Logo
FULL SITE MENU

Should I go breakerless

F

fatbear

Contributing Member
"I have a 1976 StarCraft with

"I have a 1976 StarCraft with a 1976 (or '75?) Mercruiser 120 engine/outdrive. I am considering replacing the distributor with a breakerless one. I see that Mallory makes two replacement marine distributors, the Unilite and the MBI. Can anyone tell me which of these is better and why?
Also, does anyone else make a marine grade pointless distributor that I should be considering?
Thanks!

--FatBear"
 
"Many people opt for the <

"Many people opt for the <$100 Pertonix Electronic Ignition kit, usually with a matching Flame Thrower Coil. www.pertronix.com I use one and have installed many and no complants."
 
"I looked at that Pertronix we

"I looked at that Pertronix website and it is complex and maybe a bit short on specifics such as which engines their parts go onto. I couldn't find a <$100 electronic ignition kit. Maybe it's discontinued, or maybe they've raised their prices. Was there a product name like "Ignitor" or something like that?

The Ignitor looks like it would just replace the points and condenser. Sounds easy and then I supposedly wouldn't have to do anything else, right? (Well, I'd probably replace the old coil, too, while I was at it.)

Thanks,

--FatBear"
 
"Ignitor II and III now, [url=

"Ignitor II and III now, www.carshopinc.com has them, another marineengine.com poster just bought a set with a coil for about $140-160.

Very easy to install, just don't forget to put the rotor in or it wont start.

link to Pertronix Marine Catalog http://pertronix.com/catalogs/pdf/ptx/2007/ptx07_marine.pdf

Page #2
Mercruiser All 4 120, From Serial 1666601 Delco Ignitor I #1146A Ignitor II# 91146A

283289.jpg
coils"">

283290.jpg
carshop
 
"Hi Brian,
Wow! Thanks fo

"Hi Brian,
Wow! Thanks for the info. That's great. It looks about 1/3 the price of the full distributor and I know of nothing wrong with my old distributor.

--FatBear"
 
"no problem, I'm all for a

"no problem, I'm all for a nice shiney new dist to, especially if there's some good performance gains. The distributors wear a little inside and the gear at the bottom gets a little worn, the mechanical advance can get worn too and stop working.

the main reason why i like the pertronix is its a reliable product so far, dont have to worry about the condensor failing, or a problem with the points not working.

one day my father inlaw couldn't start his 3.0, no spark, changed the points and condensor and still no spark( i was aggravated ) I pulled the pertronix plate from my 120hp 153ci 2.5L inline 4, the engine started(after I put the rotor on) it was still flooded as when the engine fired up it had a nice cloud of black smoke.

Sierra sells them too, but about $120-140, same thing. They are also found on Ebay.

So what model Starcraft do you have ?"
 
"Thanks for all the advice. I

"Thanks for all the advice. I don't think there is so much wear on my engine that the distributor would be loose, but who knows? Perfection is not the objective. As long as it runs reliably I think the lower cost option is better this year.

The boat is a 1976 18' runabout. Not fancy. It's got a bow deck, windshield, some seats and a (leaky) top. It's just a fishing/zip around boat. I live on a floating home with a boat well and this is my "car" for the river. If I ever get a photo that's worth showing I will try to remember to post it here.

BTW, the boat's name is ...

--FatBear"
 
"Hi Brian,
I looked at you

"Hi Brian,
I looked at your boat pictures. It looks like you are most of the way finished with a lot of work! Mine needs a lot of work, too, but I'm not able to make it a big project right now.
One thing I've been thinking about is stripping the hull and having the entire bottom sprayed with Rhino Lining (their "hard" product) if they can spray it on smoothly. That would seal the rivets so they'll never leak and isolate the aluminum from the water to eliminate galvanic corrosion. I keep adding zincs everywhere, but I still get a spot of corrosion here and there. What do you think about that idea?"
 
"Hi Brian, I'll be pulling

"Hi Brian, I'll be pulling up the floor this week and cleaning underneath, had some ants in there and the foam is a mess.

I've done some research and found that "Soda Blasting" seems to be the best method for removing paint from our riveted hulls, but you need to put some etching primer on then paint to protect it.

I think the Hard Rhino lining on the outside would be a bad idea as it may not flex enough with the boat, plus how much weight will it add ?

I've thought about doin the inside would also help with engine noise i think.

I also thought about having it "powder coated" but that's a little expensive plus finding someone with an over big enough..

There's also some "aluminum paint spraying" i've seen on TV.. looked like the best idea, kinda like Rhino / powder coating."
 
"I just started the boat with

"I just started the boat with the ear muffs. I had to crank it a while to get some new gas into the carburetor then she fired right up. No cracks (leaks) showed themselves from last winter's hard freeze. So tomorrow morning I'll haul her down and launch her.

I live in a marina, so I had to pull the boat up onto the dike at the top of our ramp in order to hook up a hose to the ear muffs. While there a couple of people came by who were interested. One of them is a real gearhead and he agreed that those electronic points are the way to go. They are on order, though I almost hate to fuss with it now that the engine is running well. Ah, but that won't last long, will it? :)"
 
"I think the hardness of the &

"I think the hardness of the "hard" Rhino lining is probably only relative to their standard product which is pretty soft. I think it is still flexible, but I will be researching it before I ever commit that much time and money.

The regular Rhino lining is too soft. It would have to be sprayed on pretty thick in order to stand up to being dragged through the water all the time, whacking the occasional twig or whatever. (I don't hit the large stuff, but you can't avoid every twig.) That would make it heavy. It is also not real smooth, so would probably cause excessive drag.

