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Old 05-28-2018, 11:48 PM
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wristwister wristwister is offline
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So ... I can now tie a nice bow around this whole saga. Just got back from our California road trip where I spent most of the week removing my daughters old engine and installing the new engine. Everything ended up great, her Tartan now has a sweet, fresh A4 that will hopefully carry the boat for the next 42 years.

But ... it certainly didn't start that way. On Day 1 I attempted to remove the old engine, however the prop shaft flange and engine flange were so fused together I couldn't even find the dividing line between the two, just one big blob of metal. The 3 bolts were basically mummified blobs that no wrench in the world could grip. And access to that coupling is very difficult in the Tartan 30. On Day 1, I decided there was no way that coupling was coming apart, so I worked all day on disassembling the reversing gear and housing, thinking I might be able to just leave it fused together while I bolt the tranny to the new motor (which I needed to do anyway). No dice, there was no way I could move the rest of the engine forward and up enough to do that. So I went home, very depressed. I couldn't handle the idea of letting my little girl down. I was a wreck that night.

Then on Day 2 I said "phuggit, violence is the answer". I sawz-all'd and grinded the 3 bolt-like blobs away, and went to town with the hammer, chisel and PB Blaster. It took ample cussing, a little blood, and all day, but finally a crack between the couplings developed. More beating, cussing and blood and I finally got the 2 halves apart. Then the challenge was getting the bolt stubs out of the engine coupling, but my stud extractor and more PB Blaster final got that done.

Installing the new engine then went smoothly. I enlisted the help of a couple strapping young lads to winch the motor into the cabin using the boom, then forward into position (in the T30 the engine is up against the mast). I labeled everything so hookup was a snap. First touch of the key and she fired right up and sounded lovely. The week culminated with my daughter and I taking the old tub out for a couple sails on the bay.

So that's it, DONE. If anyone's interested in the whole story, I put together a detailed journal covering every part of the rebuild, PM me and I'll send it to you.
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