New A-4 Daddy

[rickinnj]

Hey All,

Just bought a 1971 C&C 30 Mk1 with an A-4. She's slipped on the South River just south of Annapolis, MD. I went down today (I live in south Joysee) for a general clean-up and planning session, and took some pics. The motor is winterized and I hesitate to turn it over right now for a compression check, etc.

I seem to be able to get only one pic on a message...I'm sure one of you out there will set me straight.

[sastanley]

another A-4 saved!

Hi Rick...welcome to the group.

Pretty standard, stock looking A-4 you got there...& it looks pretty good..needs a little TLC, but nothing a little stiff brush, sandpaper, primer & paint can't fix up! Nice to see the Racor filter in the set up...water from ethanol related issues in the fuel has been a recurring problem and more and more folks are getting water separating filters which seemed unnecessary back in the days of leaded fuel & before the corn lobby mandated the fuel we have today.

If it is already winterized I might just leave it alone 'til spring. You may consider pulling some parts and cleaning/inspecting, which is what I did the first winter I had my boat. A nice fresh clean carb, good fuel pump, & functioning alternator, etc.. in the spring help mitigate issues.
I have a few winter suggestions to start familiarizing yourself with things:
1 - The carb you can take home and easily clean it, which I'd recommend to start becoming familiar with it.
2- If you have a mechanical fuel pump, I might recommend a rebuild kit for that, as sometimes the diaphragm goes bad and fuel leaks thru the push rod into the crankcase..the rebuild kit is in the neighborhood of $50 and should last 20+ years.
3- Sometimes those old regulators on the alts fail..I took mine to an alternator shop for inspection (about $25-30) & purchased an adjustable regulator on the Internet, since the stock regulators only output about 13.8v...low by today's charge standards of 14.2 or even higher.
4 - You could do the same with the starter as the alternator..many good local shops do both. Might be worth the ~$25 inspection to trust it in the future.

When you do get around to starting it up in the spring, here is an important word of advice to new A-4 owners...The impeller spins as soon as you engage the starter & will flood the exhaust hot section and backfill the cylinders with seawater if the engine cranks too long without starting...this time varies but most seem to say within 10-15 seconds or so. I start up the engine after a long lay up with the water intake seacock CLOSED..and then open it up once the motor starts. Without the exhaust gases to expel the accumulating cooling water, there is no way to evacuate the water in the exhaust system, & that is why it backs up during long cranking (with non-running) events.

(If you are not an A-4 newbie, you probably already know most of the stuff above..hopefully it will save spring headaches.)

As for pics..there is a size limit per post...I always resize mine to 1024x768 before uploading here on the Moyer site..that's usually big enough to see most detail clearly, but keeps the file size down to allow multiple pics per post.
Cheers!

[msmith10]

Congratulations. There are a couple of other C&C30-1 owners active on this site (myself included). You've got a great boat and it looks like the engine has been pretty well maintained (at least kept clean).
I'm lucky to boat in Lake Erie so I've never added fresh-water cooling, but that's something for you to think about in the future. It should add years of life to your engine.
Next year I'd recommend going over the engine thoroughly:
compression test to start.
Before spring you may want to order a few things from this site: set of plugs, points, condenser, rotor, cap (consider changing to electronic ignition someday), water pump impeller and gasket, thermostat gasket. Have fresh Racor on the boat, consider adding secondary fuel filter. Carb gasket is good to have also. You'll want a copy of the Moyer rebuild manual-- this should be purchased with your first order.
Cleaning the carb is a good winter project. You can order rebuild kit if you want to go that way-- it will contain all the gaskets you need.
Someday you'll want to order the reversing gear video.
I know it sounds like a big layout of cash. Start with the basic maintenance stuff, you'll need that anyway. Get a bottle of marvel mystery oil. If you can put some in the spark plug holes (a couple of ounces squirted toward the manifold side thru each hole to lube the valves) this winter it would be good. Otherwise, you'll want it in the spring. It's your basic atomic 4 multivitamin.
This is a great site, much more active than the C&C specific sites. Feel free to pm me if you have non-atomic 4 questions regarding the boat. You'll find answers to any a-4 questions on this site.

