Taking the Prowler apart
 

I bought my prowler (stock 502, bravo 1) in late august and had a great end of the season with it. Got it with 335 hrs now has 380 hrs on it. last run of the season (Destin Florida to Orange Beach Alabama) I broke some gears in the Bravo 1. found a refurbed one and thought I was going to get out pretty easy, not my luck. Once the drive and bell housing came off I noticed pieces of the gimbal housing had been broken off, so much that it will have to be replaced. So to put the new transom assembly on I will be pulling the engine. With only 380hrs on the motor I hate to rebuild but since it is out I said what the he!!, lets tear it down. I dont really have any questions, just asking for some suggestions on what to look for and odds and ends to take care of while I have the boat apart. I thought it would be fun to share my winter rebuild with you guys. I'll be posting pictures and updates as progress is made. This is my first power boat so i am getting a good taste.

I would replace the bilge pumps, maybe paint the bilge.

Added it to the list. I'm so focused on the motor and drive it's little things like that I forget about doing while its easy. Taking the motor out today and getting into the shop. Ill have some pictures tonight and hope to have it broken down by mid week.

kwooley how long of a trip is it by boat from destin to orange beach

We left from Brooks Bridge in Ft. Walton running the ditch, ran around 55's to 60 and it took 1.5 hrs to the no wake zone in perdido Key. That is a long no wake zone but once you are through it you are basically there. I want to say it was 65 miles oneway.

Six hours of non stop work last night, engine is torn down to the bare block. Just a few problems; one cylinder had water in it, one piston had a frozen ring, Three pistons had hit valves. So it's out with the "what the he$$ let's rebuild it" and in with "I had some problems". I had time to do a quick magna flux on the one head that had water problems, came up clean but still am going to pressure check it. The other thing to figure out is why the starboard side of the engine was getting hotter than the other, you can tell just by looking at the head. I'll get pictures up of the damage as soon I can get home before midnight.

Kwooley is the ditch the intercoastal? You can go from destin to there without going into the gulf?

Yep, thats what we call it. I'm not sure if it runs any further West than Mobile Al, but as far east as you can go is Appalacacola, Fl.

pictures

See the head bolts in the previous picture. Think I had some water and heat damage? I knew that side always ran warmer than the other but not so much that it was doing that kind of damage. Took about 45 minutes to get three head bolts out on that side, lucky they came without drilling. Pressure tested the head today, no leaks. I have my theory as to why it was running hot, lets hear yours! As for the cylinder with water, I will add no water in the oil. I took another look at the riser on that side and gasket seems to be responsible. I'll get some pictures of the pistons later this week. As much as it sucks to find damage :angry-smiley-038: I have to admit I am having fun with it and learning a ton.

One of the Cylinders had water in it....I was looking for some reasons why....Cut my troubleshooting in half.Thanks

Sure looks like reversion to me.
Time to add some HP!

Thanks for the repy, This is the first marine engine I have rebuilt and wanted to make sure that others agreed on what it was.

As for more horse power, you are correct. I just wish my pocket book could support it. Like I said at the first of this post, I have not had the boat very long and did not plan on having to do any serious work until next off season. The good part is I will know everything has been gone through and ready for a long boating season.

I have made some progress on the enigne. Got it mounted on the engine stand this weekend, cleaned the valves (replacing 8 exhaust valves, and 1 intake). I'm going to try and paint the inside with Glyptal today and start putting it together this weekend. I mentioned I magmafluxed the head in one spot that looked like trouble and it was ok, but I am going to pressure test it today to make sure its ok. Ill post the results.

Thought I would give an update on the boat progress. After some thought about saving the heads, I decided to replace all the valves and find a new set of heads. I found a great deal, 120hr fresh water stock 502 heads ($300) that will be replacing mine, that were pretty much trash. all the parts are in for the motor and the process of putting it back together will begin too.

In addition to the engine, I got a refurbished drive (had 200hrs on it before being serviced) hopefully no problems with it. I also ordered a brand new transom assembly to replace the old one. Ill post some pictures of the old one, still trying to figure out what happened to it.

Time table is to have the boat in the water for a test run the middle of feb....

Hope everyone is surviving this freezing weather!

Engine is Done! Transom Assembly is Done! Drive is on! Hope to turn the engine over tom. to prove the engine is Done. It was a fun project and I have learned alot about the mehcanics of the boat. I'm guessing all in all it took about 2people 5 12hr days to get the engine done. I replaced everything that even looked like it needed replacing. All parts that could be saved were bead blasted and panted to prevent further corrosion. I did find the final reason why the engine was running so hot, oil cooler was stuffed with an old impeller. I changed the impeller when I bought the boat, only missing a small piece, didnt think much of it. The person I bought the boat from had shreded one completely off and never chased down all the pieces. Looking forward to running this summer!

more

few more before putting it all together

kwooley is it hard navigating from destin to perdido? How deep is the water? We are going to Destin in June. Any good restaurants along the way on the water?

The channel is pretty easy to navigate; closer to perdido there is a narrow part of the channel (island on one side, shore on the other) you will know exactley what Im talking about when you go through it; it takes a couple of turns just before the no wake zone in perdido; couple of sections where the bay's are pretty big (Pensacola Bay can throw some nice rollers); STAY IN THE CHANNEL it can get shallow pretty fast. Just pull up google earth a couple of times before you make the run, you can see the channel pretty well.

Places to eat.... Juana's is in Navarre, great place to go, you can beach the boat there (dock also if you prefer). First bridge you go under after Brooks Bridge is Navarre, go under the brdge and take a hard left you will see it, you can go slow and watch depth. That is where we stop.

Pensacola has some good places and so does Orange Beach. I am more familiar with the places in OB. Tacky Jacks and Pirates Cove are two good ones.

Ill be down in Destin the weekend of June 19th, staying at Bay towne wharf.

let me know if I can help with anything.

We are coming down to Destin on a family vacation june 20-27. Staying at Waterview.

Kwooley how is the water is there any oil between Pensicola and Panama, particularly around Destin?

Was down in Orange Beach over the weekend. No oil. It is expected to be arrive this week sometime. You should be fine in Destin. Boom is being placed at all the passes. I went to Pensecola on Thursday but not over to Destin.

Your boat running good now?

yep boat is running good. Only problem I had was the bearing in the raw water pump blew out (the only part that I did not replace), but it was an easy fix. I put a 4 blade 24 pitch labbed prop on. it has trouble getting out of the hole with 5 people in the boat and I can only get about 4700 rpm WOT. But the mid range handling is great with the 4 blade.

You still going to Destin in a week? Heard on the news up here this morning that the oil sheen is 9 miles out from Pensacola.

I heard that as well. I was planning on being in Destin on the 17th of this month for a long weekend if the oil does not Hit. Everyone down here has gone to 24hr cancel policy so I will play it by ear. If the oil does hit there is no reason for me to go.

All rentals have gone to a 24 hr cancellation policy?

I called Bay towne resort this morning. They are now on a 24 hr cancellation policy instead of a 14 day. Not they will cancel on you but you can cancel on them for a full refund within 24 hrs (if you thought I meant them cancel on you). When I was in Orange Beach last weekend at my parents place people were saying the same thing about places.

That is good to know, thanks for that info. I sure hope we dont have to cancel. I look forward to this trip for the whole year.