I apologize in advance for the frequency of posts (or lack thereof). In addition to this seemingly never-ending boat project, my wife and I just had our first child, and we're (hopefully) nearing the end of a 1-1/2 year major house renovation of our 106 year old house in Denver. What can I say? We like fixing old things that most other people throw in the towel on. I'm sure I'll elaborate more on that adventure later as it relates to the boat.

So I had successfully "unfrozen" the motor and gotten it to crank but decided I needed to remove the head to look at the valves. In removing the head, I guess I was just more lucky than skilled but I didn't encounter any problems that others have reported like broken studs or studs coming out with the nuts attached with the exception of the port rear corner stud. I used two Ikea butter knives as wedges (because I didn't have anything better) tapped gently between the head and the block on the starboard side as to not hit the valve heads. I found the combination of gentle tapping on the side of the head with a 3 pound sledge hammer while wiggling/pulling up by hand got the head off without much fuss. I followed that up with copious amounts of scraping doubled-up graphite head gasket material with a flat blade and 2.5 gallon Craftsman shop vacuum. (Love that thing!)
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After I got the head off I inspected everything and discovered the "phantom cooling passages" that lined up with the block but didn't seem to exist in the head. Of course those "holes" aren't present in late model heads as described in this thread (insert thread here once I find it)

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Once I got all of the head gasket material removed I noticed the face of the engine block mostly in the vicinity of the #4 cylinder and valves had some "dimpling." I was concerned about it enough to pose the question to the braintrust in this thread:

http://www.moyermarineforum.com/foru...light=dimpling

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(P.S. I'd like to point out that while the braintrust is adept at combing over posted pictures with their magnifying glass to point out every possible lurking abnormality, when I first posted this picture over 2 years ago, nobody spotted the fact that the pistons in my engine were installed backwards with the arrow stamped "front" on the top of the pistons facing forwards instead of counterintuitively towards the back of the engine as they should. For shame fellas! :D Haha! Actually it's darn near impossible to see with the reflection of the residual Marvel Mystery Oil sheen on the pistons.)

I still didn't know what I was really looking for, but it seemed like all of the valves were installed and accounted for. However when I cranked the engine using my remote starter switch, I noticed that many of the valves weren't moving up or down. (I think I have a video of that and I'll update this post when I find it.) So with that discovery, I dove back into reading my new favorite forum and came to the conclusion that my engine had the common "stuck valve illness" and I'd need to remove the valve gallery side plate for a look-see. If I was going to do that, why not remove the manifold and carburetor too? Down the rabbit hole we go. Next order of business:

Off with the manifold!
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What I learned

• The "phantom holes" in the head aren't actual cooling passages on late-model heads
• Buy head gaskets from Ken in bulk. You'll inevitably use them.

What I'd do differently

• Buy more head gaskets

Whoever worked on your engine didn't follow their MMI manual very well.

That’s the truth Neil. I highly doubt they even owned a Moyer Manual otherwise they were illiterate, neglectful, or both. It gets worse.

Hi again fellers. I'm back. Sorry I've been busy changing poopy diapers and bottle feeding at 2am for the past two months (the kid not me). :p Anyway, back to the story. The intake/exhaust manifold came off without much drama however in doing so, I got yet another lesson in stuck/frozen/rusted fasteners on raw-water cooled A-4's. The three manifold studs were in drastically different conditions. Tapping on two of them with a screwdriver handle, I got a distinct high pitched "tink tink tink" of a well seated fastener. On the front stud however, I discovered the threads in the block had been repaired with a helicoil and the stud made more of a "tank tank tank" noise. Still holding, but requiring the "kid glove treatment" from here on out.
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I loosened the two bolts securing the valve gallery side plate (replaced later with the MMI stud kit) and set it aside. A further inspection of the valve stems and springs revealed what I already knew from the top side; the valve springs had rusted in place preventing the valves from moving up and down.

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Ring ring ring. "Uh, Hi Ken. Yep its Jonathan. Yep again. Remember those valve springs you said I'd need but I didn't order them?....Yep I need those."

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The process of removing the valves is well documented in multiple threads here so I won't reinvent the wheel. If you're new to this part of the A-4 and binge reading through my ridiculous narrative, here's the Clif Notes: Don't let the small valve keepers fall down into the oil pan from the dime-sized weep holes in the bottom of the valve gallery. Those go into the deep dark place where there be dragons and crankshaft bearings 'n stuff.