[Administrator]

For the gawkers who have been around a while:

Another hot spot? Don and his guys must have handled more than a thousand engines without anyone commenting on this, but it seems to be frequently present if you know what you're looking for...

Bill

[ndutton]

Stay tuned

As part of my FWC installation (not yet started) I'll be reversing the manifold coolant flow following Thatch's lead. I'll take before and after temp readings of the UHS and report back.

[sastanley]

Bill, I saw the 'ubiquitous hot spot' - (reference UHS thread ), but didn't want to scare off our newbie friend...hence my generic terminology (but, I think accurate) 'pretty standard, stock looking A-4'

Neil, one of the tools I found in my stocking was an infrared thermometer!!

[hanleyclifford]

Yeah, Bill - this is something we have to thrash around. Is it possible the UHS is caused by an air pocket in the coolant jacket? If so, Tom may have the solution in his reversal of the manifold hoses.

[ndutton]

Neil, one of the tools I found in my stocking was an infrared thermometer!!

Me too, but we should use it carefully. Look at the trouble Jerry discovered!

[Administrator]

Our skunkworks is about done with a Mylar label to be applied to the face of any IR thermometer.

Said label will forever display the desired temperature, saving the user a fortune in therapy costs and the forum untold terabytes of storage for all those posts.

Said label will be available for a wide range of desired temps, with the higher numbers understandably commanding a premium.

Do we agree that Jerry gets the plugs for his contributions to this "innovation"?


Bill

ps: I gotta' get off this medication..........

[ArtJ]

Our skunkworks is about done with a Mylar label to be applied to the face of any IR thermometer.

Said label will forever display the desired temperature, saving the user a fortune in therapy costs and the forum untold terabytes of storage for all those posts.

Said label will be available for a wide range of desired temps, with the higher numbers understandably commanding a premium.

Do we agree that Jerry gets the plugs for his contributions to this "innovation"?



ps: I gotta' get off this medication..........

Bill

Bill it would be great if there was a MMI "Skunkworks" Decal to place
on boat windows or as a optional coffee mug. Maybe even a picture
of a cute skunk holding a wrench?

Regards

[thatch]

"UHS info"

Since the "hot spot" topic popped up again today and since my spare manifold happened to be close at hand I decided to make a thorough inspection of the offending area. What I found is that there is really no water jacket close to the HS. Thinking that it might be an air pocket causing the UHS as Hanley has mentioned, one of the first things that I checked after changing the coolant flow direction in my manifold was the temp in that area and found no real change. I suspect that if there is an A4 out there without that burn mark, the engine is either running extremely rich or not firing on the #1 cylinder.
Tom

[msmith10]

Rick--Don't worry about the "hot spot" discussion. This is primarily for guys who have their engines so tuned and running so well that they are looking for other issues to deal with. In a couple of years you can think about the hot spot.

[hanleyclifford]

Rick - Yeah, we all kind of did a gang hijack, sorry. But if you hang around here long enough you will probably wind up wrapped around the axle just like us. Welcome to the forum! Regards, Hanley

[thatch]

" Item #1"

Rick,
The most important thing you can do (if you haven't already done so) is to order a copy of the "Moyer Marine Service and Overhaul Manual". It is vital in dealing with the A4.
Tom

[rickinnj]

All, thanx for the advice. I lurked around the forum for a week or so prior to posting, so I'm well aware of the group's collective OCD. I was certified by ASE (back when they were NIASE) as a master auto mechanic in my youth. Since then it's been nearly thirty years operating nuclear power plants.

I should be able to fumble my way around in the engineroom. Still trying to figure out this exhaust...I have a grasp of the concept, I just want to make sure what I have is copacetic.

Mark, I will definately be hitting you up for C&C info. I'm moving up from a Catalina 22 and all this extra running rigging is making me dizzy!

Thanx again,

Rick