Recently replaced the throttle on my boat from Morse MT-2 to a Uflex B310B. Got everything hooked up and reinstalled, and noticed it seems very hard to shift into forward. The boat never shifted particularly well. I believe the shifter was sloppy and it was in forward gear even in the neutral position. When shifting to R, it would pretty much slam into R.

I have not started the motor yet and wonder if it would shift poorly due to motor being off. The drive is a Volvo Penta AQ280. I did verify in N that the propeller spins both ways freely. In F it spins F, and in R it spins in R. So that all looks good. Just not

I will take a closer look at the cable. It probably just needs to be replaced.

Well this is fun

Any opinions if it's preferred to pull the cable from the helm forward or from the drive aft?

The cable was worse than expected. The sleeve part broke off the the little barrel is now stuck in the drive. Yikes
ETA--got it. Damn tough work. The old cable was pretty badly corroded on the drive side and was in terrible adjustment. I am hoping to start the engine today and expect things to drive much smoother

The boat runs! It's been out of commission since 1/1/2021. All new paint and significant recoring and structural work on the topsides (minus the deck). New electrical systems, steering and shift/throttle, electric trim tab conversion, new coupler and wiring on the trailer. So many more projects I am sure I can't think of at the moment.
5 second clip of first time running--> https://imgur.com/jWrgKhb

I have a seadek sheet that I need to cut and install on the helm and floor in the cabin. Then I'll reinstall the glass. Hang the antenna, wire the radio, and just a few other odds and ends. Hoping to launch by next weekend.

Had the boat out for the first sea trial today. Just did about 90 minute cruise, there was a small craft advisory starting in the afternoon. Boat US charges extra to come out during that so I wanted to be off the water by then

Everything was great except one issue. After cruising around at higher RPM, the throttle will not always return to idle. It kind of jams at 1100. It was a little scary approaching the dock and not being able to achieve idle. I played around with the throttle cable but the problem wasn't immediately apparent to me. I'm not sure if I should look at replacing the throttle cable or if there is some kind return spring or something on the carb to help it get all the way back.

Ok definitely some adjustment needed for the throttle cable. Vacuum is around 20 at idle and no indications of leaking. I think the previous thermostat was 180 degree thermostat for an auto. I put in the spec 160 thermostat and replaced all the spark plugs. It seems to run smoother, less "lumpy". Unfortunately there are no fuel gauges or flow indicators so measures of efficiency are lacking. I'd like to add a flo-scan type instrument. There is actually a convenient spot in the fuel line that has a defunct filter. It'd be very easy to remove the junk filter and install an in-line fuel flow meter.

I did not open up the throttle fully today but on previous sea trials we have done ~4500 RPM at 33ish knots (measured in knots by GPS). This is off the central coast of California, conditions are never ideal and opportunities to max things out are rare, unless you really want to take your boat fully airborne.

This boat is a late 70s model that was made specifically to service the urchin fishery. There is typically nice smooth weather to cross the channel in the morning, and wind comes up in the afternoon to make it a bouncy, rough downhill slog- especially for the urchin fisherman fully laden with their catch. It's a solid glass 20' hull and small mid-cabin glass over 1/2" ply, I'm guessing it weighs around 4k empty of fuel and holds 80+ gallons. This particular boat was built for the curator of a marine museum who used it to rescue sea mammals at the Channel islands. The second owners used it as a surf taxi to visit all the best surf locations. I'm the third owner and just want to use it .

Had another fun day out. I put a little preload on the throttle cable and things smoothed out in the near-idle spectrum. Everything went well at the ramp despite many boaters in line etc. My first boat was a 20' sailboat that I launched off a crane in some of the sportiest sailing conditions on the planet. Launching a power boat off a trailer in a busy harbor in moderate conditions still induces some stress. I really don't want to end up immortalized on qualified captain or something.

With pretty flat weather, I had a chance to dial up the throttle. The best I got was about 4100rpm and ~29 knots. There is probably very slight room for improvement there but once again this boat and motor are quite old, and conditions rarely permit such ostentatious displays of speed. My propellor is kinda old and junky, it must be made of painted aluminum. I'd probably do best to improve that with a higher quality option.

Had another fun couple hours on Lake Pacific today. Having operable trim tabs really makes a huge difference in the handling and comfortability of this boat. The throttle cable adjustment still isn't perfect, it needs a little fine tuning. But I can at least idle the motor and not approach the dock at 1500rpm. Reversing sucks, especially in the wind. Luckily the ramp was quiet so it was no big deal when the boat went 180 degrees from the plan. I don't have a ton of fishing experience but I am looking forward to get set up to try and catch halibut, rock fish, ocean whitefish, whatever I can get locally. I'd appreciate some suggestions on gear if anyone has any.

Thread necro

This boat has a Penta AQ-280 outdrive. I have gone through and replaced the rack and pinion and steering cable. After that the steering still seems stiffer than expected. I tried to grease the zerk on the steering fork, but it barely took any grease and didn't exhibit the typical crackles and pops of a happy grease fitting. On the outside of the drive, there is a small gap between the steering fork and where it looks like it should seat firmly. It almost looks "droopy".

I'm planning to pull the drive to inspect the bellows and paint it. I'd like to drop the steering helmet and fork and replace the bushings. It looks like there is supposed to be a gasket as well, but I'm guessing this has failed or is missing. Hopefully the splines of the steering fork aren't badly corroded. I've found the parts in my Clymer manual but there are no part numbers.

I think I should be looking for parts 4 and 13 in the manual here. Can anyone help ID what bushings are neede?

Think I might have answered my own question with some thorough googling.

I'm ordering parts:
839195
853862
853861

I will pull the drive and steering this weekend and see what I'm working with. Fingers crossed the splines and parts come apart nicely and are in good condition and I am back up and running for spring halibut!

I will take a look when it's opened up. Cooling water on this system actually comes in through a sea strainer mounted in the hull bottom. I'm not sure if there is a block off plate on the water neck or how it might be closed but I'll definitely need to make sure it's still solid.

ETA-I've looked into repowering this boat with an outboard. My buddy recently got a Suzuki 200 for 32k. I figure for half that I can  upgrade to a 383 and duoprop outdrive when the time comes. I'll make it work for now, there is still plenty cosmetic and mechanical stuff to tend

I held off on removing the drive and glad I did because the bushings have been order for over a week with no ETA. Hopefully they come soon, we've been under gale and small craft warnings for a couple weeks now on the Pacific coast. I'd like to get out soon to fish halibut and rockfish. Salmon is looking good too.

In other embarrassing news, I ran the motor in the driveway for about 30 seconds or so with the flush valve closed. I decided to replace the impeller again because I really don't want to be caught miles offshore if the impeller lets go, and really don't want to ever try to change it on the water. The boat has a flush deck design which means if waves come over the bow or stern they'll drain out scuppers rather than pool in the bilge. Unfortunately that makes the deck very high and the impeller is very low in the engine compartment. It's a real gymnastic endeavor.