[dharby]

wetwilly.....can you give more details and perhaps some pics of your lift. I may scrap my power lifts if they give me too many fits - and I'm guessing my 94 z220 deck is similar weight (which is h-e-a-v-y!). The ebay seller name? size lifts? where they are mounted?

thks

[ShabahZ280]

Check out this thread. It's our Mariah Parts List.

Mariah Parts List

It has the info for the shocks and the electric lifters as well.

[95 z200]

my boat didn't go slow but they would intermittently quit working. So I took apart the connections on the lift motors and cleaned them and took pliers and squeezed the terminals together to tighten them back up and haven't had any problems since. It was about a year ago

[edward cossey]

Thanks Stowaway

I stripped the Motor Down and found the bearings had seized
after a bit of TLC with a screwdriver, WD 40, and some brute force i freed the bearings cleaned them and coated them with grease fixed it all up and tested it on the car battery and the lift worked fine, I then rushed down to my Shabah connected it up and found i now have no juice from the switch to the terminal connector, i've looked for a fuse or pop out but cant find one for the hatch motor, i have no wiring details for my boat so now im stumped again, anyone got any ideas,

Ed Cossey

[Jere McManus]

I just purchased a 95 Z220 Talari. Mine, too, had the lifts removed. I do have them, but 1 is not working. I had considered gas lifts to eliminate the hassle with the electric lifts. I would appreciate more information or pictures of the gas lifts installed. Has anyone simplified the battery access on these?

Jere

[WetWilly]

Originally Posted by dharby

wetwilly.....can you give more details and perhaps some pics of your lift. I may scrap my power lifts if they give me too many fits - and I'm guessing my 94 z220 deck is similar weight (which is h-e-a-v-y!). The ebay seller name? size lifts? where they are mounted?

thks

Ouch, sorry dharby for letting this one slide by... I think this was what you were looking for (click here and scroll down to the 5th post).

As for the eBay seller, I don't remember who it was, but I have dealt with this one particular seller on different occasions for my boating needs and they have always delivered - Great Lakes Skipper. They carry the gas shocks and other items like the brackets too.

Again, sorry,
WetWilly

[Jere McManus]

Thanks. This really helps. Were the safety straps from the factory? Mine does not have these. This definitely looks more simple. Any problems with the strut mounts? It looks like there would be a lot of pressure at the mounting points. I noticed it looks like you have a sheet of plywood over the engine. Is there a benefit gained by this. Do you have any tips on oil changes? Do you drain it through the hull or is there a pan that will fit in the compartment to catch the oil?

Thanks

Jere

[WetWilly]

Hi Jere,

Originally Posted by Jere McManus

Were the safety straps from the factory? Mine does not have these. This definitely looks more simple.

No,not factory, I added them for a little more piece of mind. Like I said before, don't want to have the Sunpad pop open when towing or flying across the lake

Originally Posted by Jere McManus

Any problems with the strut mounts? It looks like there would be a lot of pressure at the mounting points.

So far I haven't had any problems with the strut mounts, the Fiberglass seems to be pretty thick in the corners so the screws got a good bit and so far, seem to be holding tight.

Originally Posted by Jere McManus

I noticed it looks like you have a sheet of plywood over the engine. Is there a benefit gained by this.

The plywood shelf is supposed to be there but the original was missing when we bought her. I have some material and insulation that I will be using to cover it and make it look and perform as intended. Advantage of the shelf - little more storage room as long as heat doesn't bother what ever your storing on the shelf (right over the motor) and it adds a considerable amount of sound dampening.

Originally Posted by Jere McManus

Do you have any tips on oil changes? Do you drain it through the hull or is there a pan that will fit in the compartment to catch the oil?

For the older Mercruisers, oil is sucked out via the dipstick tube with a pump. New Mercruisers have an oil drain tube attached to the bottom of the oil pan and sits in the bilge. You pull it out through the transom drain, remove the plug and out comes the oil. I haven't inquired about this setup for the older Mercruisers as I cant get to the oil pan drain plug easily (too much motor, too little space ).

Well I hope this answers your questions, if you have any more, fire away when ready!

WetWilly

[Jere McManus]

Thanks, again for all your help. I like the clean look of the struts and that they do not take up much space. It also seems like the electric jacks are a continuing problem. I bet the Big Block does take up a bit of space in the engine compartment. She must really pull strong with that set-up. Did you replace the hinges on your hatch? Mine has a piano style which goes all the way across, but yours look stronger.

Jere

[WetWilly]

Hi jere

Yup, the BB does have some pretty good get up and go and the top end isn't too bad either, but when there's like 8 or 9 people aboard, the hole shot suffers a bit, but nothing a reprop won't fix . The other thing... it does like to drink a bit... oh well, that's just a part of owning a boat anyway...

The hinges appear to be original, there are no other holes on the rear deck to indicate that a piano hinge was ever installed. The existing hinges, three of them, one center and one near each end, are fairly thick with good size pins, I have never noticed any binding or twisting of the hinges. even though the Sunpan feels like it weighs a ton....

WetWilly