old boat..new owner..needs tlc..might as well start a thread about it and its A4

[ne57301]

One of the other issues I discovered today is the threads on the aft block drain (near the accessory drive) are shot! No good...no threads left. I am hoping JB Weld will solve this problem with my new drain tube. Any better ideas?

Drill and tap it a size bigger? Then you could either step back down to the original size or just follow through with a bigger tube and cap.

To be honest, I'm glad to have a small part toward such a great project. Keep up the good work.

[sastanley]

If I can find a 'next size up' tube, that's sounds good to me!

& thanks...I realized today as more stuff was flaking off the block how bad the old girl is feeling. She seems to be moreso rusting from the outside, in

I vow to bring her back to life

[sastanley]

pipe nipples

I found some more info here on the MMI forum, & ne57301, you're right. Drill out and tap 1/4" nipple.

http://www.moyermarine.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1579

I even found 1/4" brass nipples and Lowe's just started carrying taps. They had a 1/8" & 1/4" pipe tap! (I already had 1/8" & the handles from another store.) This sucker is BIG compared to 1/8"

OK..I am hoping to get a little work done on the boat before this next weather front comes thru here on the East Coast. I'll try to remember the camera.

One other thought that just occurred to me: but now I've forgotten.

[rigspelt]

One other thought that just occurred to me: but now I've forgotten.

Hope that doesn't come free with Senior Member status on the Forum.

[sastanley]

Ahhhhhh....NO!!!!! I am only 37!! Wait a minute...what year is this?? OK..37 it is still...whew!

Also, since this is my rambling thread. My 'polishing filter', between the fuel pump & the carb is a Fram G3606, which according to Summit Racing is a 10 micron filter. It ain't quite 2 microns, but I think this engine will be happy considering what it has had in the past (basically the screen in the mech. fuel pump)

[sastanley]

update

OK guys,

I spent most of the day on the motor. I installed the Moyer thermo kit today. No problem getting 30 lbs/ft of torque on the fancy shoulder nuts with the new studs.

Next step was to tightened up the water jacket side plate and reinstall the starter and alternator, however, the bottom aft bolt twisted out. (stripped threads!!)
I decided for now, I will tap the next size bolt in (7/16" I think??) which is currently holding. If it fails, I'll get the Moyer stud repair kit.

I forgot the bolt to tension the alternator belt, so this pic shows the alternator just hanging out, hand tight. The polishing filter is on, and all other accessories pretty much on. Still plan to move the ammeter to the engine compartment, and install the tach in that general area as well prior to furniture re-installation.

Last weekend I completed the hot exhaust section, and wrapped it and sprayed it with the fancy 1500F silicone stuff. It looks all nice & silver anyway...dunno if it will help dissipate as it claims..

I am still waiting on the 3/8" NPT to 5/8" hose barb fitting for the water pump inlet, and I need a proper 1/2" anti-siphon for the manifold/exhaust connection, so there are a few missing pieces.

It is getting there! The blue tape are labels for the wires so I know where they go!

edit - Don't worry..the current orange plugs are backups that were installed for painting. I have the non-painted (new) spark plugs to install before firing her up.

[rigspelt]

Good work, Shawn - nice to see the update. Exhaust looks nice: wish mine was done. I'm checking out getting a short section of stainless flex pipe installed in place of one of the nipples, to reduce engine vibration damage. Can't finish it until I get the new cockpit drain throughulls installed, so I can see where to route the stack.

We're going along in parallel. Now that the deck and hull are done, I'm back to finishing up the engine. Two days ago, I spent the entire day lining up the pulleys on the new alternator and the new second water pump for the Indido FWC kit - quite the 3-D puzzle given I had a bulkhead in almost the worst place. Got the new FWC heat exchanger installed yesterday. Hardest part is anticipating where to put the new parts, like a jigsaw puzzle. I dry-fitted the prop shaft too: engine alignment looks great (phew). Slow going at this stage, eh? Spring looms.

Which bolt was stripped -- on water jacket side plate, or another part?

[sastanley]

Yes, the lower, aft water jacket side plate bolt was stripped. It was OK at hand tight, I installed the plate last week and put in the bolts hand tight to let the sealer set up. I was afraid with the condition of the block & plate, the gasket wouldn't be enough to seal it on its own. Yesterday when I put a wrench on the bolts to complete the installation, the lower aft one stripped out.

