couple of general boat questions

[jladdsmith]

Hi Folks,

I'm getting a boat back in running condition and have a couple of questions, was hoping someone on the board could help:   

It's a 1990 BassTracker Panfish Special with 40 horse Johnson- stick steering.  Probably only about 100 hours total on the entire rig. 

1) Stick steering: It's easy to turn the motor one way, but the other is hard.  It's an EZ-Stik or EZ Steer or something like that.  As far as I can tell, there's only one way to lube this thing, and that's from the far end where it attaches to the motor.  Is this a common problem, and is there anything short of replacing the cable that will help it turn easier?  It's almost break-your-arm hard to turn, but totally normal pushing it the other way. Weird. 

2)  There's a curved piece of plastic about 1/4 inch thick mounted to the underside of the cavitation plate.  (kind of looks like an inverted sail), about the size of a Dorito chip.  Since it definitely has some bias as to the force it would exert under power, I have to assume that this would make the boat go to one direction, though I haven't really noticed that.  What is this thing? 

3)  I just installed a Stingray Hydrofoil.  The motor is mounted in the lowest position possible on the boat.  It definitely helped the boat get on plane faster, but I think it's seriously affected top end, and I don't even think the motor is winding out (don't have a tach, though). 
     a) Should I mount the motor higher, and if so, how?  Jack Plate? 
     b) Should I get a different prop with a more aggressive pitch?
 
Here's where I got off on this:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=naEvEXUkAsg

Thanks in advance. 

-Jonathan

[MikeA]

1 Most likely you need a new cable. If there are no other obstructions,,,, new cable time.

2 I’m going off memory here so take it for WIW but that thing is used for low speed only. It helps the boat track straight. On plane it shouldn’t matter at all since it will be mostly out of the water.

3 The cavitation plate should be even with the bottom of the boat. + or – a little bit. The hydra foil shouldn’t be under the water when on plane and if it is,,, it would hinder performance a lot.

[jladdsmith]

Thanks, Mike. 

I lubed the heck out of every nipple I could find.  It didn't seem to do anything at all- in fact, it made it a lot harder to turn.  Then I ended up breaking a nipple off trying to get the gun off, bought a new one, replaced it.   Then sprayed a small amount of WD-40 on the end of the cable nearest the stick.  It didn't seem to be absorbing it or wicking it in, just running off.  So I quit. 

Just for the hell of it, grabbed the stick, and it's easy to turn, smooth as silk.

I can't imagine that quick spray of WD-40, or a nipple replacement made this dramatic of an improvement.  Just going to be happy and let the mystery be. 

I'll fool with the motor height when I figure out the mount/trim/tilt situation.  It currently has a gas-assist lift, which is ok, but I want  a jack plate or tilt/trim system.  Problem is, they are soooo expensive.  The motor does need to come up though.

Thanks again-

Jonathan

[bd]

I had this problem on my boat once.  The WD-40 dissolves all the old crud out and lets the cable work freely.  Old grease, grit, etc.

I was told that after you use the WD-40 to clean everything out, you need to re-lube the cable to keep everything protected and working smoothly over the long term.

bd

[grumpy]

I had this problem on my boat once.  The WD-40 dissolves all the old crud out and lets the cable work freely.  Old grease, grit, etc.

I was told that after you use the WD-40 to clean everything out, you need to re-lube the cable to keep everything protected and working smoothly over the long term.

bd

Good point bd, maybe rusted so bad a failure is in the making

Grumpy