posted 05-13-2005 11:26 PM ET (US)        

I got what I thought was the best deal at this time from Custom Marine in Statesboro GA. They are good people to deal with too. I also purchased the Evinrude top-mount shift and throttle controls, tachometer with System Check, wiring harness, and cables. Based on previous experience with a Mercury 100 HP on a 1998 Montauk, I chose the Viper 19-inch pitch propeller.

Based on information from the good folks on this site, I knew my lower bolts wouldn't match the E-TEC, so I bought a T-H Marine JP-4FA 4-inch setback bracket. I rigged everything and temporarily hung the motor on the transom by the top two bolts while I waited on delivery of the brackets. Got 'em now and I hope to drill the bracket and permanently mount the motor this weekend.

A few questions:

1. What is the proper setting for the tach pole switch - 5 or 6? (I couldn't find anything in the manuals)
2. Is the 19-inch pitch a bad choice for prop? Should I have gone with a 17-inch pitch instead?
3. What is the best setting at the transom for the setback bracket and motor on the bracket?
4. Has anyone set up this motor on 4-inch setback brackets and on a 16-foot hull? Any other advice or things to be aware of?

Thanks in advance for any help,
Kenny

posted 05-14-2005 11:39 AM ET (US)            

ratherwhalering has the same basic setup as you describe. Maybe he will join in here or you could send him an email. He also has photos of his boat here:

posted 05-14-2005 03:18 PM ET (US)            

What you will need to allot is time to set this all up. You are going to have to get this all done experimentally because it all depends on how you use the boat and load her. Little changes in motor height will have big impacts on ride and performance. In general, higher is better than lower as long as you maintain cooling water to the motor.

So, I'd plan on getting comfortable moving your motor up and down and a day at the ramp getting her all set up. Personally, I think it would be a lot of fun.

posted 05-14-2005 05:13 PM ET (US)            

I searched and found several posts from ratherwhaling about his set-up on his '87 Montauk. I also like the pictures. Cool boat ratherwhaling if you're out there!

I plan to start with a similar jack plate set-up to ratherwhaling, unless I hear from someone who has already been down my road. However, as suggested, my set-up might turn out a bit different since I have the older/lighter hull.

I am very excited about this motor and can't wait to get her on the water to breath new life into the old boat. I don't currently have GPS or a speedometer, so I don't know how much hard data I will have to share - guess I need to buy one. Already its amazing how much different the exhaust sounds compared with to the old Johnson 125 it replaced.

If everything Evinrude claims about this motor holds true, I wonder if 4 stroke mania will continue, or if the other manufacturers find themselves in a high-tech 2-stroke game?

posted 05-16-2005 10:49 AM ET (US)            

The jack plate I used is a two piece 4" set-back, 7/16" thk?aluminum for manual motor height setting. I thought all would be easy enough to just drill holes in the plate for the lower two holes that go through the splash well and mount everything right up. I took the old Johnson 125 motor mounts (removable)and used as a pattern tool to set the new holes for the jack plate - worked great.

What I didn't realize is that the back of the Whaler transom isn't exactly flat and has a bit of a curve. When mounting / tightening the flat jack plates to the transom, this curvature angle makes the motor mount holes on the plate about 1/4 of a hole out of alignment with the holes on the motor bracket. Therefore I had to connect the plates to the transom and then to the motor all loosely, and then tighten everthing up - this will make it a pain when adjusting motor height.

My only concern is the added stress from the transom trying to force curvature into the "square" jack plate / motor framework. Any advice from the experts? Is this something I should be worried about?

Thanks in advance for any comments,

posted 05-16-2005 02:46 PM ET (US)            

If you are concerned about the added stress on the transom, you can probably widen both the lower holes on the bracket to fit, this is what I did. You can also mount the bracket on a higher transom setting and re-drill the lower mounting holes in the bracket. I'm in the lowest setting (top holes) of the bracket, and the highest adjustment on the bracket itself. I plan on changing this up when I get the chance.

