"UUURRRRFFFFFFF.....
Now I am
"UUURRRRFFFFFFF.....
Now I am worried....seriously....kinda like the old "put your money where your mouth is" ....or "now the rubber hits the road".....
Reality has set in....
PLEASE be careful. Calm seas, lake, or river and a very skilled driver. Very easy take off and stop.
The way I do it is remove the cowl, connect the timing light, and point light to timing indicator after you make 5000 rpm. Stop the engine, turn timing adjustment screw if required with engine OFF, and re-try.
I am leaning over the back of the rear seat, not physically down in the engine well, a good 60% of my body is still in the boat. So on my rig, it seems the risk is minimal. You will need to be your own best judge.
Another helpful thing is to paint the timing marks on the flywheel with dayglow paint...yellow, white, orange....which I get at a gun store. The paint I use is for painting gun sights for high visibility. Also if you can do it on an overcast day, you will be able to see the marks better.
What I do is out of necessity. I cannot bear the expense of test wheels for different motors, and the timing adjustment is usually only needed once. When it is set, it is set. It is all mechanical after all.
Dangerous to do? Foolish to do? Probably so, but the timing MUST be set. The Reeves method is fantastic for getting it close, but it doesn't guarantee the timing to be exact. It gets it in the ballpark, so the engine can run.
That's the way I understand it, anyway. Could be wrong here, too.
Martin....PLEASE do this for all readers of this thread. Set the timing using the Reeves method, getting it as close to perfect as possible, which would be the timing spec for your motor MINUS the 4 degrees as specified by the Reeves method. Then, when setting the timing on the water at 5K, see how close it was using the Reeves method. Was it 1 degree off, 5 degrees off, etc. Please post the results. Thanks in advance.
As for getting "hot"...well, yes, I guess I am guilty. I will say one thing about that...there sure is a lot of passive/aggressive BS criticism flying in these posts. That's for sure.
If I post again, I will be sure to try to keep cool...."