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I brought the valves home and "cleaned them up" on my brass wire wheel. Was this smart?...:confused: I don't know I guess. As I mentioned earlier, this was (is) as deep into an engine rebuild as I've ever gone. Since then I've learned much more about the importance of valve seat angle, cut, width, valve/valve guide matching etc (thanks Pete's Garage channel on YouTube!)

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What I learned

• Sticky valve springs make the A-4 not run so well

What I'd do differently

• Have a machine shop take a look at the valves before going taking them to a grinding wheel I suppose. Maybe not that big of a deal?

I don't like that pitting in the lip of the valve in #2 pic. If I was this far in, I might replace the valves too, but that is another $200 if you buy a set..maybe only need a couple if you are lucky? :confused: I also don't know the exact part of these valves that are the mating area with the valve seat..maybe the lip is exposed to the combustion chamber and the flat edge above it is the mating surface? The mating surface should be ground to a shine (and the proper angle) with valve lapping compound before re-install . You can see the thin shiny ring before cleaning was where the valve hit the valve guide..I think this is supposed to be the entire flat area of mating surface if the valve is ground to the correct angle.

Shawn, if you look at the last picture you will see the valve's mating surface, which is the larger beveled face toward the the top of the valve facing down toward the stem. That's the main area of valve/block interface for sealing the combustion chamber. As long as there isn't a hole through the other faces or signs of significant weakening, more than often corrosion isn't a major problem.

I'm old school enough to still own a set of lapping tools (suction cups on sticks, really) that I use to finish honing the valve and seat once any major grinding is done or to just clean up the surfaces when removing carbon and gunk. Just a little dab of grinding compound and a few hours of patience and your rewarded with a beautiful seal between the surfaces. It's mind numbing work, sort of like trying to rub a stick into a pile of wet tinder to start a fire, buy I love the results. :cool:

I should’ve elaborated a little bit more on the previous post about the valve removal but I didn’t want to get out of sequence with the timeline given that the thread up to this point has been all “past tense.”

Although the original reason for the valve removal/valve spring replacement at this point was troubleshooting the crank/no-start condition of the engine, I subsequently replaced the springs, and reinstalled the “cleaned up” valves using the valve lapping tool Ram describes (a suction cup on a stick) and some Permatex valve lapping compound. After hand-lapping the valves they seemed to have a good mating surface with the block. I set the valve lash with a feeler gauge as described in the MMI service manual a.k.a ‘The Bible’

After *(spoiler alert)* getting the engine running again months after this point, the cabin would fill with exhaust fumes any time I ran the engine. I read all of the threads about the Indigo PCV kit “fix” for that problem (the pros and cons of the kit are both well debated here) and decided it was worth a shot. I installed it and it eliminated all of the fumes. However, those who argue the PCV kit only “masks the symptoms” of the fumes rather than “curing the illness” of excessively worn valve guides or compression rings, seem to be accurate in my case. Now that I’m in the middle of the full tear-down, I measured my valve stems with a micrometer and they’re definitely worn. Because of the small diameter of the valve guides, I don’t see any way of measuring those to compare clearances but I can infer. At present I’m down to a bare block so I’ll probably be replacing all of the valves and guides with new.

Talk to you soon Ken.....

I left off in the story having just removed the valves to replace the springs and in so doing, removed the intake/exhaust manifold for better access to the valve gallery side plate. At this point in the process I had sufficiently lurked around this forum and read about the common overheating issues originating from clogged up water jackets and manifolds. I have to admit, I was incredibly jealous of my fellow A-4ians who's engines were running enough to have overheating problems. I figured what the heck, lets get ahead of this thing and if a 24 hour vinegar flush does-an-engine-good, what's wrong with a one week-to-a-month vinegar flush? So I picked up a big tupperware tub, bought a few gallons of vinegar, and dropped the manifold in. I figured it would come out looking hot-tanked clean. It didn't, but it definitely emulsified some of the buildup and made for a satisfying black goo:

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A couple weeks-ish later:
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Post vinegar bath and wire brushing:
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Remember in the beginning when I said I live in Denver but the boat is in San Francisco? Well that meant my tools and workspace were 997 miles away. Thus began the weekly checked-bag shipment of engine parts back and forth. First to make the journey was the freshly cleaned manifold for further cleaning, painting, and bake-curing of engine paint:

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In hindsight it probably wasn't the most prudent to use our kitchen oven to bake on high-temperature engine paint but I have a very patient wife sooooo....."Hey honey look at our shiny red manifold. I just saved us like $400!" :D For those curious I used VHT (I think Duplicolor makes it) red paint on the manifold and head. When I *spoiler alert* eventually got the engine running, the paint held up pretty well except in the aft bottom corner of the manifold by the exhaust flange which I suspect gets the hottest.

