Way2slow

Check with a dealer. Be surprised at what a good prop shop can do. Most larger dealers have prop repair services that pick up and drop off and usually takes about a week or less. Or if you live close to a prop shop, take it by there. They usually have a rack or room full of used props, might find one there. Aluminum props are not that expensive, even new. Check this one out http://www.kijiji.ca/v-boat-parts-trailer-accessories/ottawa/new-condition-quicksilver-alum-h-12-5x23p-3-blade-prop-r/1084965384

It's easy enough to check, the parking lights are the brown wire if it's properly wired. At the back near the tail lights on the trailer, stick a pin through the center of the wire, turn the parking lights on and use a volt meter between the pin and the frame (make sure you are on bare metal). If you have 12 VDC at the pin, everything to that point is good. There's nothing but the light left. You can use a test light also and see if it burns bright, I just don't use test lights because I want to know the voltage. Don't let the pin make contact with the frame or it will blow the fuse.

Glad you have it figured out.

Check the compression Check the battery, make sure the voltage is not dropping below about 11 volts when cranking. Mix up some premixed gas and put it in a spray bottle, Pull the cover off the carbs, open the butterflies in carbs, give each carb a good spray of gas and then try starting it. If it starts easy then check your choke/priming system. DO NOT SPRAY STARTING FLUID IN IT! If that makes it harder to start, it may be flooding.

J Francho, Thanks for the offer but I'm not going to gel another cap. Forgot, never say never, I don't think I'm ever going to gel another cap. I have the equipment and know how to do it myself, and if I used a high dollar resin, instead of what I used, the clear on the other one probably would have lasted longer. Plus, I would never pay what it would cost to have it professionally done. With that said and the reason I changed the never statement. I have considered going with gel on this one. Mainly because it's 95% pure white, with just a burgundy strip up each side with a accent silver pin stripe. so I was thinking of just fully sanding it and completely redoing the whole thing, color stripe and all. The main thing causing my hesitation, I'm 68 years old and my 35 year old brain, keeps wanting to get me into more work than my old body likes, and trust me, sanding and buffing that clear coat is a ton of hard work. Spraying with a high dollar gun helps but no matter how good the gun, gel orange peels badly and has to be sanded and buffed, and the stuff is hard when it's cured and when you have to wet sand it three times, 800, 1200 and 1600 grit. Trust me, it ain't fun.

WIGuide, I checked out their site. Sounds a little too good, so I tried to order the one that restores oxidized finish and the sealer, but ran into a road block. They don't take PayPal or AmEx. I have a prepaid Visa debit card I use in this case but, it's gotta have a little more of the "prepaid" added to place the order. I only keep a very small balance on it so if it gets compromised, they can't get more than a few dollars. I have a doctors appointment tomorrow so I will add some money to it while in town (I live 25 miles in nowhere). Should be able to let you know how it works in a week or so. My son pretty much let the finish on my Javelin ruin in that south Texas sun. I've tried most of the products out there over the years and have never found one that really works on clear gel once it has gotten thin or down to the color coat. I will give this one a try and let you know if its was worth the $35 (cost plus shipping) or not. I've about decided to go ahead and respray the cap on it, but with epoxy, not gel coat, been there done than, not again. Regardless of how our new expert feels, Over the fifty year or so of messing with these things, I've never figured out how to buff out what ain't there and if you start messing with that color coat, if it's metal flake, you will turn it silver fairly quickly.

I don't know when Mustang started using the Hydrostatic Inflater (HIT)or if they use it in all models but during the southern summers we have afternoon thunder storms pop up all the time and I've been caught in several down pours with mine. They have gotten totally soaked a couple of times already the last couple of months, and they have never inflated. Just getting a Mustang HIT model wet should not cause it to inflate. I know mine stay in the boat 24/7 and they don't stay in plastic bags. If they didn't, I would probably forget them. Maybe the sitting on it somehow changed the hydrostatic pressure and caused it to arm itself, or maybe it was a model that didn't have the HIT. I guess if in doubt, get the plastic bag and keep in it like he was asking about to start with, and take it off every time it might get wet. However, if he doesn't have one with the HIT, he might want to keep it in a plastic bag anyway.

