LT5 Build

[WARP TEN]

Originally Posted by Mystic ZR-1

Unfortunately, in salt water that LT5 would probably be shot in no time...
Don't think the LT5s are made out of the same aluminum alloy as
all them Merc outboards....

Probably right. I grew up on Long island sound running fast (then) boats with Mercury outboards. Was an amateur Merc mechanic in my teens. Taking off the water jacket of our engines revealed a lot of crystalline corrosion inside. Often when you got the stainless steel bolts out the holes would have to be drilled out and redone with HeliCoils. Granted this was in the sixties so the aluminum technology was probably not as good as it is now. But salt water is tough on aluminum motors. --Bob

[Ccmano]

Originally Posted by WARP TEN

Probably right. I grew up on Long island sound running fast (then) boats with Mercury outboards.

Bob, when and where were you on Long Island?

I grew up there too. North Shore, little town called Centerport (near Huntington). We lived right on the water at Centerport Harbor. Same as you I played with outboards and later cars. Was there from 1960 to 1971...

Boy was that a fantasy childhood or what!
H

[Mystic ZR-1]

I did the fast boat thing too, back in the day.
16' Tahiti (took the "hook" out of the bottom to free it up)
w/150 Merc SS short shaft (SS's had the water pick-up
in the skeg) Propshaft was even with the bottom of the boat.
The prop looked like something you'd see in a blender...
Wouldn't accelerate from dead stop too good but when it finally
stopped cavitating and the prop hooked up, the revs would drop
back from somewhere on the other side of 6k to 3k (the tach only
went to 6k) it took off like a slingshot! Threw an impressive rooster-tail
at speed too! 65+mph at the time was rocket ship fast! Surprised a lot of
the boys in their BB jet boats and Donzies etc.
Was fun (but stupid...) to go jumping wakes of cabin cruisers or the
Long Island ferry! The boat would fly 50-60 feet off the wakes with the exhaust screaming! Some of the landings weren't too pretty though... For some reason the Bride didn't like riding in the boat????

[WARP TEN]

Originally Posted by Ccmano

Bob, when and where were you on Long Island?

I grew up there too. North Shore, little town called Centerport (near Huntington). We lived right on the water at Centerport Harbor. Same as you I played with outboards and later cars. Was there from 1960 to 1971...

Boy was that a fantasy childhood or what!
H

Actually I grew up on the mainland side of Long island Sound in Mamaroneck. My family lived on Larchmont Harbor between 1959 and the mid 70s. I used to do a lot of sail boat racing out of Larchmont Yacht Club and also did the motor boat thing mainly with 13' Boston Whalers with 50+ Mercs. Tore the transom off two of them (Whaler gave us new boats each time -- bad advertising -- but finally said no more, so I crafted a couple of big transom corner braces that fixed the problem.) Had a club of about a half dozen fast boats and from time to time went over to Long Island, including Huntington, Glen Cove and as far east at Port Jefferson as I recall. It was certainly a great way to spend my teenage and up years. Also worked in a marine hardware store (Brewer's) for three summers, which is where I learned all about tools, fasteners, problem solving, etc. A great education. --Bob

[WARP TEN]

Originally Posted by Mystic ZR-1

I did the fast boat thing too, back in the day.
16' Tahiti (took the "hook" out of the bottom to free it up)
w/150 Merc SS short shaft (SS's had the water pick-up
in the skeg) Propshaft was even with the bottom of the boat.
The prop looked like something you'd see in a blender...
Wouldn't accelerate from dead stop too good but when it finally
stopped cavitating and the prop hooked up, the revs would drop
back from somewhere on the other side of 6k to 3k (the tach only
went to 6k) it took off like a slingshot! Threw an impressive rooster-tail
at speed too! 65+mph at the time was rocket ship fast! Surprised a lot of
the boys in their BB jet boats and Donzies etc.
Was fun (but stupid...) to go jumping wakes of cabin cruisers or the
Long Island ferry! The boat would fly 50-60 feet off the wakes with the exhaust screaming! Some of the landings weren't too pretty though... For some reason the Bride didn't like riding in the boat????

We did a lot of wake jumping with our Whalers, too. That's what tore the transoms off. We'd hit a wake full throttle at about 40 mph, go airborne, and when the lower unit hit the water again a few cracks developed. Still, lots of fun summers there.


By the way, my apologies for hijacking the thread. Just some fun memories that I thought I would share. Back to the News now.--Bob

[XfireZ51]

Bob,

My family would visit my aunt who lived in Larchmont. We’d commute from Bushwick in Brooklyn. It was quite a difference in the affluence level!

[Vette73]

Originally Posted by XfireZ51

Bob,

My family would visit my aunt who lived in Larchmont. We’d commute from Bushwick in Brooklyn. It was quite a difference in the affluence level!

Now its $ 3,000 and up for a one bedroom apt. in Bushwick.....Forget about the brownstones .$$$$$

[Mystic ZR-1]

13ft Whalers with 50hp Mercs were nuts!!!
40 was more than enough!
Not to mention a kidney busting ride...
Now back to LT5s...

[XfireZ51]

Originally Posted by Vette73

Now its $ 3,000 and up for a one bedroom apt. in Bushwick.....Forget about the brownstones .$$$$$

Yeah read that u have $1M+ brownstones in Bushwick. My niece moved from Chinatown to Bushwick. Brooklyn is very hip.

[Jagdpanzer]

My son now lives in Bushwick with a couple of his college buddies. Who are all seeking their fortunes in the Big Apple. Not exactly my style but he loves it there.


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