Hoisting the engine

[ILikeRust]

You didn't show us the oil pressure though.

Since you asked...

[ndutton]

Pretty complete mea culpa there Bill.

It sounds to me like you did everything right except for confusing the exhaust and intake valves when peering through the spark plug hole. It's funny how the smallest little thing can turn into a fiasco. Your experience here will have us all be a little more careful when we are in your shoes.

The smartest thing you did was step away when you knew you were fatigued.

[hanleyclifford]

Bill - Good to see your engine running and read your "after action" report. Is it not amazing how simple it always seems to be after the fact? No matter how many times I have done this drill I still do the same thing - get myself 180 out and cannot believe it. But then I have to believe it. BTW, whenever a crankshaft pin is to be covered it is a good idea to make a new marking on whatever attachment you have added so as to keep track of TDC. As you can see on my engine I also have mounted a pointer on the flywheel housing so TDC is always readable. Of course this does not protect you from being 180 out. It is easier to just move the plug wires on top of the distributor when this occurs. All the best, Hanley

[TomG]

BIll,

Many congratulations! Thanks for taking the time to document this rebuild so thoroughly and thanks also for your candid self-assessment of mistakes. I think we have all learned something and many of us have learned a lot from your chronicles.

Well done!

[sailhog]

This is a great thread.....

[ILikeRust]

It occurred to me Sunday night that one thing this whole experience has taught me is to immediately return a tool to its proper place immediately after using it.

My usual M.O. is to pull out a wrench, or socket, or screwdriver, or whatever, use it, and then lay it down wherever I happen to be working at that moment.

Then I turn around, go to the next step, and then two minutes later, when I turn around again and need that same wrench, it takes me ten minutes to find it - if I can find it at all.

I also found that individual sockets have a nasty habit of falling off whatever surface you place them on and rolling away to the most inaccessible, spider-web-choked, sawdust-filled spot that it can find underneath a workbench, toolbox or machine.

So my new routine is use the tool, put it right back in its spot in the drawer. Next time I need it, boom, there it is, in the drawer, where it's supposed to be.

I really need to get better at that. I also need to neaten up and organize my shop so that each tool has a designated spot. Right now, that's not the case - too much stuff just lying about on any available surface.

Another thing that is very worth-while are those little socket organizing strips. If you're looking for the 1/2-inch socket (the 1/2-inch and the 9/16, in that order, are the most used in overhauling the Atomic 4), it's right there on the little strip of sockets. If it's not, you'll know instantly. Just have to get in the habit of putting the socket back immediately after you use it.

[sastanley]

Bill..you got that right. I am terrible at it, and get frustrated with myself all the time. At least the boat is a smaller area for the tools to run & hide from me..

[jpian0923]

I have a great project for you Bill.

Make a list of all the tools needed for an A4 overhaul and post it here.

I bet you it makes it into the "tech tips" with a credit to you.

[ILikeRust]

- Vice grips
- Duct tape
- Coat hanger
- Hose clamps
- Goodly supply of cuss words
- Band-Aids
- Citrus hand cleaner (I've nearly used up a big bottle of the stuff)
- Several small fur-bearing mammals
- .30-caliber rifle cleaning kit
- Big wad of $100 bills

[jpian0923]

alot of duct tape

[ILikeRust]

What is this, the Red Green School of Atomic 4 Repair?

[ILikeRust]

So I fired up the engine again today, just because I could and also because I just wanted to hear it again.

Also, I figured I should do one last re-torque of the head bolts just to confirm. The Moyer Manual says to do it at least three times, and I had done it twice last time. This time, only two nuts needed maybe 1/4 turn before the torque wrench clicked. All the others clicked immediately without turning, so I'm going to declare the head good and torqued.

The other thing that I just remembered was that the manual says to re-check the valve tappet clearances after running for a while. So I guess maybe I should do that before dropping the engine back in the boat. It will be way, way easier to check the valve clearances with the engine on the stand in my shop, rather than in the engine box on the boat!

Yesterday, I applied the first coat of Bilgekote to the bilge and today I started fabbing a new battery box for the two house batteries. I also went back to working on the new engine bulkhead that I made a couple months ago. It's been sitting in the back of my shop gathering dust, while I was working on the engine. I coated all the pieces of the new bulkhead with clear penetrating epoxy sealer; next I'll paint them all, then assemble the whole thing. It's going to look so much better than the crappy old one that was in there.

I also roughed out a new table top for the dinette table. The old one is ugly - particleboard covered with brown, fake woodgrain plastic laminate, with an aluminum edging. It just screams 1968.

Yesterday I tore apart an old desk I had bought a few years ago - it was made entirely of solid wood - I think it's either "Danish" teak, or it might be angelique, but whatever it is, it's a very high-quality hardwood and planes beautifully. It's going to make a beautiful table top. And I'm going to use some of the other bits and pieces for various other small projects around the boat.

[sastanley]

Bill...great update..sounds like you have a good plan. Some pics of the table would be sweet.

[ILikeRust]

Inching closer to getting the engine back in the boat...

Went back up to the boat again today - another crazy hot day. This time, though, I brought along the cheap box fan I bought at WalMart yesterday and laid it down on the open forward hatch. It helped a lot - both to keep the heat inside the boat down and to move the paint fumes out. I was still sweating like a race horse, but not quite as profusely as last time.

I fit the new battery box that I fabbed up last week, and epoxied in a support for it. I also laid down two more coats of Bilgekote bilge paint, so that should pretty much be done, except for one or two small spots that need just a little more work.

I need to fix the attachment point for part of my centerboard pennant system. There is a spool hanging on the bulkhead above the engine, and the line goes down a copper tube next to the engine, then into an enclosed pulley that turns it about 70 degrees, then forward, under the cabin sole to another enclosed pulley that turns it down outside the hull, where it then attaches to the centerboard.

The first enclosed pulley is attached to a hunk of wood that *was* epoxied into the hull next to the engine beds. Looks like it let go some time ago, and someone (probably the prior owner, I'm guessing) stuck a couple screws through the fiberglass tab into the wood to try to hold it in place.

So next weekend, I'll go back up to the boat and install the prop shaft and stuffing box, and hopefully re-epoxy that wooden block for the centerboard pennant. Then I'll do the final bits of bilge painting that need to be done, and then she should be ready to receive the engine!

So the week after next, if all goes according to plan, I'll take a day off work (oh, I'm heartbroken about that) and head up there early. I'll have the yard fire up the crane and drop the engine back in, and then do some hooking back up of various connections. I'll probably have to finish the job the following weekend, but once the engine is in, I'll re-launch, despite the fact that there's no cabin sole and lots more interior woodworking, painting and varnishing to do. I figure I can do that in the slip at the marina - I want to stop paying this monthly yard fee and get her back in the water!

Even if the cabin is still a wreck, at least I can still day-sail her...

[Laker]

Rust -

I feel your centerboard pain , I dealt with similar issues prior to my recent launch.

It sounds as though you are rounding third base - stay the course.

Floating Laker.