1986 Tournament 27 projects

[Ed]

As some of you know, I bought a 1986 27' last fall from the original owner on Cape Cod. My wife also gave birth to our first child (yeah!) so between work and family, my free time has been limited.

However, I have been able to get the following projects done:

1) The twin Mercury 250's only had 128 hours on them, but years of sitting in the sun took their toll on them. So, I decided I would repaint the cowlings and chaps and in doing so, I took Shine from Gulfstream Composites up on his 50% off discount to try the new line of Quantum paints from EMC.

Below are some pics from before, during and after. I must say that following EMC's directions were pretty easy Since this was my first time spraying paint, I had a lot of questions and both Shine and the folks at EMC were always available to answer my questions. After spraying the topcoat, I did have a problem with way too much dust in the paint. After asking a lot of questions, I realized the problem was mostly the result of my equipment. I was spraying with a small EMGLO compressor which did not have the volume to keep up with the Devilbiss Starting Line HVLP gun that I was using. In order to compensate and atomize the paint, I had to turn the pressure way, way up which created way too much overspray and dust. So, I sanded down the dusty paint with 400 grit and borrowed an 80 gallon, 12CFM compressor. The second application came out pretty well, some orange peel that I had to wetsand and buff out, but I was very happy with the finish.

2) Also, the engines needed a complete tuneup. First thing I did was pump out a 140 gallons of fuel from the two tanks that was putrid and looked like ice tea. Next, I sent out the 12 fuel injectors to be cleaned and I am glad I did. 2 were bad and the other 10 were filthy. I also installed new waterpumps, thermostats, poppet valves, plugs, filters and replaced a leaky lower unit seal.

The boat finally hit the water about a week ago and I am must say I am impressed. Not only does she cut through the chop very well, but this boat is fast. 53 mph at 5700 rpm against the current and 55 mph at 5700 rpm with the current. God only knows what the fuel burn is!

I have done some other projects on the boat that I will update at another time.

Ed