First Overhaul (so far)

[MarkH]

Greetings Afourians!
I have been a long time subscriber and you all have helped on countless occasions with various issues to great success. I am now moving into uncharted waters... Here is the story:
I have a 1980 Catalina 30 Hull #1776, Freedom. She has a well maintained but never overhauled A4. My plan is to re-power with a museum quality restored A4.

A couple of years ago, my slip neighbor with a 70s era Pearson 28 decided to repower with an outboard after his A4 "made a fantastic clanking noise". I was able to purchase this A4 for $400, with all accessories...a candidate for overhaul. It now sits on a dolly in my garage.

About a year ago another friend purchased a 1975 Pearson 30 that had taken on considerable water in the slip. When he purchased the boat, the A4 was removed and had an outboard mounted astern. He repowered with electric (very nice solution). But, I was able to trade conversation and some rum for the A4, which sat covered outside for a few years before I claimed it.

The plan: I want to end up with 2 museum quality restored A4s out of this project. One to re-power Freedom and another to keep on the shelf for a yet to be determined purpose.

The work begins now.

[sastanley]

Mark Good luck!

Take some pics and post them up as you progress. Let's hope that the spectacular noise is a bad rod bearing that has not scored the crankshaft.

[MarkH]

The Free A4

OK folks here we go...
The “Free” A4
The first step in this evolution is to dig into the “free” motor. The plan is to completely disassemble the unit and determine what can be salvaged and used to create a completely refurbished A4.
Exhaust Manifold:
When the boat from which this motor was salvaged was re-claimed, the boat had been partially submerged in the slip. In looking at the motor, it does not look like water got into the crank case or pan, but as I was told, the motor was found with the exhaust manifold removed and some head studs removed. Evidence that there may have been an issue with the motor and someone was attempting repair with the motor in the boat.
When I removed the exhaust manifold, I found one of the manifold studs in a strange condition. It looks like the bolt was frozen and the “mechanic” muscled it off, taking with it a chunk out of the block. Here are the photos.

Questions on this: Assuming that I can get the stud out of the manifold, can a machine shop effect a suitable repair to the block where the stud is secured? Has anyone seen this before? Is this from some previous repair? Could it be a result of damage from extreme overheating? Or as a result of extreme corrosion from rust…there was plenty of that!

[lat 64]

Ok, That's a new one to me.(that's not saying much)
Could be it got over-torqued. I think really only a good machine shop can answer your question as they will be the ones doing the work. I looks beyond a heli-coil job and if you could weld or braze up that hole , you'd already know the answer to your question.

Also, don't rule out freeze cracking if that stud hole goes into water. Come to think, that's now my best guess. Have the entire block magnafluxed.

Anything can be repaired, it's just, how much are you willing to spend verses new.

Cheers,

Russ

[sdemore]

Congratulations on your endeavor Mark!

I am about two weeks ahead of you, having just started my first A4 rebuild. I had the disadvantage of my engine being disassembled already and stuffed into recycle bins. These guys have been fantastic at answering questions and assisting with my lack of A4 experience. I have all of the major parts back together, with the last things either being ordered tonight. I'm hoping to turn the key in two or three weeks.

Enjoy, relax, and prepare to learn new things!

Steve

[MarkH]

Manifold update

Thanks Lat64,
I have since ground down the damaged side of the manifold flush with the mating surface and have a clean perimeter of the stud, now flush with the mating surface. Not in a hurry to get that manifold restored, so I will work on it in down time from other stuff. Probably will squirt the stud with PB daily and tap-tap-tap for a while before sicking the stud remover on it.

Now waiting on my spring compressor to come in the mail.
Will post head removal pics next...that was fun. Just like everyone said it would be...

[MarkH]

Head Removal

All the stories about removing an A4 head were to me just that…stories, until I did the job myself. I first attempted to remove the studs first. After using my stud removal tool on a few of these with some success and a few failures. I went to the tap, tap, tap, nudge, nudge process. I used large washers to maintain any progress under the head made as I moved along. And eventually… I was able to remove the head.

Notes: I purchased a stud remover from my local auto parts house (NAPA). It was about $35 and it works like the snap-on one… it chucks-up the stud like a drill and allows it to be backed-out. No luck with this really until after the head was removed, then they came out easily. Also, I modified a sacrificial screwdriver, grinding it down to a very gradual slope and rounding the end to be used to help separate the head. This worked great. However, the best tool used in this effort was a gasket scraper, pictured here. Wow, this thing is fantastic. Biggest issue was the remaining thermostat stud. It was the final resistance to ultimate removal of the head.

[MarkH]

Head Removal II

Here is what I found when the head came off… Most of the gunk is from BP Blaster and the chunks are gasket material. On the left is the block right after the head was removed. Notice the broken valve. On the right is the head after about 30 minutes of clean up with a wire brush.


