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Old 01-25-2018, 03:28 PM
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Launchpad McQ Launchpad McQ is offline
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Quote:
Obviously I was not as aware as Peter that this was a 5 year old saga so I'll stop making suggestions and enjoy the story.
I hope you'll keep the suggestions coming Neil (and everyone else), even if it's for things I've already done. That's exactly what I'm hoping to accomplish with this thread. To provide an informative and entertaining story of my journey from absolutely zero knowledge of boats/Atomic 4s to having a seaworthy, safe boat powered by a running, reliable Atomic 4. Along the way I seem to have hit every pothole in the road when it comes to this engine and I want others to benefit from my saga. Once I get the posts caught up to present day, there will still be plenty of fresh questions to bounce off the group in order to complete the rebuild.

Quote:
Dang, I missed that too. I was thinking Launchpad and I would be rebuilding A4's together here. Oh well, I get to read on and learn from his amusing mistakes!
We may very well be at the exact same point in the process wristwister. I'm still rebuilding too, it just took me a looooong time to come to the realization that I needed to perform a complete teardown. In the meantime, I attempted every band-aid, half-measure repair that I could to avoid removing the engine from the boat with varying degrees of success. My problems weren't as obvious as a golf-ball sized hole in the block but ultimately I may end up needing a new block as well. We'll see.

As for my amusing mistakes, buckle up because I've only scratched the surface of sharing my screw ups. From here on out they only get more significantly idiotic, hapless, and avoidable. If by the end of this process you're not totally convinced of the fact that I have no business owning a boat, or even a car for that matter, I'll be shocked. There's a reason I chose Launchpad McQuack from the '80's cartoon "Duck Tales" as my avatar. I felt the overconfident, clueless-but-likeable character from that cartoon who despite the odds always managed to save the day, matched up pretty well with my M.O. when it comes to boats. That being said, people (usually my generation or younger) frequently ask "How did you learn to__?(fill in the blank) and my answer is always the same: “Any way I can.” Whether it's fixing internal combustion engines, rewiring a house, or climbing 14,000' mountains, there seems to be this new prevailing notion that you either acquired the knowledge from a wise Grandpa during childhood otherwise you're destined to tolerate inoperative engines, broken light switches, and an indoor lifestyle. It's ludicrous. Anything that I've truly learned, I've done so by trial and error. But mostly error. My grandparents all passed away when I was young so there wasn't much opportunity to impart any wisdom. And my Dad? Hahaha! Oh man. Let's just say he's the least mechanically-inclined person you've ever met. When I was a kid, he blew up a 1985 Toyota Tercel because he ran it out of oil. It's a good thing my Dad never tried to help me build an Estes model rocket because if he did, I would've ended up with 3rd degree burns and he would've lost an eye. Seriously. It's the same thing I tell my 74 year old mom when it comes to learning how to use a smartphone. Learn by doing. Or in the words of Sir Richard Branson, "Screw it lets do it!" I have a willingness to learn, some tools, a tolerant-if-not-supportive wife, beer in the fridge for when things go wrong, beer in the fridge for when things go right, and I refuse to quit. I don't need anything else to win.
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Last edited by Launchpad McQ; 01-26-2018 at 03:57 PM.
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