When I got it, it was seized, which means the pistons were not moving in the cylinders. I took out the spark plugs and filled the cylinders with Marvel Mystery Oil, and the next morning I could turn the prop by hand, which meant two things: 1) the cylinders were freed up and 2) the hitch in the getalong was not in the lower unit.
Still, it looked like some idiot had used Bond-o in leui of replacing the gasket, so I figured I'd take this bit apart and clean it up and grease it just for good measure. Unfortunately, I couldn't get the cap screws out. This morning I took it to a bike shop across the street from my old job, and they loosened up the screws so I could pull everything apart. Things looked pretty good inside.
I should probably say at this point that I have no idea what I'm doing. Not only have I never worked on an outboard motor (or a motor of any kind), but I'm virtually certain I haven't even been in a boat with an outboard motor attached since I was about ten years old. I have never, in fact, operated an outboard motor.
All buttoned up is a kind of multipurpose craft blog I read, and there was recently a post over there about kids and art and how important it is to model to them an attitude that things are in the scope of your personal possibility. My New Year's resolution this year was to be the coolest version of myself, which sounds self-serving on its face but really means this: I want to commit myself to doing things I am not sure I can do. There are a lot of reasons for this, but one big one is that I want to be the kind of man my kids can be proud of someday, and I do not want them to be afraid of doing things because they don't know how. I want them to think that their interest in something is enough to make it possible and worth trying.
I don't know if I can get this motor to run. I don't know if I can get the boat seaworthy. But if I do, someday I can take my kid out on it and say: when I bought this boat, it would not float, and when I bought this motor it would not run. And I had never made a boat float again or a motor run again, but I believe that broken things can be fixed, and I believe we can learn to do the things we love.
1 comment:
Oh, you're not here anymore.
I wasn't around either for a long time. But now I'm back, and you aren't. That makes me sad.
I hope you're still making boats and quilts and enjoying life.
Maybe you will get this and stop by the blog. Maybe not.
In any case, best wishes to you, mister.
Best, Dr. B.
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