Ramblings...and a couple of pics....

Here's a couple of shots from one of this season's tours.

I just realized that I haven't blogged in a while. (Sorry mom & Heidi). It seems like Facebook has taken over in the "what's going on" area. Instead of searching blogs, I just log on and walla, all my friends are there. So is there use for a blog anymore? Dunno, but I like to ramble on more than 420 characters at a time sometimes...
Just want to give you an update on my tour company that I am proud to be co-owners of, Extreme Chase Tours. We are already booking tours for 2011 and I am excited about the upcoming season. We had such a successful 2010 season and Lanny and I am stoked about 2011! If you have been thinking about booking with us I would suggest stroll on over to www.extremechasetours.com and take a peek at our schedule.

In other news, stay tuned for a major announcement about a three day revival that I am excited to be able to preach in Fort Gibson next month!

....and the boat is running well! Have had it out many times at Oologah this year!

Towers going up in Tulsa

Sorry about the powerlines. I shot this at lunch time today. a line of storms that is now currently severe were developing over Tulsa/Broken Arrow. I decided to shoot a little time lapse...enjoy!

Maiden voyage....take 3!!

This was the view from Oologah Lake as the sun was setting last night. The boat ran great!!! Don't laugh at the pics--I took them with my cell phone....lol.

YYYYEEEEEEESSSSSS!!!!!!!!

Just fired the boat up!!! She runs!!!! TJ and I worked all day Saturday and then just when we were ready to fire it off we ran into a stumbling block---no spark!! I finally figured it out a few minutes ago--I had the neutral switch installed incorrectly!! Just a quick adjustment and....VROOM!!! She runs!! I ran it on the water-ears for about 5 minutes and I'll probably take her to the lake tomorrow after work to test & tune on her!!

Boat saga--The $500.00 Carburetor screw!!

Well, you have been wondering what I had found wrong with my boat engine. After much investigation and scratching of heads, here is what I found. First, let me rewind just a tad….

My last post I wrote that I suspected detonation as the problem, eating away the #2 piston. That was a pretty good call except for the fact that the 5 metal “chunks” that I found in said cylinder were steel (as demonstrated by holding a magnet near them) pistons are aluminum and not attracted to a magnets. There was a possibility of the “chunks” being parts of the top compression ring in the piston, but disassembly of the block revealed the piston rings intact. These steel chunks were not more that ¼” long, and sort of round-ish. I thought the worst….I thought that I had dropped something down the intake when I built the engine despite being very meticulous about it.

After consulting with many of my mechanic customers and a wild dream, I went to the garage to inspect the carburetor- a Rochester Quadra-Jet. I picked it up, turned it over and was amazed at what I saw. One baseplate screw was missing!!! I realized then that I was at the machine shop’s mercy—they had nothing to do with the problem therefore they didn’t have to warranty their work. I was kinda sick. I mean, who would have ever checked to see if those screws are tight—outta sight, outta mind, right?

Well, after calling Jay at Custom Motors and revealing the truth (after a little objections from others) he said that he would treat me right and was glad to know the cause. Well the head took a lot of work and the block had to be re-bored and the one cylinder sleeved but it’s finally ready! I am going to pick it up at lunch today!! The total bill? $497.00!!! Well below what they could have charged me! If you need an engine, take it to Custom Motors!!!

Boats-r-fun!

Well, I pulled the motor and then pulled the head off of the junk 4.3....looks like a detonation problem that grenaded my brand new engine! Looks like I'm in the market for a big bomb, or a new engine. Don't think that the machine shop will cover this one.....oh the joys of owning a boat....

Boat saga....

Well, I pulled the valve covers and didn't see anything wrong so I decided to pull the spark plugs...DUM-DE-DUM-DUM! Cylinder #2 is the culprit. The spark plug was smashed and that cylinder only has 30lbs. of compression---it had 200lbs. of compression just one week ago. Something came apart in that cylinder, valve, valve seat, top of piston, something. Regardless, the engine is coming out tonight, then I will pull the right bank head and find out exactly what happened....

I have about 6 hours on a boat that I bought in May----something is way wrong with this picture!!!

The ballad of the Big Fat Boat!!

Guess you probably know what's coming with this title, huh??
Here's how this story goes.....just whistle the Beverly Hillbillies tune while reading.....enjoy!

Come and listen to a story 'bout a man named Jeff...
Poor crazy dude pullin the hair out of his head...
Tries to make his family happy by buyin' a big boat,
Then he can't even get it to float....
Motor that is...
Heap o junk, goes "ker-chunk"!

