Okay, finished putting it together about 3 and decided to make a quick run to the river for testing. By the time we got cooler, gear, gas and got to Fisher's Landing it was 5. Engine started to load up in the no wake zone, had to keep up the rpms and keep the shifter in slightly neutral position. Turned the corner onto the river and stomped on it. She popped up on plane quick and took off like a rocket. Handle rough stuff pretty good, but I noticed temp gauge climbing. I backed out of it a bit and she cooled down but then stayed pretty high (220) so we pulled over and beached it to check things out. Everything looked good, no heat waves and nothing looked discolored. I'm thinking the gauge or sender is way off. The tach is not working, the oil press bounced over chop, and voltmeter read low with 2 new batteries. I noticed I have a leak into the bilge but the new bilge pump took care of that pretty quick. I need to install a float switch. Got going again, I had to floor throttle to get it started. I'm thinking the idle mixture is too rich. Once she started up she seemed fine and we took off up river. Went as far as the first sand bar after the no ski buoys and headed back in. Man she turns smooth. She really rides smooth and doesn't beat you up crossing wakes. When we got back to Fisher's she seemed to be running better. Overall, I'm very happy with her performance. This boat really hauls the mail!!! I will have to whip out my phone and use the GPS app to see just how fast. I'm thinking she'll do 65-70 no problem. Motor ran pretty good, but I think I need to mess with the idle mixture. I'll pull the plugs and see. Carb seemed alright at speed. No hesitation. I'm going to have to look for a set of good gauges (got my eye on Autometer ProComp Marine ones I saw on CP) and replace the sending units while I'm at it. But for now, I will check all the bolts, oil, and plugs and plan our next trip. Maybe Monday!
Sam
