old boat..new owner..needs tlc..might as well start a thread about it and its A4

[s/v Dearbhail]

your fuel

Shawn, I'm amazed the engine ran with that much water in your fuel. It seriously has me wondering what is inside your fuel tank.

[sastanley]

Hopefully, that was just what had accumulated in the bowl of the pump. I brought it home and that is what dumped out when I actuated the pump lever on the workbench.

I just (yesterday) installed a Racor filter with water separator to avoid this problem in the future. I too, have no real idea except from the reports by the P.O. as to what is in the tank. He reports filling it at the end of each season and adding a fuel stabilizer. That is what I did this year, in addition to a quart of MMO to lube things up! She was running just a little bit smokey before hauling, so I'll skip the MMO in the tank for a while to get the ratio down.

Maybe I'll pump some fuel into a container so I can investigate further. I also installed a primer bulb for the fuel filter, so I can get some fuel out of the line if I want to.

Man, I can't wait until spring already!

[CalebD]

Not to add to your list of chores...

But that thermostat housing is due to be replaced. I will try to get some pictures of my engine as I need to do some work this winter but I have already upgraded the thermostat housing to the new Moyer kit with the spacer so the cheaper thermostat can be used that does not cost $100+.
You also want to be able to open up the thermostat housing to do the winter cooling system flush(es) which require removing the thermostat and allowing the cooling water to get into the block etc. You also want the 'T' fitting in the cooling water intake line as already mentioned.
That said, you have really taken the bull by the horns and done a lot more to your engine then I have over 6 years. I need to take off and clean the carb as you have already done and investigate the fuel pump as we seem to have a fairly unsafe gas leak in the cabin.
You are an inspiration to me so keep posting your findings and your progress.
Thanks.

[sastanley]

The thermostat housing looks pretty rough on the outside, and right now I have it soaking in some vinegar and/or the parts cleaner tub to see where we end up. The thermostat itself looks ok, and I do not seem to have any trouble with cooling, as it functioned well for the few hours I was running it this fall. But, I also have no backup plan, except to remove the thermostat if it failed, as I can't see the need to spend $100+ for a spare thermostat to sit in a drawer. As a general rule, this will probably work since we cruise in the Chesapeake and the water is 75-80 degrees most of the time, so running it without a thermostat if it failed would be OK.

I'll keep plugging away at it...thanks for the words of encouragement...it is easy to get bogged down and overloaded in the details and forget the big picture that working on boats is supposed to be fun!

[s/v Dearbhail]

thermostat

I can post a picture of my ate up housing to show you how bad they can be when I'm home from work. I replaced mine back in May.

Your thermostat is probably ok though. Try cleaning it up then testing it in a pan cooking on the stove top. It always makes my wife happy when I take over her stove.

[sastanley]

Hi Mark,
I have more hard black gunk on my housing than green...most of the green seemed contained around the water pump, but the physical condition of the thermostat housings seem similar. You did seem to have a fair bit of corrosion in that old piece.

I am also a little worried about the top half of the fuel pump. I see that (of course) a replacement is available from MMI if I need one of those as well.

I need to do a little scrubbing and scraping and cleaning to see if it is surface problems or if they go deeper into the pieces. I am a little tied up with other projects (not boat related) for the next few days, so these things will have to wait a bit.

[sastanley]

busted block drain

Well, I decided to take a little time and go to the boat today, in anticipation of tomorrow's forecasted snow. I am working on finishing up the exhaust replacement, and also new cooling hoses everywhere.

I pulled the alternator so i could get to the 1/2" hose behind it for replacement. While I did this I fiddled with the block drain nearby. I seem to recall that it had been 'repaired', so I investigated. It turned a few turns and came off. The block looks nasty here...can I run a tap in to clean it up and put in a new nipple?

This will also be a good time to get my brush out and get some old scale and rust off the engine.

here's a pic of my new exhaust flange and hot section! Don't mind the muffler location. I had it backwards anyway when laying this up...the same length of hose that was there before will still fit when I spun it around.