I guess I was being rather narrow minded about the different arming systems and was only looking at how mine worked, it's the hydrostatic, and not thinking about the other 1/2 dozen different arming systems out there. So, I guess the first thing you should do is find out what arming system yours uses. Check out this link. http://www.sailingproshop.com/lifejacket.aspx Went to their web site to make sure I was not getting confused and found they had a recall a while back on some of their HIT arming systems. I guess if you have been keeping yours up to date, it doesn't mean anything but for those that have the Mustangs here is their recall. http://www.mustangsurvival.com/sites/default/files/pdf/Mustang%20Survival%20HIT%20Inflatable%20PFD%20Safety%20Advisory%20-%20US%20Consumer%20Alert%2004Sept2012.pdf

If you are thinking you might need one to keep it from getting wet and setting itself off, that's not how they work. Getting wet or moisture on them should not bother it, other than possible mildew. They are set off by the difference in pressure when they are submerged a few inches.

All you have to go by for the battery is the date code but they sometimes lie. That's just the date the distribution center put it in that store. Not saying Walmart does this but I have worked with battery distributers enough to know some are not very ethical when it comes to date codes. They typically give a battery a 12 month shelf life, and it should have a maintenance charge a couple of times during that 12 months. The retail folks don't typically do that maintenance charge so what happens a lot of times, after a battery has been sitting several months, they get picked up, the distribution center may or may not do a maintenance charge on it, and then place it in another location, with a new date sticker on it for they date they put in the other location. Another tidbit of info. batteries are somewhat under rated to allow for some degradation while sitting on the shelf. A new, fresh from the factory, fully charged, battery will usually show as much a 20% more CCA capacity when checked with a Megtronics Tester, and will still show it as a good battery when it will only show 10% less than the rated capacity. So, you can have a half used up battery that you just bought off the shelf and they will still say it's a good battery. When I buy a battery, I take my Metronics with me so I know what I'm getting. As for the digital controller, I have had several fail. I should be easy to check by popping the top off, put a voltmeter on the motor leads (the leads from the controller down the shaft to the motor) and start turning it up. When it gets to max, it should be sending the motor the same voltage as the battery is sending to it. I will be a pulse width modulated signal so ideally you would want an O-scope to look at it, but I would think there would be some voltage drop also, and you should be able to se that on a good digital multimeter.

I throw a Yozuri top water a lot that looks similar to the Pop-R but works much better. Floro lines will not work with it, or should I say, it will not work with floro's unless you are steadily ripping the fool out of it. I have tried different 10# braids and there are some that stay on the surface, and some that submerge. If they submerge, it kills a lot of the action on the lure so I stick with the ones that stay on the surface.

Well, you have already done what I would have suggested and that's change brushes and clean the commentator. That has always been the problem with mine when they loose thrust and speed. It's not uncommon for one of the brushes to not make good contact and causing it to slow down. From there, I would have to think the next step would be to take the armature out and to a motor shop to have it tested and do some continuity checks on wires. Electric motors don't get weak and loose power just from age without something going bad or bad connections.

Not charging the cranking battery is a very common mistake a lot of people make with a bass boat, thinking because the motor has a charging system, it will keep it charged. Not necessarily the case. If you had rather spend your time fishing, and not making long runs, the motors charger usually is not enough. Several years back a study was done at some big tournaments, and at the end of each day, they checked the cranking batteries level of charge and most were only about 80%. Now, not knowing how the person used it or why he had the second battery, anything would be strictly a guess. It could have just been an extra security blanket, don't know. I just know from my past experience and having been messing with them since their *** (yea, I'm and old fart) what I would do, and how I set mine up. Plus I also have a pretty strong background in batteries.

When you can take a 7 1/2'-8' heavy action rod, a wide spool reel with 50/60# braid, and a weighted 5" popping cork with a three foot leader and a small white fluke tied to it, then bull whip the ever loving crap out of and to try and sling it into the next county without backlashing it, then you're getting the hang of it. I have actually broken two rods from casting too hard doing this. I'm sure some know what I'm doing this for but just in case, this is a setup I using for schooling bass when they are busting the surface and sometimes you have to be able to sling one a country mile when chasing them. For distance, never tried to measure it, but I've probably made cast of 100 yards doing this. I know I can send it a long, long way sometimes when they are way out there. Now, if and when you do get a backlash, you will usually be re-spooling, you don't get many out unless it just happens to be a little overrun at the end.

