We finally splashed it on Saturday and ran it a few miles across the river. All I have to say is -what an awesome riding boat. The power is there and it planed very quickly with hardly any throttle. After about 5 minutes at 2800 rpm I turned it around, headed back toward the marina and came off plane about a 1/2 mile out. Open the hatch to check for leaks and noises. No leaks, but the SB motor has this mysterious intermittent tap. Every 5 or 10 seconds it sounded like a cross between a ping and a loose lifter. It's definitely something in the valvetrain, but it was enough to shut it down and idle back on the other motor. (It's nice to have twins) I'm thinking maybe a roller lifer that is not happy anymore and ready to give up.
Since I have a shop with an electric gantry hoist, I'm just going to yank it out and do a full inspection on an engine stand. This is the motor that was rebuilt by the previous owner's engine shop and rode home in the back of my truck. This shop appeared to be a pretty reputable and I took a small gamble not looking inside the motor before installing it. Something like this may not have been detected anyway.
The port motor did have to come out and be completely rebuilt. After I got it home back in April, I ran it I found low compression on a few cylinders. Turned out it had a cracked head and had built up some rust on the cylinder walls.
Anyway, I call the day a success. We didn't sink, didn't catch it on fire, and didn't have to be towed. Though it was a short trip, it was my first time driving a twin engine Cigarette. Anyone else remember that feeling? 😊

Coles Point