My new ride, 1979 Witchcraft Screamer 21' w/235HP Evinrude

[SyTy Speed Shop]

Recently got this new to me boat, never owned a boat before, and have only ever been out in a boat maybe a dozen times in my life, so lots to learn to say the least. 

 

[Devilman]

Good lookin boat!

 

[Patchman]

Man that is sweet! I like it! clap.gif clap.gif

 

[Knotty Girl]

Looks good  clap.gif

 

[ChryslerJet]

Welcome to the group, Good looking boat looks like it has plenty of room in it.  Hey it has one of those whacker things on the back.  Knotty you know about those.

 

[Knotty Girl]

Welcome to the group, Good looking boat looks like it has plenty of room in it.  Hey it has one of those whacker things on the back.  Knotty you know about those.

Yep I like it.

 

[jdeaton]

Great looking boat!

But as a side note, "Knotty likes anything"

 

[Crusader]

Very nice ride!

 

[Knotty Girl]

Great looking boat!

But as a side note, "Knotty likes anything"

True  jump.gif

 

[SyTy Speed Shop]

Thanks for all the positive replies, looking forward to getting this out on the water here soon for some fun!  Im told she should run pretty well!

 

[Michael Swindoll]

Cool boat lots of room in that thing, it looks like!

 

[Knotty Girl]

Thanks for all the positive replies, looking forward to getting this out on the water here soon for some fun!  Im told she should run pretty well!

That Johnny Rude will give you plenty of power.  They are just about bullet proof if you use good fuel and mix the oil correctly. Make sure your impeller is pump plenty of water through it and you will have no worries.

 

[ChryslerJet]

Thanks for all the positive replies, looking forward to getting this out on the water here soon for some fun!  Im told she should run pretty well!

That Johnny Rude will give you plenty of power.  They are just about bullet proof if you use good fuel and mix the oil correctly. Make sure your impeller is pump plenty of water through it and you will have no worries.

Speaking of which Knotty brings up a good topic.  It would be good to replace that impeller now before the season starts unless you have record of it being changed in the last 12 months.  An Impeller in an outboard is a 2 year maintenance replacement because you don't want them going out.  When they go out the motor over heats and does a lot more damage not to mention getting rubber impeller pieces all over in the cooling system and having to get towed back to the ramp.

The are cheap and with some help not hard to replace.

 

[SyTy Speed Shop]

Thanks for all the positive replies, looking forward to getting this out on the water here soon for some fun!  Im told she should run pretty well!

That Johnny Rude will give you plenty of power.  They are just about bullet proof if you use good fuel and mix the oil correctly. Make sure your impeller is pump plenty of water through it and you will have no worries.

Speaking of which Knotty brings up a good topic.  It would be good to replace that impeller now before the season starts unless you have record of it being changed in the last 12 months.  An Impeller in an outboard is a 2 year maintenance replacement because you don't want them going out.  When they go out the motor over heats and does a lot more damage not to mention getting rubber impeller pieces all over in the cooling system and having to get towed back to the ramp.

The are cheap and with some help not hard to replace.

Yeah, im planning on giving it a full tune up, new impellar, oil change and lowet unit service.  Also gonna redo the fuel lines and add in a good water separater.  Also want to clean up some of the wiring and make sure the bilge pump is working.  Probably give the trailer a good once over as well.

 

[Knotty Girl]

Thanks for all the positive replies, looking forward to getting this out on the water here soon for some fun!  Im told she should run pretty well!

That Johnny Rude will give you plenty of power.  They are just about bullet proof if you use good fuel and mix the oil correctly. Make sure your impeller is pump plenty of water through it and you will have no worries.

Speaking of which Knotty brings up a good topic.  It would be good to replace that impeller now before the season starts unless you have record of it being changed in the last 12 months.  An Impeller in an outboard is a 2 year maintenance replacement because you don't want them going out.  When they go out the motor over heats and does a lot more damage not to mention getting rubber impeller pieces all over in the cooling system and having to get towed back to the ramp.

The are cheap and with some help not hard to replace.

Yeah, im planning on giving it a full tune up, new impellar, oil change and lowet unit service.  Also gonna redo the fuel lines and add in a good water separater.  Also want to clean up some of the wiring and make sure the bilge pump is working.  Probably give the trailer a good once over as well.