I believe the proper setting for the tachometer is 6. I'm dying to hear your performance report on the Viper 19-inch propeller. I'm running a 13.25 x 15-inch Stiletto, but it has loads of rake and blade cupping, so you may be in the right range with that particular prop. Let us know. I experienced a vibration at 900-1100 RPM when the engine was new, but it disappeared after a dosen of so hours of operation, which seemed to coincide with the initial computer controlled "break in."

posted 05-16-2005 04:21 PM ET (US)            

-Boat: Model and Year.
-Gear: Standard and optional gear, including location of battery, additional weight considerations such as anchors and other essentials.
-Passenger weight.
-Gallons of gasoline on board.
-Mounting: Brackets, jackplates, standard mount, including position of anti-cavitation plate in relation to the bottom of the hull.
-Propeller: Make, model and size.
-Performance: via GPS if possible on flat water, 460 lbs of passenger weight.)

2000 RPM ____MPH. Not on a plane, hard to steer
2500 RPM ____MPH.
3000 RPM ____MPH. On plane.
3500 RPM ____MPH.
4000 RPM ____MPH.
4500 RPM ____MPH.
5000 RPM ____MPH.
5500 RPM ____MPH. Trimmed up? Goosey?

-Performance notes: Anything else of interest you noticed.

Thanks, man! I know it is alot of work, but it may help others when repowering with this engine!

Check this out:
http://continuouswave.com/ubb/Forum4/HTML/002465.html

posted 05-16-2005 04:58 PM ET (US)            

I'm kinda confused about the problems with the jackplates you guys encountered. I just put the 90 E-Tec on my '89 Montauk a couple of weeks ago and didn't have any problems at all mounting the 5 1/2" CMC jackplate to my transom. The middle portion of the transom on my boat is almost flat. I used the jackplate as a jig to drill the 2 bottom mounting holes (top 2 already lined up). Once the holes were drilled, I mounted the jackplate to the transom and tightened it completely. I actually let the 4200 cure overnight before I mounted the engine. On each side of the jackplate, there was less than 1/32" of a gap, and that disappeared when I fully torqued it (70 ft-lbs per bolt). After I mounted the engine, I tested the ability to raise and lower it - no problems whatsoever.

The biggest problem I had with the rigging was clearance of the engine cowl with the 3rd wiring harness plug that won't fit under the flywheel cover. I talked to the mechanics at the shop where I bought it, and they agreed. They've installed 5 or 6 so far, and that is their only complaint. If that's the biggest problem I have with the engine, I'll be more than happy. Plus, the more the cowl is on and off, the better it fits.

I've only had the boat out a couple of times (freezing my butt off each time:-), but the performance numbers I have so far are:

2000 RPM ? MPH. Not on a plane
2600 RPM 13 MPH. On plane.
3000 RPM 20 MPH.
3500 RPM 26 MPH.

5400 RPM 41.6 MPH. Rock solid-seemed like it was still accelerating, but it was too cold to keep going (33°)

All numbers are from WAAS GPS. Boat was pretty light - 18 gallons of fuel and me aboard - I'm 250#.

So far, I have 1.6 hours on the engine. It's been really cold up here since I finished the instalation. Hopefully that's going to change soon and I can post some more numbers later.

Let's start a different thread for discussion on the E-Tec's performance on Montauks?

posted 05-16-2005 05:43 PM ET (US)            

I'm very happy with the unit - I think I got alot more than I paid for!

posted 05-16-2005 09:28 PM ET (US)            

My boat is a 1970 Nauset. It was originally bought by my father and its been in our family ever since - kinda part of the family. It still has the original white bump rails - imagine that! The floor has a bit of spider cracks though (beauty marks).

I still plan to keep the original console bench and pilot seats, but replaced the front seat with a 72 Qt. Igloo cooler with padded seat (A little more utility) and I'm looking to put a Todd swing-back seat w/ mahogany in place of the pilot (A little more comfort and livewell/cooler to boot!) Still using the mahogany console though. All-in-all, I don't think she will look too modified, but can always change back if I want.