I've heard of people spraying Rhino lining on the inside of the boat, but that doesn't seem worth the effort to me. As the rivets work loose the water will still enter around them. It won't enter the inside of the boat, but it will help corrode the rivets. A leaky seam will do the same. I'd just as soon keep the water completely out of the boat.

Having the lining on the inside of the boat will do nothing to prevent galvanic corrosion. That's a problem you probably won't experience unless you decide to leave your boat moored for the summer. My boat spends six months of the year in the water. When I pull it out there are little spots of corrosion here and there. Not a lot, but I don't like it. I keep putting on more zincs, but without completely plating the whole hull with zinc, I think I'll always experience this level of corrosion. If I was able to electrically isolate the hull from the water (with a layer of polyurethane) then it won't corrode.

I think powder coating is way too brittle to survive the world of boating. And spraying on more aluminum won't reduce the galvanic corrosion. Oh, another advantage of the Rhino lining is that the original paint does not need to be removed, just scuffed.

Probably the biggest questions I have about the Rhino linings are

1. Will they introduce drag?
2. Will more stuff grow on them than grows on the paint, and how hard will it be to clean off when I haul the boat?"
 
"that's great about goin o

"that's great about goin out tomorrow !!! Safe Boating !!

When you do the points-electronic swap, dont touch the points setting, just remove the 2 screws from the plate, keep it in the boat then when You do have a problem (knock on alum) you can drop them back in and keep going.

I'd be very curious what you learn more about the Rhino Lining. I have some corrosion on my stern and underneath, I think it used to sit in a lake or ocean alot down here.. I trailer it now, traded a $1000 computer for it 8 years ago and can still sell the boat as scrap alum for about $1500

Have a Great Week!!!"
 
"hey guys,
have you considere

"hey guys,
have you considered just using an anti-fouling bottom paint? i don't know for sure, but would have to assume it can go on an aluminum boat the same as a fiberglass or wood boat. it's meant to keep the organisms from attaching and growing on the hull (barnicles and such). that stuff is thicker than paint, and if applied carefully and thoroughly, i would think it would serve as a barrier between the water and aluminum. maybe it would help with the leaking rivets as well. ???"
 
"Fouling isn't really my p

"Fouling isn't really my problem. The boat has paint on it already and I still get the occasional leak around a rivet, major condensation when the water is still cold (this time of year: spring runoff season), and galvanic corrosion. That's why I've been thinking about Rhino lining. I'm thinking of something more robust and permanent than paint."
 
"My old Lund had a lot of rive

"My old Lund had a lot of rivet leaks. Figured striping her down to bare alum. and a etch,primer,Imron proper paint job would end the leaks. Sure did, for a little while. Then the same leaky rivets leaked again.
Then a old timer told me the reason they leaked
It's the way the boat flexes. Always in the same places. This causes the rivets to stretch and then leak. The only thing that worked for a couple years was 3M 5200 then replace."
 
"Thanks for the info, i have s

"Thanks for the info, i have some galv corrosion on the bottom and a bunch of small holes from screws in the transom over the years that leaked, am replacing the transom and floor, pulled the trans wood last week and the floor wood today. Good to know about the 5200, all my "knock on alum" rivets are tight, no leaks and I like hitting waves a little hard sometimes.

The trans wood wasn't voidless.. doubt it was marine.. not happy, well it's going to be now with a nice coating of Epoxy Resin and some 4200 and 5200 here and there..

My friend thought today of putting some ICE/Snow sheild stick on rubber on the floor and a little up the sides, then i'm going to put carpet on that. We figure the rubber floor would be better then the resin as over the years the resin will crack and separate especially with walking on it."
 
"Hello, if anybody is thinking

"Hello, if anybody is thinking of putting a copper based anti-foul paint on aluminum, stop. Copper and aluminum have a huge dissimilar metals potential and will corrode in a heartbeat when place in contact.
If you have corrosion in the hull get it stopped as soon as possible. The only way to protect aluminum is etching to bare metal, proper conversation coating (oxide) followed by epoxy primer and epoxy top coat.

The general reasons rivets leak (boats) or smoke (airplanes) is: the hole is not round, the sheets weren’t deburred after producing the hole, bad rivet technique and trash in the hole with the rivet. Fatigue (flexing, load / unloading) is an issue over decades in a proper design. Bad design and bad fabrication amplify each other producing failure. (Failure = leak or crack starting)

Round holes are NOT produced by drill bits, reamers make round holes and don’t drag the reamer on exit (keep it spinning). Holes that are close to round (usually good enough) are best produced by sharp bits following a pilot hole.

Both sheets of metal must be taken apart after drilling and deburred, don’t deburr past the sheet thickness. The rivet technique must be very good! Poor head or tail alignment or improper hole fill will lead to failure. Technique also includes sequence in the total structure, you can’t start at one end and finish at the other or you will have misaligned holes.
Leaky rivets are also caused by poor engineering design as in not enough rivets per inch and or improper size rivets for the pitch.

If you want to minimize corrosion and leaks in the hole install each rivet "wet" with two-part epoxy primer and then set or use fuel and corrosion inhibiting sealant. And of course the seam must be fay and fillet sealed.

If you want help with someone that has riveting experience go to your local airport and ask for the A&P mechanic or look for your local EAA (experimental aircraft association) chapter and find a builder to help. Some of the EAA chapters will have classes if you want to learn yourself.

Safe boating this weekend."
 
"Thank you for the info, I won

"Thank you for the info, I wont be putting a bottom paint on mine as it's always trailerd, I may have the paint removed then repainted as you described."
 
Back
Top