Sounds like you will be ready for some water fun this spring.  clap.gif

 

[Patchman]

All of the above are great ideas.  :smile16:

 

[SyTy Speed Shop]

On these outboards, is the engine oil, and the lower unit oil two separate things? or is it the same oil? Been doing some research on it and its hard to tell.


Also, if your boat is rated for 250HP, im assuming its not a good idea to exceed that rating? or would it just depend on the condition of the boat/transom?

From what Ive been able to research, my rig is rated for 250, and already has the 235 on it, so if i wanted to do some upgrades to the engine for more power i don't have much room too expand before exceeding the hull rating.


Another question i had is, how hard is it to convert an O/B boat to a jet or v-drive or IB/OB type setup if say the O/B crapped out, and im not looking to drop 5 or 10 grand on a new O/B.

 

[Knotty Girl]

On these outboards, is the engine oil, and the lower unit oil two separate things? or is it the same oil? Been doing some research on it and its hard to tell.


Also, if your boat is rated for 250HP, im assuming its not a good idea to exceed that rating? or would it just depend on the condition of the boat/transom?

From what Ive been able to research, my rig is rated for 250, and already has the 235 on it, so if i wanted to do some upgrades to the engine for more power i don't have much room too expand before exceeding the hull rating.


Another question i had is, how hard is it to convert an O/B boat to a jet or v-drive or IB/OB type setup if say the O/B crapped out, and im not looking to drop 5 or 10 grand on a new O/B.

The oil is different, use a good synthetic for lower.  I actually like synthetic for motor oil.  I would keep the OB you can keep it running for less $.  This is my opinion for what it is worth.  Look at a forum board called Scream and Fly, good info there.

 

[SyTy Speed Shop]

On these outboards, is the engine oil, and the lower unit oil two separate things? or is it the same oil? Been doing some research on it and its hard to tell.


Also, if your boat is rated for 250HP, im assuming its not a good idea to exceed that rating? or would it just depend on the condition of the boat/transom?

From what Ive been able to research, my rig is rated for 250, and already has the 235 on it, so if i wanted to do some upgrades to the engine for more power i don't have much room too expand before exceeding the hull rating.


Another question i had is, how hard is it to convert an O/B boat to a jet or v-drive or IB/OB type setup if say the O/B crapped out, and im not looking to drop 5 or 10 grand on a new O/B.

The oil is different, use a good synthetic for lower.  I actually like synthetic for motor oil.  I would keep the OB you can keep it running for less $.  This is my opinion for what it is worth.  Look at a forum board called Scream and Fly, good info there.

Yeah i have, and your right lots of good info on these old O/B's, but when they break, man they are expensive to fix, and or buy a good used engine.  I was looking on CL and here locally a guy has a complete mercury alpha one stern drive setup removed from a 26' boat with a SBC for 350, which seemed like a pretty good deal, and it got me to thinking about the conversion if anything maybe down the road.  You can build a decent SBC pretty cheap, and even the LS1's are super cheap, light weight full aluminum and make very good power.

 

[Knotty Girl]

On these outboards, is the engine oil, and the lower unit oil two separate things? or is it the same oil? Been doing some research on it and its hard to tell.


Also, if your boat is rated for 250HP, im assuming its not a good idea to exceed that rating? or would it just depend on the condition of the boat/transom?

From what Ive been able to research, my rig is rated for 250, and already has the 235 on it, so if i wanted to do some upgrades to the engine for more power i don't have much room too expand before exceeding the hull rating.


Another question i had is, how hard is it to convert an O/B boat to a jet or v-drive or IB/OB type setup if say the O/B crapped out, and im not looking to drop 5 or 10 grand on a new O/B.

The oil is different, use a good synthetic for lower.  I actually like synthetic for motor oil.  I would keep the OB you can keep it running for less $.  This is my opinion for what it is worth.  Look at a forum board called Scream and Fly, good info there.

Yeah i have, and your right lots of good info on these old O/B's, but when they break, man they are expensive to fix, and or buy a good used engine.  I was looking on CL and here locally a guy has a complete mercury alpha one stern drive setup removed from a 26' boat with a SBC for 350, which seemed like a pretty good deal, and it got me to thinking about the conversion if anything maybe down the road.  You can build a decent SBC pretty cheap, and even the LS1's are super cheap, light weight full aluminum and make very good power.

I think you will be surprised with that Johnny Rude, they are pretty tough motas.