I installed a 15" S.S. destroyer steering wheel, and replaced the old steel 6 gal. tanks with the cheap Tempo kind - lighter and don't rust! Anyhow, I'm hoping fuel economy will be such that I don't need a lot of fuel and larger tanks.

Regarding the jack plate, I was going for lightest weight and lowest cost. It may be more of a headache finding the "sweet" spot, but once she's there I see no reason to keep changing. Also, I venture to bet that the 16'7" hulls have a bit more curve in the transom than the newer models, hence my problems. Ratherwhalering, I read your good detailed posts, but didn't follow your steps as closely as maybe I should have. Thanks for your advice!

Other than the jack plate, I also had a bit of time getting the wiring under the flywheel pocket - but had success after about 4 tries. I credit Evinrude for conserving space. I don't think a molecule of water could get between the lower engine covering and other parts. This did make connecting the throttle, shift, wiring harness, battery, and fuel cables a bit tough - especially through the rubber engine boot.

I don't have a speedo, but will try to borrow a GPS or find some way to measure speed so I can post results. I'm in sunny Anderson, South Carolina, so it's already too hot down here and I'm already late for the lake! Got to take care of getting a daughter out of High Scool and other fun stuff, so maybe I'll have the boat out in a couple of weeks.

I'll report any results as soon as I can.

posted 05-18-2005 06:08 PM ET (US)            

Anyway, this is a great article comparing some of the top jack plates:

posted 06-15-2005 07:03 PM ET (US)            

Anyhow, I spent a couple of days at the lake and think I've got the motor set-up right now. I can't give any speed numbers yet, but she is no doubt faster than the old 125.

I found that the more I tried to raise the motor on the jack plate, the harder the steering pulled. I adjusted the trim tab, which helped, but not enough. I finally ended up with the motor at the lowest setting on the 4" jackplate and max. trim tab setting. This puts the motor plate about 2" above the lowest transom point. Steering (Not hydraulic but original "Big T" type) is good now with no tendancy to pull at any RPM.

As far as the prop goes, I think I was lucky and got it right to begin with. The Viper 19P has a great hole shot (almost threw me out of the boat first time I tried!) and trims out at 5500 RPM WOT perfectly. The old whaler has never run so smooth.

I really like this motor. So far all has been great. I'm not used to a 2 cylce motor starting on the first try and without choking me or the carburators!

Once I have a way to measure speed, I will report details.

posted 07-07-2005 06:09 PM ET (US)            

I purchased a Lowrance combo. GPS / sounder and was able to get a WOT speed of 44 MPH at 5400-5500 RPMs. The lake was a bit choppy and crowded, so I couldn't hold the RPMS long - will try later to give all speeds vs. RPMs on a calm day.

I really think 45 MPH is attainable with the 19P Viper prop. on smooth water, but 44 is plenty fast enough for me!

I have really been impressed so far with the fuel economy of this motor too.

BTW, I was alone and tip the scales at 275Lbs, had a 20Lb. anchor up front, 22 Lb. cooler w/ drinks, 30 Lb. bimini, 35 Lb. Todd Swingback pilot seat, and 72 Qt. front cooler seat w/pad. I have not converted the motor for XD100 oil and running XD50.

As mentioned in previous posts, I also installed the motor on 4" set-back brackets. The top of the bracket is almost even with the top of the transom and the motor is all the way down on the bracket (Had to set this way to reduce steering pull, but the motor AC plate is still about 2" above lowest transom point.)

posted 07-08-2005 05:15 PM ET (US)            

Thanks for the responses. It's been a lot of fun breathing new life into a classic whaler.

I forgot to mention I had 9 Gallons of gas on board too.

If anyone can find a teenager they would trust driving an old blue at 50 MPH, please let me know!! I don't think I would even trust myself back in those years.

Maybe I can rig a remote control........or hire a jockey!