First Test Ride of 2024 - 92 Monterey

Well, didn't go great but could've been way worse! Bad alternator, dead battery... easy fix. Parts on order, swapping them out asap and getting back out there for take 2. Boat absolutely ripped! Awesome to see all the hard work finally paying off with this project.

[@jimmyz2098]

Awesome, Brian! One of the moments I have been waiting for in this series. Can't wait to see what else you do. And hopefully, new battery and alternator will finish the mechanical portion of the job. She's a beauty, and it looks like she rolls through the water nicely too. I really like that boat. I'd love to see you take that dash0board apart, and give it some love. New guages, etc. But that's just the boater nerd in me. It's a killer boat! And you have done an amazing job on it. I know you have to stop somewhere.

[@brianbluemkejr]

I'm right there with you lol, dash needs some love for sure. Now that we got everything else under control and working (well hopefully we will), I plan to circle back and dig in little more to certain areas. Like the dash gauges, Interior lighting, and finally that last set of seats. Appreciate you following along the entire time!

[@leesmith5419]

Damn Brian that boat look good when she was rolling on 38 mi an hour that was awesome

[@brianbluemkejr]

Thank you!

[@danny_osorio]

1.5 hours of full send. Hell yeah!

[@brianbluemkejr]

😂😂 we had a blast until it died lol should be an easy fix though!

[@andreireal9158]

Congrats on the first launch, the happiest moment in every boat project! Hard shifting could be the mercruiser shift interrupt switch not working. It's a little switch near the shift cable linkage, that kills the motor whenever you go in forward or reverse gear, making it easy on the lever, cable and gearcase. Check if it is pressed while shifting and the motor dies when so. Also noticed you switched from sitting to standing while behind the helm - same with mine boat, standing gives much better view and control. But on a full cruising day where you go like for 3-5 hrs it sucks, heared there are cushions for this type of seats to make standing more comfortable. If steering is hard and requires 2 hands, check the steering cable, also torq steering and prop walk on mine on low speed is pretty annoying. In the end, having over 300 hrs of runtime with similar boat I found out, that the passengers enjoy it much more than the captain, so driving this thing is kinda like work for me and fun for them)

[@brianbluemkejr]

thank you! yes it was a long time coming lol. You got me questioning the shift interrupt switch... don't recall seeing one but it for sure doesn't kill the engine when I shift. I'll have to look into that and follow back up. It almost felt more like it was jammed little bit? I'll have to pop the engine cover and take a look when in the water next time. Steering is little tight but it's more so just difficult to turn when standing just because of the angle of it all. Got a steering knob in the mail so that'll fix it. I have a bunch of new parts going in now, next video will be out soon!

[@andreireal9158]

@@brianbluemkejr that switch is in the motor hatch, where the shifting cable is connected to a plastic assembly, near the spring loaded rod, standard on every mercruiser i\o drives. On mine the switch itself was disconnected, it was clicking and working but did not kill the engine as it should. When reconnected, the shifting became smooth and easy, like on outboards.

[@brianbluemkejr]

Awesome man thank you. I’ll need to check that out. We have much bigger issues now… next video is going to end with a bang, and not a good one 😬

[@chrisjessup7744]

I had same issue once. Shifted fin on land, not in water. Check your shift interrupt switch adjustment. That was my problem. It has to be timed to the shifter.

[@brianbluemkejr]

Yup, I need to check that out. It for sure is not doing anything at all, the engine doesn’t cut off at all. Thank you!