Alright...running! :cool:

Nice! Been following this thread to learn a few things...Will be doing the same thing you're doing for the most part this coming Winter on an extra Craigslist engine I picked up...

The first (and last!) time I baked a freshly painted engine manifold in the kitchen oven, it filled the kitchen with toxic purple fumes. The wife was not amused.

Edward, I now use the gas BBQ for the same reason.;)

Dave Neptune :cool:

While the manifold was soaking in vinegar, I decided to preemptively start playing whack-a-mole with the common A-4 afflictions. Next on the list was the fuel system. Since the boat sat for "two-ish years" :rolleyes: before we purchased it, I knew the gas had undoubtably gone bad. I didn't realize how bad. I bought a cheap-o Harbor Freight hand operated fluid transfer pump and started pumping the gas out of the tank. I found a significant amount of water in the tank. How much was the result of condensation inside the tank vs rainwater seeping past the dried out nitrile o-ring on the deck fill cap is up for debate. Either way, it was a bunch:

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I figured since the gas tank was now empty I might as well pull it out, clean it up, and take a look at what's underneath. When was the last time that was done? I'm sure the answer to that question was "never." When I pulled the tank out, the bottom was in pretty rough shape. No pinhole leaks but my plans to polish it to a mirrored finish instantly evaporated.

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I took a look in the tank with my LED flashlight and saw a bit of sediment in the bottom of the tank. I was able to stick my iPhone far enough down the fuel gauge hole to get a picture:

Varnished gas? Dirt? Bigfoot turds?
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Before I describe what I did next, I want to make absolutely clear that by the time I got around to doing this, the tank had been empty for weeks and there was no gasoline smell present at all. Even then I understood there was a risk of blowing myself up and getting launched over the Golden Gate Bridge, but I decided to try to suck out the sediment with my mini shop vac. It was tough because the little 6" crevice tool wouldn't get to the corner where the gunk was trapped and kept falling off the hose into the tank where I'd have to fish it out with an old coat hanger. I think I got 90% out of there and the new Racor filter would take care of the rest (the engine previously had no fuel filtration at all, not even between the electric fuel pump and the carb)

Since there was no way the aluminum tank was going to polish up shiny, I decided to get it powder coated. I found a pretty reasonable powder coating shop in South San Francisco (PM me for the contact info) who did the tank for $100. I read quite a bit on the pros and cons of powder coating aluminum and decided for this application, it was the right solution for me. Since the bottom of the tank had a fair amount of corrosion from (I assume) sitting on the plywood base that Catalina used for a fuel tank platform in 1979, I decided to cut up and install some rubber shower pan liner under the tank as a poor-man's vapor barrier. Probably just placebo but it looked nice:

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Since no fuel system overhaul would be complete without a carburetor rebuild, I downloaded Don's carburetor video, ordered the parts kit from Ken, and cracked open that intricate hunk of metal known as the Zenith late model 68. I found the evidence of my earlier attempts to "unfreeze" the motor with MMO down the spark plug holes. Plenty of it made it past the intake valves and down the manifold into the carb where it had mixed with the varnished gas.

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I was able to confidently clean out the tiny jet passages with a small piece of safety wire but the varnish residue left in the bowl was tenacious!
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As an aside, after seeing the manifold clean up so nicely with a vinegar bath I decided to soak everything in vinegar including the carburetor. Well, apparently vinegar strips the shiny gold zinc off small galvanized parts. So much for my new-looking carburetor linkage :( Dumb. Dumb. Dumb.

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What I learned

• I'm not that bright

What I'd do differently

• Not soak small galvanized parts in vinegar for a week

My favourite A4 thread, just so you know.

Another No-No is to soak aluminum parts in engine degreaser (ie: Zep purple) overnight. You'll end up with a light weight carburetor!