And probably not coincidentally, the drain tube for the block, just underneath, was also stripped. It had actually stripped out years ago, and was held in place with Marine Tex. After digging thru this site for suggestions, I tapped a 1/4" pipe nipple into that as well. Compared to the 1/8" nipple that was there, it is a big monster and barely clears the accessory drive pulley.

I am currently training for a 10K run next weekend, so I gotta go for a jog. After that I plan to head back over to the boat and I'll try to finish up the engine work and snap some more pics with things in 'proper order'.

Good luck with your stuff, I still have to sand the bottom & prep it for paint.

[sastanley]

OK, so, where does the curly wire from the coil go? Remember, I had a bastardized charging system and I am trying to make it stock again.

I have a wire hanging out on the alternator (underneath the paint I can see it is yellow!!) that has no home yet, so maybe it goes there.

I'll dig around the site and look at some pics to try and figure it out.

[rigspelt]

I have a wire hanging out on the alternator (underneath the paint I can see it is yellow!!) that has no home yet, so maybe it goes there.

I don't know if this might help:

http://www.moyermarine.com/forums/showthread.php?t=3005

[sastanley]

Hey Rigs,

I even have a post in that thread. Thanks, it id help. Looks like my guess that it was the exciter & it hooked up on + to the coil was correct. When the old alternator had all these extra wires running to it, most of the original ones were taped off so it was hard to tell where they were supposed to go.

So, I may try to fire the engine up today after work. I have all the parts to test run (some stuff arrived from McMaster Carr yesterday to complete the cooling hose hookup)

[sastanley]

it runs!

Well, I got it started today! Base tuning per the MMI manual, and no fiddling and I got it to run.

I had a couple of buddies come over and give me a hand. Thanks to Robert & Larry, (I think Larry had an A-4 in a previous life..the engine seemed very familiar to him. He has a Catalina 42 now.)

I had only minor issues regarding starting procedures:

When I pressurized the fuel system with the bulb, which was a great addition, the mech. fuel pump spurted a leak at the gasket at the top of the bowl. Except for being messy, it was relatively easy to fix. Took the bowl out, dumped the fuel, reseated, tightened, and no more leaks. I suspect I may have gotten the screen crooked in there on the first try. I wonder with the Racor & a polishing filter if the screen is even necessary anymore??

Choke/fuel - It was a little bit hard to start, and the first three times it started with full choke, ran rough, sputtered, and would die without the choke. Then it would kinda run OK with half choke, and finally it ran just fine and restarted with no choke!

Water pump - At first we couldn't get the water pump to prime and suck water. I had a bucket and probably 6 feet of hose laying next to the engine, and then was refilling the bucket with the garden hose. I had to blow on the hose, suck water thru the hose, and stick the hose nozzle in the intake hose to get it to go, but it did finally start sucking water.

Temp & Oil Pressure - The temp gauge ran between 140 - 165, the oil pressure was above zero, maybe 10, but something I've never seen was up around 2,000 rpm it was over 35. That is GREAT! I pulled each spark plug one at a time, and noticed a discernible difference with each, so each cylinder is providing something.

Only other issue - my "free" alternator from another C-30 owner that has repowered, did not work. No amps. - I'll be taking that bad boy, along with my original amp , which worked but the regulator was busted, to the local alternator shop tomorrow for testing.

So, at least if they get the 12 boats between me & the travel-lift splashed, I can probably make it back to the dock, after I had half the engine in the garage for the winter! - I apparently got the base timing OK & the electronic ignition installed correctly, & have fuel & compression, so she runs!

I took a couple of short movies, but they were pretty crappy, so I won't bore you with trying to post them.

[rigspelt]

Bravo! Thanks for posting your experience. Couple of things there I need to keep in mind for our first fire up in May.

[ne57301]

Wohoo!

Great job Shawn!!!!!

[sastanley]

Note to self (and others) My local Autozone has no idea what to do with an alternator that doesn't have a part # in their database, even though I explained it was off a boat and probably wouldn't show up, and I was hoping they could just put it on their machine to see if it was putting out voltage. They were on the way home from work , so I thought I could get them to toss it on their machine, but no luck. "I am sorry sir, I can't do anything without a valid part number..the number you gave me shows up as a fuel filter for xx"

"Ok, thanks for your time, I'll find someone who can help me."

I have a few of the shops around with the dog chilling out inside, so I'll try them tomorrow I guess.