Rebuild of Atomic 4 and Dripless Packing

[John B]

As I mentioned in a different thread, I rebuilt an Atomic 4 (which I found fairly inexpensive, and it had freshwater cooling) and replaced the A4 that came in my 1971 Ericson 32. I should have taken more pictures along the way, but greasy hands dissuaded me from picking up the camera too often. When re-installing the rebuild, I took the opportunity to easily replace the old stuffing box and installed a dripless packing.

I installed the "Kaminsky Modification" per this site. I also painted all the disassembled parts before re-installation. Just some minor touchups were necessary afterward. Note I painted her Chevy Red - a marine surveyor friend of mine indicated way back that "make sure you paint it red, and it will run just fine...." It worked back then, and so far, it's working again!

For what it's worth, here are some photos of the rebuild nearing completion. I will upload a few more after this, one of the engine newly installed (you can see the new motor mounts), and a good picture of what the dripless looks like (the vent line/hose to the unit is not attached yet).

This just for info for anyone that's interested, and it might touch off some Q & A...?

John B.

[John B]

Now that the first one is posted, here are a couple more pictures: Dripless Packing and engine installed...

[HerbertFriedman]

Rebuild of Atomic 4 and Dripless packing

beautiful job. One question, I notice that you have installed a tee in the front of the block where the temperature sensor is. I assume one port of the tee is for the temperature sensor, what is the other port used for and do you notice any difference in temperature sensing with the new position?

There was a thread a month or so ago on a flushing valve installed with a similar tee at the temperature sensor location, does you tee have anyting to do with that modification?

[High Hopes]

Jonh B,

Nice color. I am paintng mine Ford Red. Love the white bilge, too.

Herb,

The fittings are from the high temp alarm kit from Moyer. A fresh water system (like the one on John's A-4) probably doesn't need any quick flush plumbing.

Steve

[High Hopes]

Photos

I'm going for the firetruck, too.

Herb, here is the fitting for the flush vale. The valve will be installed on the left of the tee. --Steve

[John B]

Herb, Steve is right. There are two temp sensors, as I recall, one (the original) goes to the temp gage, and the other goes to the high water temp alarm.

The white bilge was an idea from another boater - ANY leak or drip is immediately visible - so you can keep on top of things! Some folks even use gelcoat in that area... but I just cleaned it up real good and slapped some paint down.

John B.

[HerbertFriedman]

Rebuild of Atomic 4 and Dripless packing

Steve, thanks for the photos and expalantion. The tee you show is not a normal plumbing tee, does it have a name that I can ask my plumbing supply store? BTW, nice paint job, the silver and black head shows nicely.

[High Hopes]

John, what type of paint do you use for the bilge? Is it a varnish?

Herb,

The tee started out as a 1/2" bar stock tee, sometimes called an instrumentation tee.

I added an extra port with a drill and tap for a smallish temperature sending unit. This port was added to the bottom side. - - - actually it was added to the top in the wrong position. That hole was plugged, and then I tried again. You can see the top of the plug on the top side of the tee.

I am not sure this is the ideal location for two temp sending units, however. The sensors sort of block up the tee. If crud flows out, I'm nit sure it won't get caught.

I had originally planned to relocate the temp sending unit for the gauge to the water jacket cover, but the water jacket cover is proving to be a pain. The threads are stripped and the temp sending unit protrudes out about 1 1/2 inches which can interfere with the water hose. So the head tee may not be the final destination of the sending unit.

S.M.



Steve

[tenders]

I'm not sure what John B used, but Interlux makes a paint called Bilgekote that is fumalicious and very resistant to oil and scratches. It's worked well for me on clean, dry bilges (and engineroom bulkheads). It used to come in one color called "shark grey" which was virtually white--now apparently it comes in both grey and white.

http://www.pyacht.net/cgi-local/SoftCart.exe/online-store/scstore/h-interlux_bilgekote.htm?E+scstore

[Mighty Pearson Owner]

Bilge Paint

I bought a gallon of bilge coat, looked at it and then since it wasnt sold by Don, returned it. I am going with a decent floor enamel, either grey or white, at 25 dollars per gallon vice 99 per gallon. I will get some pics up soon.

Regards
John