New Guy with A-4 Issues

[Dan.Sev]

Thanks! Yeah I guess having a big tank is a pretty good idea, especially out here in Hawaii. The wind here likes to do what it wants sometimes, lol.
I'm working on her when I can, I want to get it done quick so I can get her back out on the water, but not too quick so that I miss something. The other thing is that I have a ton of cleaning, painting, and rewiring to do before I put the engine back in. I want to try to knock that out while I am waiting on parts. In the end its going to be worth it though so Ill keep chugging away.

[sastanley]

Dan, I am on my 5th or 6th season of "re-build". Since the motor is out, knock out what you can related to that, but remember that you can work on the rest of the boat as time allows. The rule with me & the Admiral is, "I might want to go cruising next weekend so don't tear the boat apart too much."

Roger, love!

[lat 64]

confessions of a class trip chaperone

So, we established a beachead on the far side of the flight line in the bungalows by the airstrip. Even the marines left as we emptied three minivans full of pale middle schoolers from the frozen wastes of Alaska. No one was safe. We took Kaneohe Bay MCBH and made it ours for a week. After a few days the big bungalow for the boys was a sand-filled boy storm with socks and dirty underwear everywhere. We sent patrols out every day to forage and terrorize the ice cream shops. In the end, sunburned and weary, we decamped and left a scorched earth and looked for easier pickings down the chain of islands.

You guys were great hosts by the way. Big thanks!

Russ

[kta]

Thanks! Yeah I guess having a big tank is a pretty good idea, especially out here in Hawaii. The wind here likes to do what it wants sometimes, lol.
I'm working on her when I can, I want to get it done quick so I can get her back out on the water, but not too quick so that I miss something. The other thing is that I have a ton of cleaning, painting, and rewiring to do before I put the engine back in. I want to try to knock that out while I am waiting on parts. In the end its going to be worth it though so Ill keep chugging away.

I suppose the tank does look a little large in the photos. There's not too much space to work down inside the lockers!

Did you have to cut the front of the galley up at all? Or were you able to pull it apart without damaging anything?

My A4 is coming out in the next couple weeks as well. Although I'm not sure if I'll be doing a rebuild as of yet.

Cheers

[Dan.Sev]

I suppose the tank does look a little large in the photos. There's not too much space to work down inside the lockers!

Did you have to cut the front of the galley up at all? Or were you able to pull it apart without damaging anything?

My A4 is coming out in the next couple weeks as well. Although I'm not sure if I'll be doing a rebuild as of yet.

Cheers

I have enough room to get around and work down there; it is a little cramped though. I purposely only secured the tank with straps so if I needed to I could just un-strap it and push it over. As far as the galley, I may have enjoyed my sawsall a little too much. So I did do some cutting but I checked with a friend who is a carpender before I cut too much. Wanted to make sure I could easily repair what ever I cut up.

[Dan.Sev]

So, we established a beachead on the far side of the flight line in the bungalows by the airstrip. Even the marines left as we emptied three minivans full of pale middle schoolers from the frozen wastes of Alaska. No one was safe. We took Kaneohe Bay MCBH and made it ours for a week. After a few days the big bungalow for the boys was a sand-filled boy storm with socks and dirty underwear everywhere. We sent patrols out every day to forage and terrorize the ice cream shops. In the end, sunburned and weary, we decamped and left a scorched earth and looked for easier pickings down the chain of islands.

You guys were great hosts by the way. Big thanks!

Russ

Hey Russ,
You picked the right trip to chaperone for sure! The base here is beautiful and has some awesome beaches.

[Dan.Sev]

Problem found!

Well, I've found the problem....

[Dan.Sev]

I just dropped the block off at the machine shop. I think I am going to have them cook the block and oil pan to get all the corrosion and paint off. Does anyone have experience with this? After talking to the shop, they recommended that the cylinders be bored .20 larger. The #2 piston has some play in the cylinder, probably wear from years of having a bad bearing. They also said i should probably replace the valve sleeves(?). They are going to clean up and inspect the crank, I'm hoping that I don't have to replace it too.

[edwardc]

Isn't it amazing what these tough little engines will put up with and still run?

That having been said, its a good thing you stopped using it and tore into it to find the problem before the rod broke and the problem got a lot more severe!

[dvd]

Cal 2-27

Once you get that boat sailing again I think you will find that the Cal 2-27 will be much tougher for the rough ocean than the Catalina 27. (no slight against the Catalina 27 as they are nice boats as well) I have owned many Cal boats and find them to be extremely strong. I had a Cal 25 a Cal 27 pop top (a little different than yours) and I now have a Cal 3-30. I have enjoyed them all and found them to be well made and pretty fast boats able to withstand anything you've got the guts to go out in.

Good luck with the engine rebuild and good sailing.

DVD

[romantic comedy]

Dan, that is amazing. I have never seen a split piston.

Even my wife was amazed.

[sastanley]

I just dropped the block off at the machine shop. I think I am going to have them cook the block and oil pan to get all the corrosion and paint off. Does anyone have experience with this? After talking to the shop, they recommended that the cylinders be bored .20 larger. The #2 piston has some play in the cylinder, probably wear from years of having a bad bearing. They also said i should probably replace the valve sleeves(?). They are going to clean up and inspect the crank, I'm hoping that I don't have to replace it too.

Dan, This is when I would get on the horn with Ken in parts, or Don Moyer directly, and see what they recommend. I am sure Admin Bill can point them to your pictures to help figure out a course of action.

-Shawn

[Dan.Sev]

Well I'm back! Its been a long 3 months. I had some issues with a machine shop which held up progress. Found a hole in the head and in 2 cylinder walls. Got a new head, crankshaft, and pistons, new rod and main bearings, and had the block cleaned up and re-sleeved. Well now I'm putting it all back together, and I may of ran into a snag. The MMI manual says that once all the pistons are in the crank should be able to be turned by hand, I have to use a wrench on the flywheel side to turn it. The arrows on the pistons face toward the transmission and the numbers on the rods face the cam-shaft. Could this be normal due to all the new parts or is something wrong?

[ILikeRust]

"Turned by hand" using the hand crank. Not just by grabbing the end of the crankshaft and twisting, like a doorknob.

As long as you can use the hand crank, or a wrench (unless the wrench is a massive, 4-foot long one or something) to turn the engine over by hand, I'm thinking you're probably good.

When I tore mine apart and put it back together, one thing I did wrong at first was to install the connecting rod caps backwards. I discovered this immediately because when I put the second one on, I suddenly could not turn the crank over by hand with the hand crank. Once I figured out my error, I pulled the two off, turned them around, then tried again, and I could turn it over by hand. Then I kept checking each time I put another one on. It takes some force to do it - it doesn't just spin over easily - but you should be able to turn the crankshaft using your hand pressure on a hand crank or wrench.

[Dan.Sev]

Ha! Ok that makes a lot more sense. Thanks a lot! Time to put the values back in then.