[sastanley]

more parts! - water jacket side plate

Well, I can't leave well enough alone, so rigspelt & some of you other fine gentlemen convinced me to yank my side plate off and have a look-see.

As someone else noted, it smells like Chesapeake mud, with some sediment and stuff hanging out in the back half of the engine, but overall not too bad.

I am not usually on the beneficial side of luck, but yesterday was OK. All of my bolts came out without breaking!!! - however, the P.O. did 'upgrade' the alternator bracket bolt with a slightly larger, probably 3/8"?? bolt. What I also found inside is no diverter cap, and a nice 1/4" thick collection of stuff on the side plate, so I guess it is just randomly squirting along in there. I do not recall overheating problems with the engine, but I've also only put a few hours on it myself. Just need to clean it up and wait for the gasket & other parts to show up. This also gives me the excuse to clean this side of the engine up..it was especially nasty with scaling metal and leaky water deposits from oversized hoses and loose clamps around the water pump, & possibly a slight leak out of the side plate..can't be positive though. Hopefully, this will solve it.

So, I had a great conversation with Ken today, and decided to add the grade 8 bolts, a diverter cap, and also the bypass valve, since the real reason I got to the sideplate was to replace the hoses.

Yay! and only half a boat buck too!

[sastanley]

paint!

While it was warm this week, I painted. Need more orange paint!!!
Here are some pics. I started a separate thread -->here<-- about the thermo housing..i think from my research and the pics others have posted in this thread it may be no good. The thermostat itself works just fine in a pot of water, but there is no longer a good seal in the top of the housing from corrosion, and I think there should be.

[rigspelt]

Great colour!

Shawn - that's an awesome colour, to borrow an enthusiastic adjective from my teenage kids. I would have gone for that if I could have found it. Which paint is it?

I'm trying to find some posts in the archive that I read a few months ago regarding how to judge the thermostat housing condition. Will post over there if I do.

[ne57301]

Ditto that question!

Shawn - that's an awesome colour, to borrow an enthusiastic adjective from my teenage kids. I would have gone for that if I could have found it. Which paint is it?

I'm trying to find some posts in the archive that I read a few months ago regarding how to judge the thermostat housing condition. Will post over there if I do.

What paint is that!!?!

Everything is beautiful! Nice work.

[sastanley]

Duplicolor

Duplicolor "Orange Mist" - it was the closest I could find, except it only comes in the little cans. I am having the local Advance Auto get me three more cans.

[sastanley]

mmmm....orange mist

OK, My local Advance Auto got me three more cans of "Orange Mist" Duplicolor.
That should be enough to finish the 'accessories', and a good coat on the motor, once I scrape all the sludge & rusty parts off. If not, it is about $5/can, so I just get some more.

It is just a smidge brighter than the standard Universal orange that if I actually get the motor back together and running, it should look pretty good!

Rigsy, I have a 17 year old daughter, so I speak teenage really well myself

I am especially proud of the fuel pump I've cleaned up from ne57301 that showed up already in pristine condition- Thanks stickboy!!

[rigspelt]

Masking engine bits with tin foil

Just before I started painting the engine, I read about using bits of tin foil to mask little awkward engine bits that are hard to tape off. It worked great. Things like bolt threads, intakes, odd-shaped items.

[sastanley]

Thanks rigs. I'll keep that in mind.

Today looked like the best day for about the next 5 so I took the afternoon off to do some boat work.

I completed the exhaust today, since my fiberglass elbow arrived from Centex yesterday. I decided to pull the hose back out from behind the icebox, and double wrap it in 'header tape' since I have 50 feet of it..this is the same tape I'll use for the hot section of the exhaust..I only needed about 15 feet to do the icebox area, and was able to get it back in behind the icebox with my inspection port I cut in behind the stove...a common theme among the Catalina 30 crowd. Hopefully, this will work out OK and help keep the hose cool near the icebox!!

One of the other issues I discovered today is the threads on the aft block drain (near the accessory drive) are shot! No good...no threads left. I am hoping JB Weld will solve this problem with my new drain tube. Any better ideas?