Even though the narrative has been all past tense up to this point, I've tried not to jump around while describing my engine resurrection efforts in chronological order. Since most of the processes required a sequence (head removal before valve work etc) it makes sense to stay in order. As I mentioned early in the thread, much of this work took place a few years ago when I first purchased the boat. Its been so long since I started this project I can't remember all of the details of my ill fated attempts to get this motor running reliably that ultimately demanded a full teardown. So that being said, looking back at my iPhoto library it says sometime around the carb rebuilding timeframe is when I started working on "Operation Re-Wire Everything Everywhere." As you'll see from the pictures, replacing every inch (or cm for our international brethren;)) of wiring was not in vain. Just like the gas line that was routed next to the exhaust and chafed through, the wiring on this boat was a fire waiting to happen. It was so bad my dock neighbor suggested that if I were to ever get boarded by the Coast Guard, they would write me a ticket. He might've been right. It was also the time when I stopped referring to the previous owner as "PO" and started referring to him as the "PFO." Here's some of the highlights:

The batteries were two 12 volt AGM (absorbed glass mat for my fellow battery geeks) wired in parallel-ish to a battery switch that was so old, Thomas Edison and Nikola Tesla were still arguing the merits of DC vs AC for powering incandescent bulbs when it was produced. The (mis-sized) batteries were secured in the battery box under the nav station using state-of-the-art invisible battery hold down brackets. The battery cables were off the shelf automotive 6 awg, non-tinned cable that were long enough for me to make a belt out of. All of it just great :rolleyes:

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The batteries were toast. No seriously they were hot as sourdough toast when I touched them. It might've had something to do with the fact that his battery "tender" was in fact a Craftsman battery charger meant for recharging an automotive lead acid battery that was permanently plugged into the 120v receptacle charging at a constant 2 amps. Buh bye batteries.

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For the replacements I chose the well-beaten path and purchased two 6 volt deep cycle golf cart batteries wired in series to make "1" big battery. I'll probably add a 12 volt battery for a starting battery and make the 6volt x 2 the house bank when I have the time to install it.

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I decided I could do better than off-the-shelf battery cables while getting to exercise my obsessive compulsiveness by making my own custom battery cables with proper lugs, cable, labels, and heat shrink. I opted to solder because I didn't want to purchase yet another specialty tool. Those large gauge cable crimpers ain't cheap! FYI, from everything I've read, ABYC standards allow for battery cables to be soldered. It's still not recommended but allowed while everything else requires crimped terminals. I also added one of those Gucci MRBF fuses on the most positive terminal of the bank.

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Old and new. Much 'mo betta!

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Ta Da!

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Dang it Al where were you on Feb 1 2014 when I needed this wisdom! :p

P.S. I'm actually very grateful you just mentioned that. I recently bought a parts washer for the garage and plan on cleaning a bunch of aluminum road bicycle parts in in. That would've been an expensive lesson. Beers on me next time you're in Denver or San Francisco.

I Love the fuel tank. However... Powder coating can hide pinhole leaks and corrosion from the inside. as long as the tank was in good shape inside before you did it you should be ok. but it is something that can happen over time.

Jonathan,

Where are you in Denver? I'm out on the Chesapeake now, but still have my house in Northglenn.

Steve

We’re in the city just a couple blocks northwest of City Park Golf Course, once they finish ripping it up and putting it back together. Thanks Mayor Hancock :rolleyes:

Thanks Boat. That was my main hesitation to go through with it. I read of a few instances where that had happened and considering the amount of water I pulled out of the tank, it was a legitimate concern. I've never had anything powder coated so I went down that YouTube rabbit hole for a little while. My thought process in this case was that if the aluminum tank were getting thin in places, the powder coating would help "strengthen" the corroded area. I also figured if the tank developed a leak, it would be a paperweight either way. I'd love a polyethylene tank but I never saw one available for the Catalina 30 during my cursory research. I'll report back in a couple years on how the thing is holding up.

Jonathan, i have a 17 gal Moeller poly tank in my C-30. I'll go look up the part number. I replaced it after the alum. developed a pinhole leak. :D

edit - I have this one. #032518 - http://moellermarine.com/moeller-mar...l-tank-032518/

I ripped out the metal tank and then glassed in a few blocks to screw the hold downs to.

The other nice thing is this doesn't 'need' a gauge. You can shine a flashlight thru it at night and see the level easily. In the daytime, you don't need a flashlight. Depending on how much junk I have in the quarterberth determines whether I pull the drawers in the galley and do the flashlight trick..however, if you keep track of hours run, you should know about how much fuel you have anyway. I always count on 1 gal/hour, but I burn just a little less. :cool: