How old is your Atomic 4 engine? Poll by decade.

[Mark S]

Ours is No. 204286, cast on May 20, 1979. As Weetamoe is a 1969 Pearson, our A4 is obviously not her original engine. I seem to remember the PO saying that it was rebuilt by Old Lyme (or somebody with some such name) in Connecticut and he installed it in the mid 90's, but I have no documentation of that. It looks like hell, rusty and peeling paint, but it runs great.

[hanleyclifford]

I think these pictures show my engine is a "cobble-job". But this is how I acquired it. I do like the cast flywheel cover, not sure when the sheet steel modification came on stream.

[domenic]

Rusty, the pictures you posted of the old A4 has a hand sump pump. (oil pump.) Any idea where we can get those?

[ILikeRust]

Funny, I had to go back and look for what you were talking about. I hadn't really looked that closely at that pic before, so I hadn't noticed that.

I have no idea. I would have to do some Googling, which is how I find nearly everything these days.

[Esgbradford]

Caleb,

I hope you don't mind a suggestion on the Poll. It might be more telling to list the time periods by A4 engine model changes. For example, my engine is 1975, which puts it in the 1971-75 group, but really, it is more similar to a 1976 engine than a 1974 engine. This is because in 1975, as I understand it, the fly wheel cover was change to a flat piece of metal. Carb differences, fuel pump differences, etc -- that'd be interesting to find out how many engines of which models are owned by members here.

Eric
Aries Newport 27
Portland, OR

[CalebD]

Thanks Eric.

Your suggestion brings up a good point. I know that I have an early model engine with some late model components on it (5 bolt Zenith carb for example) from 1967. I wonder who made the upgrades on my engine but I'm pretty sure the PO of our boat did. Our boat came with a pile of folders, one of which was a collection of early MMI newsletters to subscribers.
The point I am not making very well is that some owners added upgrades and some engines came with upgrades from the factory. Examples of this kind of upgrade might be: adding Fresh Water Cooling, a HX and an extra water pump, new carburetor, thermostat, electronic ignition or fuel pump, water/fuel separator filters, oil filter, you name it and it has been done.
I was really only going for a very narrow slice of the information pie with this poll and did not ask about late vs. early model types of engines as there are so many hybrid engines out there and I can't think of all the varieties that may exist.
Some of the information that Universal printed tells a bit about each engine block as it came out of the factory may exist out there but I bet that Don Moyer knows that you have to assess each engine and find out what components may have been added or modified before they make any suggestions.
I was not up to the level of detail the poll you suggested required, so have at it.

[Charlie B]

Hi everyone!

My A-4 is a 1968, fresh water cooled and still running great! I love this little beast. She's one sweet running motor. It's in a Morgan 24, (new to me this year) and the only trouble I've had so far is the fuel pump. I had bought a parts engine, which had a very good pump on it, so it was no big deal to deal with. Now I just have to rebuild the old pump sometime this winter.

[ILikeRust]

Hi everyone!

My A-4 is a 1968, fresh water cooled and still running great! I love this little beast. She's one sweet running motor. It's in a Morgan 24, (new to me this year) and the only trouble I've had so far is the fuel pump. I had bought a parts engine, which had a very good pump on it, so it was no big deal to deal with. Now I just have to rebuild the old pump sometime this winter.

Welcome to the forum! You'll like it here, I'm sure. Great bunch of guys who know a lot about this engine and are willing to share that knowledge freely - and overanalyze to death any little question about any aspect of its function, operation or maintenance.

We're all really a bit A.R. in our own special ways...

[old-sailer]

Wiki is not quite right on that... Universal did stop in 1980 but had lots of stock and thus continued to sell their stock pile until 1984.

I added this list by serial # some time ago....

http://www.moyermarine.com//forums/showthread.php?t=5944&highlight=atomic4+serial

[Newenglandah]

10/8/1968 and never looked or ran so good

[domenic]

[QUOTE=ILikeRust;40233]I don't know if this is the "original" style, but it definitely is an older style:



[/QUOTE
Rust... that is my enge! My Columbia 28 isw a 1968

[Laker]

I had the venerable old style too tombstone tranny cover and all , in my 1966 built Columbia. It had practically no compression in the rear cylinders , so now I have a "new" (mid 70's) style A4. The guy who gave me the newer engine still has my original one in his garage. I should pay him a call ...

[S1lverfox]

Age

My Tartan 27 is a 1969 Model so I assume the A4 was build in the 1966-1970 period. It's not an early model A4. Bob P.

[Carl-T705]

Anyone seen one of these, listed on Ebay now, http://r.ebay.com/Xh8IvH

[ILikeRust]

I've read about them and seen drawings, but I've never actually seen one. Very cool.