Outboard mayhem !

Sep 14, 2014
1,251
Catalina 22 Pensacola, Florida
Hardhead yeah it looks easier then it was , first you drill with carbide drill, then work it with diamond or carbide bit on dremel , took a a while but easier on mind than drilling more holes in the boat. LOL
 
May 23, 2016
1,024
Catalina 22 #12502 BSC
My motor mount was the original garelick on the boat when I got it from the PO. He had a 85 mercury on it which was the original outboard on the 83. It was 2 stroke and I had no problem putting the sail pro on it. The reason for the intermediate notch I created was that in the upper notch the 25" sits just in the water enough to operate and pump cooling water through it but the lowest notch actually put the bottom edge of the motor mount board at water level which caused drag and prop was way too low at that position. Rather than remount the whole motor mount to accommodate the longer shaft engine I just cut a pair of intermediate notches to put the engine in with prop far enough down not to cavitate when I went forward or when waves or wakes were excessive. No racing and surging then when operating in even extraordinary conditions.
Jacktar...does your mount have 2 springs or 4? did you reinforce inside the transom (wood block, G10 plate, or lateral angle support?
 
Apr 11, 2017
571
Catalina C22 Solomon's Island, MD
Jacktar...does your mount have 2 springs or 4? did you reinforce inside the transom (wood block, G10 plate, or lateral angle support?
When reinforcing the transom, one other thing to look at might be removing the motor mount, and repositioning the motor mounting one hole further down in the sequence of pre-drilled holes on the motor mount. (If yours is set up this way) My mount has an unused transom mounting hole at the top, and I was considering re-attaching the mount using the top hole, as opposed to the 2nd to the top - where mine is now. I'm hoping this might help decrease the lever effect, by adding about 1" of more positive support at the bottom of the mount, where it presses against the transom. I haven't done it yet, but think it might also help reducing cavitation from the higher notched settings, as the current bottom notch is far to deep on my set-up anyway. It's either that, or likely cutting a new notch as Jacktar has done.
 
Sep 14, 2014
1,251
Catalina 22 Pensacola, Florida
Would have used the different bolt hole method except this mount only has 4 holes so no other way than drilling more holes. Backing is 3/4 inch plywood with 1 inch fender washers.
 
Apr 11, 2017
571
Catalina C22 Solomon's Island, MD
Jacktar, if you don't mind my asking, did you do anything special sealant wise when you re-seated the mounting bolts through the transom? From the one cutout photo of the C22 transom I've seen - it appeared to have some kind of air gap between the laminates, inside of the fiberglass. I was planning on basically using as much butyl tape as possible, but haven't actually tackled the project yet.
 
Sep 14, 2014
1,251
Catalina 22 Pensacola, Florida
Since I did not remove the mount but just created the extra notch on the boat, I did not alter the bolts at all, just made sure to tighten them up since the fender washers the PO used had sunk a bit, too small , so just replaced with larger and tightened back up again.
 
Nov 12, 2015
87
Catalina 22 Lake LBJ
I had the same problem with motor mount board dragging in water. I took my mount apart, clamped the two sides together to drill the hole, then hacksawed the notch. It now works great.
 
Sep 20, 2014
1,320
Rob Legg RL24 Chain O'Lakes
I've not had any real complaints about my 2 stroke. If properly tuned and maintained, it should start and run fine. My first motorcycle was a triple 2 stroke. There is a certain finesse about getting them to start easily. Mostly just knowing how much to crack the throttle when starting. I've seen people fight and fight to start a 2 stroke. I have simply walked over and started it on the next kick or pull. Snowmobiles, motorcycles, outboards, they are all the same. You have to listen to the sound it makes when it turns over. You can hear if it is flooded, and lean. Once running, the carb needs to be adjusted by ear. Listen to the crack, and adjust for the best sound. You can't do that with a 4 stroke. 2 strokes are lighter. Because they use oil, the engines tend to survive the off months without rusting the cylinder walls.
 
May 24, 2018
31
Catalina 22 Norcal
I've not had any real complaints about my 2 stroke. If properly tuned and maintained, it should start and run fine. My first motorcycle was a triple 2 stroke. There is a certain finesse about getting them to start easily. Mostly just knowing how much to crack the throttle when starting. I've seen people fight and fight to start a 2 stroke. I have simply walked over and started it on the next kick or pull. Snowmobiles, motorcycles, outboards, they are all the same. You have to listen to the sound it makes when it turns over. You can hear if it is flooded, and lean. Once running, the carb needs to be adjusted by ear. Listen to the crack, and adjust for the best sound. You can't do that with a 4 stroke. 2 strokes are lighter. Because they use oil, the engines tend to survive the off months without rusting the cylinder walls.
Straight to a triple, that sounds fun. :)

You're right about the finesse. The biggest problem I have with my 74' Johnson 6hp is that I'm the only one who can start it. It always starts for me in two or three pulls unless it's warm/cold/Tuesday/someone else just flooded the damn thing. I have years of commuting on carb'd bikes and especially a kick-only 2-stroke scoot to thank, but most of my friends think a choke is something from Fifty Shades of Gray.
 
  • Like
Likes: Tom J
Sep 20, 2014
1,320
Rob Legg RL24 Chain O'Lakes
Straight to a triple, that sounds fun. :)
GT380, My brother would brag about his Honda 350 with electric start. I would put my bike in gear, rock off the center stand, pop the clutch, the engine would start and rev, and I would drive off, all without putting my feet down - who needs an electric start.
 
  • Like
Likes: Gene Neill