. Took about six hours all said and done. The first pic if you look at the stainless reeds you can see they were floating way off the block. This wasn’t even the worst one it was the last one and i just grabbed a pic for reference. The second pic is part way through blocking. Third is a finished flat block and then some with new reeds installed. I also cleaned up the intake flashing with sand rolls.

[LakeFever]

Back at this today. I have piled up a few motors and one is an XR4. I was told it had the large opening base plate so I pulled the power head off and sure enough there it is a race size exhaust hole. It was noticeably different than my attempts at porting my stock 200 base plate earlier in this thread. I was going to swap it out but some of the cooling ports were different and I figured it was easier to just open mine up to match so I did. This made the angle I ground the block dumps at not line up well so I opened those up more to match. The whole exhaust exit looks much much better now. This is close to my final result here. It’s a substantial amount of block to remove approximately 1/2” off the whole port. Took a while to do. I added a quick pic of the xr4 plate for reference which I believe is the same base plate as an xr2 fishin mota as well

[LakeFever]

Moving along with block prep. Using marine Tex I epoxied the oil injection cavity up as best I could as much as I dare. I ran a burr in the hole and keyed up the rest of the valley with 80 grit. Super cleaned it with acetone using white new rags until zero residue was coming up. Same process for the front half. Once I had the cavity fully stuffed I used straight razor blades to skim the extra off. I tried a few things but marine Tex is so sticky it was a bit challenging. The razors worked best. I also epoxied up the broken nipple on the one cylinder. Used a tiny round file to key the hole up and a burr to make a valley to build up and hold the epoxy. Also cleaned using acetone and compressed air before applying. Start assembling next

[LakeFever]

I added another round of marine Tex on the rod slot to build it out some more. Going to give it one more go to build it up close as I can to the others. Installing pistons and prepping the connecting rods. I gave them a thorough cleaning with a tooth brush and brake clean to get rid of any debris residue or loctite. Chased the threads out as well. Ran a 320 grit ball hone through each bearing hole for ten quick passes on slow drill speed. Slick method way better than crocus cloth. Weighing all rods, pins, and pistons to match them up best I can. I’ll put the heaviest ones in the center of the block. I don’t think I’m going to go as far as weight matching with grinding and whatnot.

[LakeFever]

Back on this motor again. Jay Smith yet again saving my ass. I sent him a pic of my hone job and he did not approve. Sent me a little how to and showed me what it’s supposed to look like. Thankfully I was waiting for the circlip install tool I ordered from ProMarine who also is a great outfit for parts. Anyways I gave the rods another quick hone and got the finish to where it needs to be and got to weighing and matching. I did surprisingly well I ended up with complete assemblies at
port side;
1019.2grams
1019.2grams
1017.4grams

starboard side;
1019.4grams
1021.1grams
1024.1grams

im pleased with that it’s nice and close which may not matter much but it makes me feel better so that’s what matters I suppose. Gratuitous pic of proper surface finish



I also ran another layer of marine Tex in the oil injection cavity I think this is enough build up now. I’ll sand this down decent and stab the crank
in it next

[LakeFever]

Got the rings all checked and matched up nice. Sanded the epoxy down a bit just to smooth it out. Test fit a spare crank I have to make sure the epoxy cleared. Thinking about one more round of marine Tex near the top of the gear but I think it would be fine as is

[Baker343]

Back on this motor again. Jay Smith yet again saving my ass. I sent him a pic of my hone job and he did not approve. Sent me a little how to and showed me what it’s supposed to look like. Thankfully I was waiting for the circlip install tool I ordered from ProMarine who also is a great outfit for parts. Anyways I gave the rods another quick hone and got the finish to where it needs to be and got to weighing and matching. I did surprisingly well I ended up with complete assemblies at
port side;
1019.2grams
1019.2grams
1017.4grams

starboard side;
1019.4grams
1021.1grams
1024.1grams

im pleased with that it’s nice and close which may not matter much but it makes me feel better so that’s what matters I suppose. Gratuitous pic of proper surface finish



I also ran another layer of marine Tex in the oil injection cavity I think this is enough build up now. I’ll sand this down decent and stab the crank
in it next

Looks really good, can you share how you got to this finish

[LakeFever]

As per the man, Jay Smith who gave me this excellent tip; 1.5” 320 grit ball hone high speed drill push in/out fast a dozen times or so. It doesn’t take long. 1” 320 grit for the small end

[LakeFever]

Ran another pass of marine tex in the cavity and this time, it’s done. Forbes if your still out there thanks a ton for the earlier advice and pics it helped a lot. Tomorrow hope to bolt the bottom end together

[LakeFever]

Got to assembling the motor tonight. Started off with an issue I had to wrestle with for a while. The oil gear was all melted and mangled and quite loose. The pics above is a spare crank I have it’s not the one I’m using it has a damaged journal. I didn’t want anything flying off so I cut most of the gear teeth out and reinstalled it. Then I excitedly installed 3 port pistons in the starboard side pulled them back out and installed one port in the port side and called it a night lol. Hopefully get some time tomorrow to button the rest of it up

[LakeFever]

All six in and in the proper holes. RB8000 rod bolts, steel cage promarine bearings, red gel loctite on the threads, a dab of light oil under the bolt heads. Torqued to 5, 15, 25, 35’ lbs. Triple checked all cap alignment everything is looking good. Whole rotating assembly spins over very easily. I’m pleased with this. Now onto the rest of the assembly

[nitro_rat]

You’re getting good advice from the best in the business. Jay makes it look easy!

Don’t mind me, I’m just dropping in to say hello since it’s been a while…

[LakeFever]

Nitro! Long time no see good to hear from ya hope all is well. Yes sir Jay Smith is a high voltage Mercury man to say the least! Poking away here taking my time having a coffee break now. Got the front half bolted up. Still spinning like butter so moving onto rear cover and intake next

[LakeFever]

Heads had some pepper damage but nothing extreme. Took some adhesive backed 80 grit sand paper and stuck a couple feet square down to a flat surface and went to town. Took a couple careful hours and a lot of sweat but I’m calling these good to go. I was surprised how wavy they were when I started. They were anything but flat. They are now though, dead nuts flat. I chased the spark plug holes and the block threads out. Installing soon as I get my arms moving again

before sanding after picking


after


all done

[LakeFever]

Got the heads fully cleaned and air blown out all passages and whatnot. Stuck some diverters in the block. 1/8” clearance top and bottom. 5/16” fuel line. This is the thread I referenced to locate the diverters properly. Post #3 has pics thanks PanRonnie

https://www.screamandfly.com/showthr...ight=Diverters


Here’s mine installed