Hoisting the engine

[ndutton]

IF you have a Motorola alternator, the yellow wire goes to the coil positive, the smaller red wire goes to the field terminal on the alternator as pictured, the black wire goes to the alternator ground terminal. Schematic pdf attached at the end.


photo credit - rigspelt


photo credit - sastanley

[jpian0923]

Bill, are you chasing wire through a copper pipe?

[ILikeRust]

Bill, are you chasing wire through a copper pipe?

No.

Are you referring to that copper pipe that sticks up at an angle to the left of the engine?

If so, that's for the centerboard pennant.

[jpian0923]

Good thing! Yes, that's what I was referring to.

[jpian0923]

Here is what I promised...days ago, I think.
This is just my opinion though.

[YOUTUBE]QxEWa9FTqxo[/YOUTUBE]

Mind you, this is one handed, holding the camera with the other. Two handed it's easier. ...I swear!

I know you will do what you want though. .. as you should.

Don't call me out on this, else, next West Coast Afourian Conference, I'll come get you!

[ILikeRust]

Oh, I have no problem with how I'll hold the bulkhead on - I plan on just using a few stainless machine screws with washers and T-nuts on the other side.

The issue for me is how to hang the heat exchanger and expansion bottle on the back of the bulkhead in a way that I can quickly and easily "unhang" them.

I've got some ideas.

But I'm still trying to decide how much I really want or need to make the bulkhead quickly and easily removable. There is enough access from above that I really shouldn't need to get the bulkhead off to do most things - I can add oil, suck the old oil out, get at the carb, get at the spark plugs and distributor, etc., without having to yank the bulkhead out of the way.

I'll give it some more thought and see what I can rig up for the HX and expansion bottle. Like I said, I've already got some ideas.

[ndutton]

Bill,

I seem to recall you commenting on the excellent engine access we Catalina 30 owners enjoy. Well, we have structure right in front of the flywheel that is fixed in place, not removable at all. Maybe making your bulkhead easily removable isn't all that necessary.

For mounting the exchanger and other things, consider the Unistrut system. It's a metal track (available in stainless) with a variety of devices that clamp into it. McMaster-Carr has it available in short lengths.

http://www.mcmaster.com/#strut-channel-systems/=e34ra1

[Kelly]

coolant hose nipple

Just a quick question, Neil...why did you need or want to use the coolant hose nipple just before your electric pump?

[ndutton]

All the hose lengths were perfect with my first heat exchanger. Unfortunately, that exchanger had insufficient capacity to do the job. The replacement two pass exchanger required a slightly different pump location so I needed to extend the hose to reach. It's a temporary situation, the next time I open up the cooling system I'll replace it with a single hose of the proper length.

Man, can't get away with anything around here.

[ILikeRust]

Man, can't get away with anything around here.

Well when you go posting pics, you know everyone is going to scrutinize them and look at all the stuff in the photo OTHER than what you want them to look at.

[ndutton]

It's all fair game Bill. I really have no problem with the scrutiny at all. In fact, I'm about as guilty as anyone when it comes to analyzing pictures.

[ILikeRust]

I shall keep that in mind and be more mindful of it in the future...

I do like the "crop" feature in my photo editor.

[Kelly]

Actually, when I post pictures of "my" engine, I just use photos of other people's installations and pawn them off as mine. I'm just too embarrassed!

OK, that's not true, but I do have a lot of stuff around the engine room that would not pass the collective muster. Most of it is on the "get to that soon" list but I've been chasing so many head scratchers that "soon" is long lost by now.

[ILikeRust]

Well today was "wiring day" aboard the S/V Grizabella. I use the "S/V" part in the technical sense, seeing as this vessel ain't been doin' a whole lot o' sailing for a long time...

Anyhow, made some good progress today - finished the last little bit of plumbing, so the "closed-loop" cooling system finally is, in fact, a "closed" loop.

Then I set about repeatedly contorting myself into and out of the aft quarterberths to run wires and connect them to teensy-tiny little screws on the backs of gauges.

The fun part was that pretty much every time I stuck my head back behind the bulkhead, I found another wire or two - or three - that was connected to NOTHING.

There are a hell of a lot of old abandoned wires in this boat that I will take great glee in pulling out. What a mess.

Anyhow, I did manage to get the ammeter, tachometer, new electric oil pressure gauge and new water temperature gauge all connected. I also hooked up the ignition key and start button, the fuel pump and the hi temp/low oil pressure alarm.

Despite the hazards inherent in posting pics to this forum (see above), here we go.

So here's a better shot of the back of the alternator:





I don't know if it's a Motorola - I didn't see anything on it, other than the sticker that says "Transpo" - I Googled the name and Transpo makes aftermarket alternators and regulators, so either the regulator, or the whole alternator, is a Transpo.

After a little more Googling, I determined that the regulator is a Transpo model made for Motorola alternators. I also found a site that shows the wiring for the regulator, so halleluja! It says the red wire connects to "Trio (+)" A little more digging and I think I've determined that it connects to a lug on the back end of the alternator, as Neil indicates. If that's where it goes, I dunno why the heck it needs to be so long, but whatever.

Continued...

[ILikeRust]

Whilst sorting out all of the crazy wiring in this boat, I also took a gander at the main wiring interchange for all the house systems:



I am concluding that the big bus bar at the bottom, with all the white wires attached to it, is the ground.

While I was digging in there, I noticed this lovely little wire:





I have not yet traced it, so I don't know what it goes to (if anything - given what I found today, it seems there are about even odds that it's not connected to anything anymore). Either way, it's obviously got to go. If it's something still in use, I'll run new wires to replace it; if it's not in use, I will again gleefully yank it out and throw it overboard! (Remember, the boat is still on the hard, so "overboard" means it just lands on the ground next to the boat, and at the end of the day I pick up all my trash).

So - good progress made today, but still plenty to get done before firing her up, though. My plan is to go up to the boat next Saturday, work all day long and, if necessary, stay overnight on the boat to finish up whatever is left over the next day and finally fire the engine up. Then I'll take a day off during that week to put her back in the water.

I am hoping to be able to participate in a group trip scheduled for Oct. 12 - 16. Several guys on 3 or 4 boats are going to sail across the Chesapeake, from Deltaville to Onancock, stay overnight, then sail up to Crisfield, MD, stay overnight, then cross back over and stay either in Mill Creek or Antipoison Creek, and then return to their home ports. Sounds like a great trip, and I'm hoping I can have the boat functional enough to join them!