The Outboard SAGA

If you have visited before you may have seen a nice shiny Tohatsu 3.5 on the blog and wondered about it. Well the Tohatsu was not to be - I chose a Tohatsu because you can lie it on three sides, its good for low speed "trolling" so would be great for slow speed maneuvering and the cowl was compact and smaller than its "new clothes brothers" so would fit the transom space better- well it was returned as it had some issues. The local-ish on the archipelago representative was Great more than great.

In its place is a nice shiny mercury 3.5 (a tohatsu in disguise) that runs great and should be brilliant. Thank you to the same local-ish representative who handles both brands. More than excellent service.

Only downside - it cannot lie on 3 sides


next the old honda a great simple engine BUT.....
would I buy one????


For those that know me I cannot just chuck things away- they need a second life, so while I was waiting for the mercury to arrive I started to rebuild the honda and along the way discovered some things about it.

I have some questions for honda - I like their engines and have a some garden and agri machines powered with them.

BUT WHY HONDA CHOSE TO BUILD THEIR 2 horsepower THE WAY THEY DID IS A MYSTERY

1. It is like a garden tool engine (Lawnmower/Tiller) mounted on a outboard leg

2. Most if not all of the bolts are not stainless or protected against corossion as are the dome nuts

3. It has lots of mild steel bits attached to it

4. The carb bowl is coated mild steel and rusts

5 The mild steel bolts rust so they are impossible to remove and also weld themselves to the aluminium - especially where the stainless exhaust is held to the aluminium head with mild steel fastenings !????? with the result - an attempt to remove them, results in them shearing off and having to be easy-outed and retapped.

6. The bolts that hold the centrifugal clutch housing to the engine and also the engine to the plastic case are mild steel and being close to the water rust. I had to cut the plastic housing to access one stubborn bugger, to be able to weld  some steel to it to remove it, even the special damaged nut sockets could not remove it.

7. The clutch housing is mild steel and rusts.

8. Nuts are made from some strange cheesium metal composition
9. Valve cover from Mild steel with bolts to match.

10. Various mild steel brackets and nuts and bolts are used

You would think that an air cooled engine would have better corrosion protection given that the salty moisture laden air is going to be blown around the engine to cool it - instead the salty moist air is blown around the engine to corrode it.

Oh and Thank the Heavens for PB BLASTER -If you have a honda 2 or 2.3 you will need it -  google it.

So after fighting with rusty bolts trying all the tools including easy outs and special damaged nit sockets it is apart and after fighting for a week with a rusted almost solid clutch bearing it is ready to have the oil leak fixed.

and also a NEW Carb fitted - and then back together.

After all this I can understand when people say they are a disposable engine - what had to be done would cost a fortune and be uneconomical if you had to get a mechanic to fix it.

Would I buy a new Honda 2.3

Judging by what the reviews on the internet say NO, it is apparently worse than their old 2hp in the mix of metals in and on it on it, basically a corrosion timebomb. 

OF COURSE ALL THIS IS IMHO  !
DO RESEARCH ON THE NET AND FORUMS AND DECIDE FOR YOURSELF  !!!!!!!!

Looking at the tohatsu and mercury under the covers and comparing them to the honda makes me feel a lot more secure in the fact that they are built way better and look like they were designed for a sea water environment.

the only redeaming feature of the honda is it is light, and aircooled (read NOISY)

and the TAK-C is coming along well  - the honda will be used on it, along with Oars

and I see a sculling oar or Yuloh in Cagarros future.

 WINDVANE self steering mounted

the self steering has been fitted and it just remains for the blocks and line to be fitted

rudder and trimtab in the back of the Hilux

rudder and trimtab on the back of Cagarro

turret, vane and mount

The bearings on the rudder for the trimtab, I made from Delrin

and the bearings on the vane I made from PTFE teflon - there are delrin black "keepers"on the horizontal surface on the aft of the rotating turret and also an Afezelia hardwood lock with inox wingnut on the front - between the rotating turret and the mount is a large UHMWPE washer cut from a 20 litre can so that the turret rotates without binding and wearing the epoxy glass on the mating surfaces - 

below you can see the teflon bearing and the inox shaft

all installed minus control lines and blocks

The above solution is my modification to suit the Setka A of the Wave Rover Mk3 windvane from Alan Mulholland - see below pictures taken of his setup during his visit to Horta

 Battery dangers explained