Here's the plan...

[rickinnj]

Hey all, long time no post.

I've been plagued all summer with niggling little problems on the engine.

She's late model and raw water cooled, got electronic ignition, electric fuel pump, and 95-100 psi compression. I pitched a belt in August on the way out of the South River and the engine died. When I say die, I mean like the ignition was turned off. The wind was favorable so I just sailed on figuring I'd worry about the engine later. A little later, the wind went away and I had to shift my attention to the engine and couldn't figure out why she wouldn't start after I got the spare belt installed. I was becalmed off of Herring Bay with some traffic chop making work below uncomfortable, so I packed it in and exercised my TowBoat insurance.

The next day, I found the primary ignition wire that the broken belt cut and replaced it. While I was at it, I disconnected and cleaned/replaced all terminations in the engine compartment, just because. I verified I had good spark at the plugs and buttoned her up

After I put everything away, I went to the controls and started her up. She cranked maybe two revolutions and fired right up! I was ecstatic and thought the job was done...then she died. I fired her right back up and figured it was normal cold-bloodedness.

Well, for the life of me, I couldn't get her to run for more than 30 seconds no matter what. What was confusing me was that I didn't have these issues before the pitched belt.

Fast forward through some fuel troubleshooting (I had already looked at the ignition earlier) to ensure good flow from the tank to the carb and a filter and Racor changeout, the engine would start and run indefinitely at idle. But, as soon as I came off idle, the engine died.

I thought maybe I had a big a$$ed rust flake intermittently clogging the exhaust, so I leaned over the manifold to remove the hot section for a look see. That's when I leaned too hard on the exhaust manifold raw water outlet nipple and snapped it off (There was no obstruction,BTW). I've tried to get the remainder of the nipple out of the manifold but with clearance restraints in the engine compartment, I've been unsuccessful.

I've gone from swapping out for a new A4, to a beta, to electric, back to a new A4 in my frustrated head. Now, I'm thinking that I will pull the engine out into the cabin for some Restoration work.

remove head and manifold
acid dip head and manifold.
valve inspection/adjustment/job as necessary
carb rebuild
open up water jacket cover and check for excessive corrosion build-up
replace rear engine seal(leaks slightly)
clean up engine compartment
put it all back together and hope that the next step isn't necessary.

Thoughts?