1980 HydroStream Vamp resto-mod

That must be the new "green" wiring they are always talking about...

 

Just got shipping notification, my stator will be here tomorrow! Main harness next week sometime. So, looking like I might have this motor running and on the boat by next weekend! Guess I wont be fishing tomorrow, I have prep work to do on the motor. Carbs need to be cleaned, lower cowling needs to be degreased, and the rest of the cowls need to be painted.

 

And second shipping notification just came in, wire harness will be here monday. Ok then, lots of work to get this thing cleaned up and ready for the harness and stator to go in.

Tomorrow I guess I am wheeling it out of the garage to get degreased. Then the starter needs to come off, and all 3 carbs need to come off. Carbs will get dipped in the ultrasonic for till they sparkle.
With the starter motor and carbs off, I can slide the lower cowl up over the top to give it a good cleaning. Both lower cowls and top cap will get sanded down, sprayed with a high build primer, sanded again, then sprayed with black paint.
The cowl band (big sheet of metal that wraps around the motor) needs to get washed, small dents removed, stickers stripped off, then I can paint that too.

I have decided that the motor is going be painted black like factory, but instead of the mercury decals, I want to put some Navy aircraft decals on the sides of the motor to give it a fighter jet look. I really want to get some Blue Blasters decals to put on the side. Thats the Navy squad my dad was a pilot in flying a6 intruders, so I grew up with that everywhere.

 

Started painting the outboard, doing the top and lower cowls first, then I will scuff the whole bottom and spray that. Right now I have a high build primer on, I am sanding that smooth then will put on a black primer and then gloss black paint.

 

Stator has been replaced, wiring run, top and bottom cowls have been painted. I need to clean up the cowl band and paint that next, then paint the lower half of the motor. The center cowl that covers up the bolts for the mid section is in pretty good shape, so I might not paint that unless it doesnt match the fresh paint on the rest of the motor.

Also, here is a side by side shot of one of my spare 85hp cowl bands and the 115hp cowl band. The top and bottom cowls are the same between motors, but you can see how much taller this new motor is.

 

Stripping the old faded paint from the cowling, pressure washer with a 15 degree tip and some stripper is taking it off pretty well with zero scraping or scuffing. While cleaning this, I have been looking at the louvered covers that the performance models came with. Kinda thinking this hood would look good with a couple louvers cut in to get some better air flow in there.

 

Stripped, primed, and painted

 

New harness is in, just need to clean up the routing with some zip ties. Depending on the weather tonight, I want to pull the boat out so I can plug the motor into the boats harness and fuel line and see if I can get this baby started.

 

Wiring all cleaned up, I plugged in a spare harness I had and it powers on and turns over. So, guess I can wheel it out today, hook up my spare fuel tank and water, and see if she will fire!
There is a single wire that doesnt go to anything, its the white wire. Its a keyed on power wire that is not used on this motor, so they say just to tape it over and tuck it back.

Next step is to get the trim pump and rams working, but I will probably be doing that off the motor so I can get this onto the boat sooner.

 

First testing for the new motor, she sputters, but wont run.

So, did some testing, we have no spark at 3, 4, and 5. 1, 2, and 6 all have spark.
I swapped coils and get spark so the coils are good.

Now there are 2 things that control the spark here. The trigger, and the switch boxes. Switch box 1 controls 1, 3, and 5, switch box 2 controls 2, 4, and 6. So It seems odd that both switch boxes would of failed. The trigger controls the switch boxes, so its more likely that the trigger has failed. There is a easy test to check the trigger, so I am going to perform that test right now.
The switch boxes there is no real test other than if everything else checks out, then the switch box is bad.

 

Just ohmed out the trigger, (I probably should of done that while I was replacing the stator). The trigger doesnt even register. All 6 trigger wires ohm to overload, so unless my multimeter is right on a speaker, then wrong on the trigger, looks like the trigger is shot.

Ordering a new one right now and will wheel the motor back into the garage till it shows up.

 

Hope it isn't too expensive.

 

$115 for the trigger, then I spent the extra $10 for next day shipping since I am feeling rich.

I really should of just done the trigger first time around, but the wires looked good, so I figured it was fine.

 

Not bad considering the scope of the project - $10 more for next day is pretty fair too.

 

EDIT, im a idiot. My multimeter only reads 3 digits, so its going to read overload for the range the trigger is in (800-1400). I switch the decimal over and all the trigger leads read out to 1300 ohms.
Still going to put in a new trigger, but also going to order 2 new switch boxes.

Here is my readings for the trigger, seems odd that the trigger being bad provides spark on 1,2, and 6, but not 3,4, and 5, but Im going to roll with it for now.
I posted on the facebook group, I got the cryptic response of "You have multiple issues. Aint just a trigger."... thank you stranger for the very unhelpful response.






And just to show the multimeter is reading right, here is a 2 ohm speaker.

 

New switch boxes have just been ordered. Overnighting those too.

Might as well replace all this stuff now instead of being stuck on the water.

 

Not an idiot, we have all been there my friend. At least the mistake wasn't too costly.

 

Ah, yes -- the ol' didn't change the range on the manual meter problem...

We all have done it.

...some of us multiple times...

 

ok, so now I am on to another topic I have been reading.... the stator! I replaced the stator with a new one, but it had some changes and I cant get a straight answer out of anyone on this one.

So, the old stator had the wiring coming out by the carbs in the front, the new one the wires while long enough to mount that way, just doesnt fit right (wiring is tight). So I clocked the stator to the side so the wires come out right by the switch boxes and the wires fit perfect.

Now, here is the problem. Some people say you have to install it the same way the old came off, the mercury manual says to install it the same way the old came off, other people say you can mount it anyway you want as it just charges the battery, others still say you need to mount it with the wires coming out by the switch boxes, and the CDI rep on a forum said you can mount it any way as long as its turned in increments of 2 holes from its original location...
ok, increments of 2 holes, so bolt, skip hole, new bolt? Like I assume the original bolt is 0, then 1, then the 2nd hole is where the new bolt goes, but its kinda vague.

Here is their exact language used, maybe you all can understand it better than my fried brain right now
"Stators can be rotated two bolt holes (or multiples of two) in any direction."

I pulled the stator off to remove the trigger anyways, so I think I am going to put it back on with the wiring coming off the side, if it still doesnt start with the new trigger and switches I am going to put it back to its original location. Only takes like 20 minutes to change, so not a huge time investment.

These motors are not complicated, but instructions for everything are super unclear and everyone has their own opinion on how it should be done.