1994 Protour 190 Restoration

[ONTHECOAST]

What RPM?

[RDahler]

What RPM?

I guess I should have looked at the RPM but I did not scan that during that run. I was watching the oil,temp and speed for the short run that I made. The Mastercraft specification for this boat was 47 MPH with a 3 blade prop. I was told the 4 blade prop may slow it down a few MPH. The next time out if I get a chance to run it up again I will take a photo of the dash and post it.

[brucemac]

Beautiful work. Congrats!

[Ski-me]

Amazing work and so much great information! Thanks for sharing so many details....

[RDahler]

I moved the Temp gauge sensor from the side of the mixer to the port in the head between spark plugs 1 and 3 this gives a more accurate temp indication. Indmar made this change in mid 1994 and on. I was able to reattach the sensor wire at the new location by just rerouting it. This location shows the normal cylinder head temp of 170
The last photo my first tow behind the renewed Protour 190

[RDahler]

Here are a few pictures of the finished project.

[edwin]

What an absolute beautiful boat...incredible job on the refurb. Without question, a finer example of a 93 Prostar cannot be found.

[RDahler]

What RPM?

The RPM look like tracking the speed 4825 at 48.2 MPH and 3000 at 30 MPH

[RDahler]

I decided to start the new year off right by adding a fresh water cooling system to the 190.

[bturner2]

Was this to achieve a more consistent temp for the engine? Please don't tell me you plan on using that beautiful boat in salt water.

I've only owned one boat with closed cooling which was on a 485 Mercruiser. They used closed cooling on this family of engines to better regulate the engine temp as well as to control corrosion due to the engine using an aluminum block and iron head. I know the trend now is moving in that direction on the larger LS based engines due to their aluminum content as well.

Never had an issue with my 485 but apparently other did as they had a less than ideal reputation early on. I have to say it was one of the easiest boats I owned to winterize and the power to weight that little engine had was impressive in the little 17' Wellcraft it was installed in.

[RDahler]

Was this to achieve a more consistent temp for the engine? Please don't tell me you plan on using that beautiful boat in salt water.

I've only owned one boat with closed cooling which was on a 485 Mercruiser. They used closed cooling on this family of engines to better regulate the engine temp as well as to control corrosion due to the engine using an aluminum block and iron head. I know the trend now is moving in that direction on the larger LS based engines due to their aluminum content as well.

Never had an issue with my 485 but apparently other did as they had a less than ideal reputation early on. I have to say it was one of the easiest boats I owned to winterize and the power to weight that little engine had was impressive in the little 17' Wellcraft it was installed in.

No plans to ever use this boat in salt water. You are correct on the more consistent temp on the engine. The Lt1 because of the reverse flow cooling system likes to trap air under the upper thermostat and cause a heat spike of around 200 degrees normal engine temp 175. I could trigger this problem two different ways. With the boat warmed up if I turned the engine off for over 10 minutes the water in the engine would leak down threw the sea water pump and draw air in threw the vent line attached to the thermostat housing. I was able to fix this with a check valve on that vent line. The second problem when I backed the boat down a steep boat ramp it would dump the water out of the intake hose for the seawater pump. This large pocket of air would go straight to the upper thermostat and get stuck there as you are letting the engine warm up. The fix turn the engine off for a few minutes and let the air bleed up thew holes in the thermostat.
The closed cooling system should fix the heat spike problems and control the internal engine corrosion.

[RDahler]

I finished the fresh water cooling system this past weekend. Fabricated a custom bracket for the coolant recovery reservoir and moved the engine cover forward 1/2 inch to clear the new system.

[ShuManChu]

I finished the fresh water cooling system this past weekend. Fabricated a custom bracket for the coolant recovery reservoir and moved the engine cover forward 1/2 inch to clear the new system.

This is a heat exchanger that uses the raw/lake water to cool the engine coolant correct? This seems like a very smart thing to do, are newer boats coming with these types of systems?

Also, what is the reason for having two separate coolant reservoirs? The black one on starboard side, and the clear one on port?

[RDahler]

This is a heat exchanger that uses the raw/lake water to cool the engine coolant correct? This seems like a very smart thing to do, are newer boats coming with these types of systems?

Also, what is the reason for having two separate coolant reservoirs? The black one on starboard side, and the clear one on port?

Yes you are correct it is a heat exchanger (closed or fresh water cooling system). Most of the newer engines come standard with this type of cooling system better Temperature and corrosion control are the main reasons.
This kit was engineered back in the mid 90's it was the way they handled expansion of the coolant back then with a plastic coolant recovery plastic tank hooked to the expansion tank. On the newer engines they incorporated both functions in to one custom engineered plastic tank.

[RDahler]

Decided to remove the the gas lift shocks and brackets off my engine cover. The problem with them with them is they do not hold the cover up high enough to service the transmission and they are in the way when you try and remove the oil filter. I came up with a simple way to secure the cover in the full up position.