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So...
A few days ago, out of the blue, I get a PM from the forum member known as "H3LlIoN", who hasn't been posting much for a while. He lives down in Williamsburg, VA, only one hour from me here in Richmond.
He writes:
Now, at that first sentence, I'm thinking, "hmm.. I wonder what kind of "random A4 stuff" he's got. So I read on to the next sentence.
Uh... ok, so "random A4 stuff" basically is "entire engine plus a couple spare parts"
Then he gave a couple sentences explaining that the engine had come out of a Catalina and had at one point long ago been rebuilt by Moyer. The last sentence of his message was:
I re-read that last sentence just to make sure I didn't make up in my head that "all free" part.
Turns out he's traveling down to St. Croix - he bought a 1979 Pacific Seacraft Mariah that's down there and he's going to sail it around there for a while with a buddy of his before sailing it back up here to VA. So, in his words, "I'm out of the A4 game." He just wanted to get the engine out of his way.
Short story even shorter, I replied immediately and said "hellz yeah!" Free engine? You kidding?
So I ran down there today and picked it up.
Here is how it all looked right after being shoved into the back of my pickup truck:
Yeah, it's pretty cruddy, dirty, rusty - and apparently seized. But I have every reason to believe it's entirely restorable. It's essentially an entire, complete engine. I haven't yet cataloged everything, but it's pretty much all there - including two carburetors and some other bits n' pieces, like two coils.
It's going to need a new fuel pump and I'll probably have to rebuild the water pump and some other stuff.
At first I was thinking I would just hang onto it in case I needed spare parts, but now that I see how complete it is, I'm thinking I'll do a complete tear down and rebuild to have a running A4 - either as a drop-in spare, or maybe to use on some other project... who knows?
A few days ago, out of the blue, I get a PM from the forum member known as "H3LlIoN", who hasn't been posting much for a while. He lives down in Williamsburg, VA, only one hour from me here in Richmond.
He writes:
Do you have any interest in some random A4 stuff?
I've got an assembled block, head, starter, two carbs, intake manifold (all used) and then a spark plug wire set, impeller, carb parts kit and loose articles.
Then he gave a couple sentences explaining that the engine had come out of a Catalina and had at one point long ago been rebuilt by Moyer. The last sentence of his message was:
All free, just need it gone by next Weds.
Turns out he's traveling down to St. Croix - he bought a 1979 Pacific Seacraft Mariah that's down there and he's going to sail it around there for a while with a buddy of his before sailing it back up here to VA. So, in his words, "I'm out of the A4 game." He just wanted to get the engine out of his way.
Short story even shorter, I replied immediately and said "hellz yeah!" Free engine? You kidding?
So I ran down there today and picked it up.
Here is how it all looked right after being shoved into the back of my pickup truck:
Yeah, it's pretty cruddy, dirty, rusty - and apparently seized. But I have every reason to believe it's entirely restorable. It's essentially an entire, complete engine. I haven't yet cataloged everything, but it's pretty much all there - including two carburetors and some other bits n' pieces, like two coils.
It's going to need a new fuel pump and I'll probably have to rebuild the water pump and some other stuff.
At first I was thinking I would just hang onto it in case I needed spare parts, but now that I see how complete it is, I'm thinking I'll do a complete tear down and rebuild to have a running A4 - either as a drop-in spare, or maybe to use on some other project... who knows?
Maybe disassemble and baggie things up for the time being?
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