How many engines do you own?

[2dogsfishin]

3 blocks +

I have 3 rebuildable blocks, 1 block to show what some folks will try, about 10 oil pans, 8 crankshafts, several cams, 2 heads, 2 manifolds, a bunch of alternators, starters and other stuff. Also a Palmer P-60, DD 3-53 and 3 100HP John-rudes.
Seven boats, none with an A4, but am saving one A4 to put in an Atkins skiff I want to build when I sell some of this stuff.
Please don't ask why I have 7 boats as I have to tell my wife this daily
I did not plan on working this hard at age 72, just want to go fishing, sailing or just cruise the bayou and check out the bikinis.
Tom

[Jesse Delanoy]

One at present. I have owned three in my life (if you include one on a boat technically owned by my dad many years ago).

[Carl-T705]

I have three running engines, plus three complete engines not running. 1965, 1967, 1971,2-1977s, 1979.

[Al Schober]

I voted two, but the one in the boat is current waiting for it's carb to come back from the cleaners. It will be running tomorrow - the carb is out on the table saw waiting for the paint to cure.
The engine in the basement is a spare - just in case the one in the boat develops a more serious issue than a dirty carb.
Early this season, I had a clogged main jet issue - would only run with the choke out. Cleared the jet by screwing in/out the adjustable needle (highly recommended)- back in business. Installed a new inline filter before the pump (Racor 120R-RAC-02, the 320 wouldn't fit) and a new B&S can between the pump and the carb. All was good until it clogged again - of course, I hadn't cleaned out the float bowl! Drained the float bowl and got quite a bit of crud, but brought it home for a good cleaning (and a paint job).
One of these days perhaps I'll get around to electronic ignition...

[msauntry]

Fair's fair.... How many does Moyer Marine have?

[sastanley]

Micah, excellent question!!!!!????

[Mo]

Fair's fair.... How many does Moyer Marine have?

I say as many as they will need. There is not a part that can't be had at this point. I have one question though. Are the new blocks being produced as good as the originals casted by Universal? Do they have the same metallurgical content?

I know one thing is for certain. A well maintained and used A4 is as dependable as walking out and starting you car in the driveway. Heating issues continue to arise and I think perhaps some thinking outside the box might be done on that.

Overall, I would take one over a light duty diesel due to their endurance factors...it stops when it runs out of gas when marginally maintained. The major draw back is fuel tank range.

There are allot of diesel engines around here that needed major work again this year and they cannot take fouled fuel or overheating at all...shut down is occurring and repairs are major expensive...

So far this year I advise about 10 people who loved a boat to buy it despite it having an A4...the only reason they were going to continue looking. The A4 is not a liability, range might be, but for the rest of it the A4 will perform as well and outlast the lightly built diesels. Diesels need to be big and heavy and there are not many family sized sailboats that have the room to put in a comfortable size one....marketing sets them up with inferior products. That said, I'd consider a Beta Marine 30 hp in mine...nothing less.

It is beyond me why someone hasn't designed and built a fuel injected inboard gas engine for a sailboat. Problem is that these days they want to make everything disposable....the A4 was never made disposable.

[ndutton]

It is beyond me why someone hasn't designed and built a fuel injected inboard gas engine for a sailboat.

It's because there's no market. The diesel snobs won the public relations war decades ago. Universal realized it in the early 80's.

"You insert the key, give it a turn and . . . BOOM!" They actually believe that tripe and have paid handsomely because of a false belief. Hallelujah brother!!

All of which is our good fortune. Our aged used boats are usually around $5K cheaper than their smelly sisters, they are cheaper to maintain, they are quieter and our engines are more powerful pound for pound. And don't forget the best benefit of all. If Universal continued manufacturing A-4's would there be an MMI?

I solved the range issue. My boat came with a 12 gallon tank. It still has the twelve but I added a 25 gallon tank for 37 gallons total. That's 200 - 250 NM one way totally under power if necessary. Looking at it another way, I could run the engine an hour a day for battery recharging for 49 days. It's 25 days +/- from here to Hawaii.

[romantic comedy]

Neil, I think t hat the Atomic Four was looked at as being disposable, by the sailboat manufacturers.

I have a bill of materials for my 74 Tartan 34. It cost $29,000, and the engine cost $654.00. This engine was just thrown into many boats. I think it was looked at as just a fast cheap way to sole the problem of mechanical propulsion.

I wonder what the ratio of boat cost to engine cost is now days.

[ndutton]

That may be true in some cases but the Catalina 30 interior was originally designed around the Atomic 4. That's why Catalina had so much trouble finding a powerful enough diesel that would fit the limited space when sales trends dictated diesels.

[Mo]

Neil, I think t hat the Atomic Four was looked at as being disposable, by the sailboat manufacturers.

I have a bill of materials for my 74 Tartan 34. It cost $29,000, and the engine cost $654.00. This engine was just thrown into many boats. I think it was looked at as just a fast cheap way to sole the problem of mechanical propulsion.

I wonder what the ratio of boat cost to engine cost is now days.

350 chev engine new from GM was under $1000; I bought a brand new Target 350 in 1983 for $1200. I think all engines were relatively cheap at the time.

The new boat market today for the casual sailor is generally running in the $100,000 to 250,000 range. I think the engines run the $10,000 to $30,000 dollar range for these boats, including wiring and shaft alignment. In the end it's still a significant percentage of the price.

[67c&ccorv]

Is the question "how many A4 engines do you have"...or "how many boat engines do you have?"

[romantic comedy]

This thread keeps coming up as having a new comment. I dont know why so I will post in hopes it will correct the situation.

Atomic fours- 3
inboard boat engines, not including the Atomic Fours-0
out board engines-6

[Marian Claire]

RC: I have always assumed that each time a vote is cast, even without a comment, the thread gets bumped. Bill???
Dan S/V Marian Claire

[romantic comedy]

Good thinking MC, or is it R2D2.