Note: The broken exhaust valve is likely the reason that the motor was not working previously and led to the desire to repair the motor on the boat, prior to its removal. I believe this to have happened prior to my pounding and prying on the head because the valve seat looks like a squirrel chewed on it. This probably from the valve slamming around in its seat with the engine running. More on this later in my next post on the water jacket.

[MarkH]

Broken Valve

Just for kicks, here is a close up of the #1 exhaust valve seat.

[MarkH]

Water Jacket Cover Plate

Looking at the water jacket plate, there was some major pitting on the surface. Before removing, I picked at it a bit with a screwdriver and it opened up like a sink hole. When I removed the water jacket plate, I found a real surprise. The jacket was completely filled with rust. The rust was completely flush with the plate opening. I was able to clean out this pretty well, will let a machine shop work on it during magna-flux and clean up.

Questions: Well, I have another good cover plate, no issue there. Looks like I will need the Moyer Stud fix (x4) if I plan to use this block. Wondering how best to remove the broken studs…

Note: The inspection of the water jacket and status – completely filled with rust. Seems at this point to be a contributing factor to the broken valve that I found when I removed the head. It makes sense that the motor would have run extremely hot, with little or no water circulation. Overheating is likely what led to the broken valve (at least at this point). I will know more when I get to the bottom end.

[MarkH]

Broken Valve

Note: The broken exhaust valve is likely the reason that the motor was not working previously and led to the desire to repair the motor on the boat, prior to its removal. I believe this to have happened prior to my pounding and prying on the head because the valve seat looks like a squirrel chewed on it. This probably from the valve slamming around in its seat with the engine running. More on this later in my next post on the water jacket.

OK, after spending some time studying the top of the head over lunch while I wait for my valve spring tool to arrive, I have decided that it is very possible, in fact likely that I did break that exhaust valve when removing the head... It is #1 that is broken and it was definitely in the open position. So, it remains a possibility and I will own it.

[Al Schober]

Mark,
My opinion is that engine ran for a while with the bad valve - that seat is really chewed up. BTW, that valve is an exhaust valve - the bigger ones are intake. But not to despair - a machine shop should be able to restore that seat. Might mean installing an insert, but that's not a big deal. Last block I had done, all 4 exhaust seats needed inserts - no extra charge from the shop. They just did it.
I recommend the stainless side plate from our host - won't corrode and it's pretty. Definitely do the studs for the side plate (no more leaks in that area). I did brass studs and stainless nuts which are OK for a glycol cooled engine. If you're raw water, go for stainless studs and brass nuts.

[Tim]

I had the machine shop remove the broken studs when I rebuilt my A4.

[sastanley]

I agree with Al...I don't think you need the stud repair, just the stud kit... The block side looks great, and the motor seems to be cleaning up pretty well.

I did the opposite of Al (SS studs and brass washers & nuts), but my engine was RWC at the time I did that. The forum discussion at the time was to allow the nuts/washers to be almost like sacrificial anodes to keep the block/studs/sideplate from degrading any further in a RWC'd environment. If the nuts corroded they should crumble off and be easily replaced. Now it is FWC, but the side plate is working just fine in that configuration. I also added a zinc in the block at the forward 1/8" NPT drain hole, which may have helped. For your motor, I'd do SS everything.

One more note while we are here..Pay special attention to the lower inside aft side plate hole (lined up with cyl #3)..in stock configuration this hole takes the entire load of the alternator belt and (in my case) elongated the hole. The P.O. installed an oversized bolt to 'fix' the problem..which reduces gasket mating surfaces, and eventual failure of the block at that hole...then you are getting into stud repair kits. I highly recommend the upgraded bracket (& maybe even the tensioner kit) from MMI when you are re-assembling. The new bracket spreads the load across the plate and uses two bolt holes for support. This is presently being discussed in another active thread.

[MarkH]

Valve Removal

Valve Removal (completed 3/2/17)
OK, I received the valve spring compressor tool! This was pretty straight forward and is covered very well in Don’s Overhaul Manual. My issue is that the engine will not turn at this point, so getting the valves out of #1 and #3 was a challenge, given their “frozen” position. Overall, the project went pretty smoothly. The #1 exhaust valve (broken) was the only one that took lots of negotiation to get out.
Pretty simple steps illustrated below:
1. Compress the spring – using the compression tool, this is pretty easy. I put one end on the spring seat and one end on the valve. This seemed to work best.
2. Remove the keepers – removed some with my fingers, some had to be jiggled around to get out, on those valves that were in the open position.
3. Remove the valve – some took negotiation, others pulled right out.
4. Remove the valve spring – I used a large screw driver and just slipped each spring out.
5. Organize! – I took a scrap piece of cardboard and drew a grid to lay out everything. I will clean and bag these parts for identification and later use.