I bought my first Shimano's, bait casters and spinning reels in 1985 and since I've grown fairly fond on them. For bass fishing, my bait caster of choice is the Curado's and spinning reels are the Stradics. For the price, they are hard to beat.

If I may, I would like offer some advise. Most likely, the reason it was connected that way is at the end of the day, he had some problems getting the big motor started because of a weak cranking battery. When you are fishing all day and not doing a lot of running, the pumps and electronics place a pretty good drain on the cranking battery. For that reason, I always run a large group 29, dual purpose cranking battery. I would recommend you check the size and type of your the cranking battery installed and also take it to a parts store or battery shop that has a tested and have it tested. If it's not at or above it's rated CCA, replace it. If it's not a at least a group 27 dual purpose or AGM with at least 25% more CCA than recommended for your motor, replace it with one that is. The reason I say 25% more, you have realize, the motors recommendation is for a fully charged battery, by the end of the day, you are most likely not going to have a fully charged battery, and potentially a battery too weak to crank the motor. The reason for the dual purpose is cranking batteries are not built to be repeatedly discharged more than the few percent it takes to crank the motor. Bass boat generally discharge them by the end of the day way more than that little kick start it takes the crank the motor. This is also why you should charge your cranking battery after each trip the same as you do your TM batteries. Now, what you do with this info is your prerogative, but from what you had, and eliminating that second battery without checking/upgrading your cranking battery, you might find yourself having a bit of a problem getting back to the ramp somewhere a long the way. Also, I strongly discourage the use of jumper cables being connected to the cranking battery, that can turn out to be very expensive. The arc created many times when connecting/disconnecting jumper cables can blow the motors Rec/Reg, or ECM or both, none of which you are going to enjoy the price of.

I usually pull mine and clean them every fall after fishing has slowed down unless I go on into fishing for stripers, then I let it go until I get ready to start early spring bass. I pull mine, knock the inner bearings out, clean, inspect, repack and install new seals. If a bearing or race does not look perfect, I replace the whole set in that wheel. After doing this, I take a grease gun with me and give them a shot of grease when I get to the ramp for the first couple of trips, then I just give them a shot of grease every four or five trips. When you add grease with a grease gun, do it when they have been towed a while and warmed up, that will help keep the from pushing the bearing cap off. Which can happen if you put too much when they cold. Been doing the for 50 years and thousands of miles of towing and have never had a bearing failure.

Being able to fish with one and learning to do that in a weekend, yes. To "Master" one, can take years, depending on just how much casting you do. I started using an Ambassador in the late 60's and do a whole lot of stuff most would not dream of trying but there are still some things I won't try with a bait caster. The best pick I've ever come across was the needles out of a weaving machine. I had a customer that made wool fabric and the looms they use had long, small picks in them with a tiny hook on the end. Those things work great, but finding some today might be difficult since there are almost no textile mills left in this country.

To a degree and with some of the newer, better quality reels, I would agree. However, The bulk of my Curado's are the green ones they were making before they came out with this new one. Dick's Sporting goods had a clearance price and an extra managers special on them right after they got the new ones which had them at $56 each. I bought everyone they had LH and RH, about 10 of them, plus I already had about 1/2 dozen or so. Some of these reels probably have a 1/2 million cast on them with the ceramic bearings and when I change to one that has not been used or used very little with the factory bearings, there was very noticeable difference. Even the ones that were still almost new cast better when I changed them to the ceramic. May be just the quality of VXB's bearings but there is a noticeable difference in these reels. I have a couple of the new Curado's I haven't bothered to change because I've seen no need, they cast great, so I can't say if ceramics will help them any or not. These I've never even taken down to clean yet.

I bought my last two piece rod back in the mid 70's. I got so tired of the tips coming out or twisting so the eyelets don't line up, I bought my first one piece and have never considered a two piece since. I have probably broken the tips off at least a couple thousand dollars worth of one piece rods, because if a given fact, if you have a $50 rod and a $300 rod together, it's always going to be the $300 rod that gets broken. Even at that, I would never consider a two piece rod for regular use. I do have two multi-section, survivor kits, but that's it for anything other than one piece rods.