Y'all come back now, ya hear???

...guess you can tell I'm kinda bitter. Well, here's the story. The boat was finally fixed! All my problems were gone...until last night. We took her out after church last night for a quick dip in Oologah--had a blast!! We were returning to the dock when, as I powered down into the no wake zone, I hear "funny" noises coming from behind me. The boat starts missing, and metallic noises grow louder. Then it dies! As I grow more upset, I finally get it to restart, engine is now "hammering" loudly at me. We limped it to shore, and got it on the trailer. I bowed my head in defeat and drove home. Tonight I will run a compression check and pull the valve cover to confirm my suspicions of a dropped valve......later.....

Pics from the lake...

Oh yeah! How sweet it is!! Actually, Michelle shot these as I was too busy---in the water!!

More boat tales....

Okie dokie....my starter problems are gone. But, the real problem is that the engine is somehow ingesting water into the right bank. I thought that the gasket between the exhaust manifold & the riser was suspect, so I replaced it, took it out to the water to test, and no dice....still ingesting water after it sits about 30 minutes in the water. I'm thinking that I just ain't supposed to have a boat!!!

I am thinking that the exhaust manifold is cracked, allowing water to bleed into number 6 cylinder. When I get back from camp, I'll look into this....

In other news, this may be the last blog entry for a bit. I am heading up to Winderemere Missouri on Monday for youth camp. Yes, I am taking 8 of our youth to camp!! It will be our first trip this far away, so pray for us!! This is the same group of kids that have been with us on several Mission of Compassions...I'm very proud of them!!

As the boat turns....

Ok, new starter installed last night and guess what?? No fix! Just grunted so I decided to prove or disprove my hunch that I was afraid to realize and pull the spark plugs. Guess what? I have water in the cylinders!!!!!!! Since the engine is new, this could only be due to a couple of things. 1. a cracked exhaust manifold--it is a "wet" exhaust system. 2. A bad gasket in between the exhaust manifold and the "riser" that looked suspicious and should have been replaced upon reinstalling the engine.

Tonight after church I am replacing the riser gasket in hopes of finally resolving the problem of me being mad at the boat and very grouchy:-)

I'll update later...

Workin' on my boat...

Ok, here is the problem I am having and the steps I have taken to correct said problem:
Occaisionally the starter "drags" and will not turn the boat over. After several tries, it usually fires off, but not always...
1. I have charged and tested both batteries=tested good
2. I replaced the starter with a brand new unit.
3. I replaced the dual battery switch.
4. I changed the grounding location from the bellhousing to the starter.
5. I cleaned and inspected the battery cables.
6. I have "jumped" the starter at the solenoid, it just clicks..
7. Pulled my hair out.
8. Stumped my toe kicking at it----j/k.

If I have missed anything, please chime in & let me know! I would like to have this thing running reliably soon!!

************BREAKING NEWS************* I found the problem!!
I pulled the starter & guess what? It's defective!! Brand new from O'Reilly's too! It will not turn when directly connected to a fully charged battery via jumper cables. The solenoid just clicks. I can bypass the solenoid and the starter motor turns, but does not kick out the starter drive. I will get the starter replaced tomorrow & also I will replace all cables with heavy duty 2 guage cables....

Boat saga continues...

As you can see, I had a real blast yesterday...NOT!! The pic is of the very kind Corps of Engineers fellows TOWING me back to shore. I am beginning to hate boats!! well, at least mine. I am also starting to doubt my mechanical ability because I cannot find this electrical gremlin that seems to get in the way of us having a little fun. I sure felt like sinking that sucker last night but TJ and Dave talked some sense into me...more later when I'm not so mad...

Jeff.....in the water!!!

Aaahhhh, how sweet it is! The boys even got me in the water!! (They pushed me overboard..lol) The Oologah Lake water was a bit muddy, but it was still a blast!! It was funny watching Stenton on the Ski-Bob!! Boat is running well but I still have a couple of bugs to work out like the stiff steering and an electrical gremlin-but that's what makes it fun, right?

Well, it was a good night. She runs! Middle pic is my son and his famous man-cub pose, bottom pic is my brother trying to be silly,acting like he's pushing the boat..LOL. She just came off the water from a 45 minute test in Claremore Lake. She didn't take on any water, and ran beautifully. I have a couple of worries concerning the outdrive--it was a bit noisy and the boat tried to drift on plane but that may have been because we had too much weight in the front and not enough in the back, we'll see. I am proud of TJ and Stenton for all their help on the project! It's almost time for the water!!!!!!