Trojan Boat Forum

Well i gave my 1981 f308 a test run in water yestarday. i wanted to make sure all was well before towing her to ny. Much to my dismay it was not. from my v-drives i had continuous drips instead of 8-10 a minute. and they still drip even with engines off. where the rutters are i had a few leaks, very slow but leaks just the same. the 228 merc (305)
ran great once they finally started but i shut them down sooner then i wanted to because of the lil crack in my port, starbord exhaust manifold, which i found a new one of here in slc today, fore 462 $. i bought it because ididnt want to try and fix that manifold in, ny.

after this test run, now their filled with water again, which i just drained as if to winterize all over again, ( could get cold driving across the counry)
Do any of you think i will be ok, not fogging the engins again and just draining the water from them. she will be in the water in less then 3 weeks if all goes well.

I would also enjoy any other comments about the other problems i mentioned.

thanks from Gary Ga

I would not worry about fogging the engine . as far as the leaks on the V-drive , are you talking about the shafts driping water ? if so may need to tighten or repack . but rember some driping is normal ,if you had no drips the packing would over heat . heres a lilttle info ( you may have to copy and past )

http://www.boatus.com/boattech/Casey/StuffingBox.htm


If you repack I would go with Gortex or gtu packing you can almost be dripless with it (almost ) But stay away from Drip-Less moldable packing
your shaft spins to fast for it to last .

Thanks Prowlerfish: I read your lead on repacking and will try that when i get to ny and put her back in the water. another person today said not to refog for this short period. so i wont . thanks gg

Good luck tomorrow!

If you are not familiar with repacking, I would STRONGLY recommend you repack BEFORE splashing the boat, then tighten them up to a very slow drip once shes in the water. its quite simple, cut your packing ends at 45 degrees, then stagger the seams by 90-180 degrees. Untill youve done it many times, do it out of the water, because when your in the water, and you pull the old packing, things can get loud and move quite fast lol.

That is a good idea to repack before putting it back in the water if you never have done it . as water is rushing in when you do it . I prefer to do it in the water ,but I have done it many times .

Well, I remember doing mine in the water for the first time. It was quite an experience even after doing it several times dry. I think anyone should probably do it dry the first few times. I spend most of my time trolling so I replace mine every year. Also remember to check them after you have run the boat for a bit, and then now and then throughout the season.