Don't be macho, use the tape on the spool and make life simple

I still use two Shimano Magnumlite Plus 2000's with that fighting drag lever on them I bought back in the 80's. They are still my favorite reels for small top water lures. I have four others but they have discontinued a part needed for them.

I have been buying the ceramic ABEC5's from these people for years http://www.vxb.com/SRCH.html?Store_Code=bearings&Search=fishing+reel+. Since the lions share of my reels are Curado's, I buy them by the sleeve. I've tried the high dollar full ceramic and never found enough of a difference to warrant the difference in cost over the stainless with ceramic balls.

They are no more trouble than a spinning reel. I started my son and my granddaughter with baitcasters when they were both about six years old, he's over 40 and she's 19 now. They are actually very easy to learn if you don't fall into the mindset they are all the same. The cheap one are a hellava lot harder to learn on than the good ones. I use Shimano Curado's and have about 15 of them. I also feel that's about the easiest reel there is to learn on. I'm sure there are others but since I've never used anything but Shimano and Garcia, I wouldn't know what they would be. First off, if you are going to learn, start off learning the right way. If you are right handed, buy left handed reels and learn to cast and reel without switching hands Second, learn how to adjust it, and run it a tad tighter than normal for the first couple of days. Now, my little secret that makes life a whole lot simpler with them. Pull off just a little more line than you can cast. Then take electrical tape and tape the spool and then wind the line back on. This way it's very hard to get a backlash and if you do, it's usually very easy to get out. As you get better, move the tape a little deeper until you feel comfortable enough that you don't need the tape. My granddaughter is as good or better than most people I fish with and she still puts tape on hers on real windy days. Just the little assurance factor. Stay away from light bait or bait's the slow down pretty fast in the air. Don't even try casting most of the long stick baits for a long while and use a minimum of 14# line and it's easier with 17 until you get used to one. I had a guy a few weeks ago that swore he could not use one, had tried many times, I set it up and he fished it all weekend. Swore he never knew they were that easy. One key point, learn as quick as you can to use your wrist to whip it, and don't use your arms to throw it. Too many times when you start trying to throw it with your arms, you induce a backlash at the end of the cast.

First, let me say welcome to the site. As for your question on proper motor height, there is no magic number, too many variables involved for that. The type prop, the amount of setback, the type hull, weight of the boat, location of water inlets on lower unit, etc all have an affect on motor height. One thing, you have to be very careful about raising the motor if you don't have a water pressure gauge installed in the boat. If you get it up too high, it will start sucking air in the water inlets and can fry the motor. If you look, you will see the top holes of the water inlets on that motor are not very far below the anticav plate. Then you have the prop. High rake, deep cupped props can be surfaced, meaning they can run where they are actually coming out of the water. Where you standard low rake, non cupped or minimum cupped props have to be run well below the surface or they will cavitate. High rake prop give a lot more bow lift than standard props and some hulls don't like that, they prefer a straight push. The more setback and the more rake plays a huge role in setting motor height, and the type hull the you have. With all that said, without a water pressure gauge, I would not raise the motor any higher than having the anticav plate about an inch above the bottom of the boat. This is checked with the bottom of the hull and the motor trimmed so the anticav plate is level. For any small difference you might see in performance is not worth burning a motor up trying to tweak it right to the max. To start with, you would need to try a few different style props (all of them stainless) to see which on works best on your hull, then you play with engine height. I have one prop I can run 1 1/2" below the pad, another I have to run 4 1/2" to get bow lift, but that's on a much faster boat with a much bigger motor than you are dealing with. When you hear the term "below the pad" it's is how far the center of the prop shaft is below the very bottom of the boat, yours does not actually have a pad. The pad is the very bottom section of the hull on riser hull. I don't think yours has a riser hull. The is measured by leveling the bottom of the hull and motor and measuring it. Notice now, I mentioned setting you anticav plate an inch above the hull, that was not setting the prop shaft a certain distance below it.