Basket Case for Sale

[ric sheridan]

Aloha All,

I was recently was gifted a CAL 2-25 with an Atomic inboard in it. Today I got to survey the boat and I have decided to remove the engine and go with mounting an outboard for a kicker.
My question is what is the value of an engine on the open market that has sat for four years and not been winterized and the exhaust pipe has rusted off? I didn't go into to deep of the forensics on it but it doesn't look good. How can somebody just neglect a boat like this IDK. The boat can be brought back but bringing the boat and engine is just too much.

[JOHN COOKSON]

I believe the engine is in Hawaii? Shipping it to the mainland would cost more than the engine is worth. Probably the same for shipping it to another island. Especially since no one knows its true condition. Your market is limited.
Since the engine was free put it up for sale for $1.00. Maybe someone will takeout off your hands. If not it might make a good flower planter. Or art.

Or:
Make a reasonable effort to get it running. I'd start with a compression test and a block & manifold pressure test. If these tests look good you will be in business. All you will need to do is get spark and fuel to the cylinders and you will have running engine. This is all easy stuff to do. The forum will help you along the way. Many times I've heard about folks bringing an engine that has been under water back to life. The A4 is one tough engine.

ex TRUE GRIT

Fair warning: You don't just buy a boat (or in your case have one given to you). It's more like you get married to a boat. Are you ready?

[ric sheridan]

Yeah I am ready. The boat yeah. The engine no. I don't want the problem child. I will post it up on the local sailing facebook page and see if someone wants it. But with all the high price rebuild engines here on Moyer's site I thought the core would have value. Maybe wait another 15 years and it will be a collectors item.

[ric sheridan]

In my poking around the internet I found this website. It has a lot of the original documents for Atomics linked to it that are still active. I don't know if you guys know about ti or not so I thought I would throw it up anyway.

https://everythingaboutboats.org/atomic-4/

Also what if I just parted the thing out and canabolized it piece by piece like I see some guys doing. Is it worth more for parts than as an anchor?

[roadnsky]

Ric-
There is another A4 owner and he's stationed in Kaneohe as well...

SubtoSail
HERE is a thread about his boat. Might want to give it a read.
His story may ring familiar... He too was ready to give up on the engine.

You could try PM'ing him and he might be interested.
Or, he might be a willing partner to help you out.
I have his phone number but without his permission, I'm reluctant to give it out.

[SubtoSail]

Jerry,

Thanks for the shout out!

Ric, I suspect there are more than a few A4 owners on Oahu lurking here. I might be the least helpful, but I know how encouraging a short amount of time with someone else can be. I also have the Moyer manual, if yours didn't come with one.

-Joe

[ric sheridan]

I gotta post a picture of this thing so you guys can see what I am up against. It is scary. I got an expert going to come give a diagnosis on if it is worthy of the effort or not.

[ric sheridan]

I wish I had this guy's problems. I can solve this kind of problem. Rusted head and valves and rusted off exhaust pipes and clogged everything problems might be a little much at this point of my experience level with the beastie.

[sastanley]

Ric, don't trust any 'experts'. I recommend a wait and see approach. I thought mine was beyond resurrecting, and it is still running 11 years later. I simply recommend you exercise patience before making drastic decisions!!

[roadnsky]

Ric, don't trust any 'experts'. I recommend a wait and see approach. I thought mine was beyond resurrecting, and it is still running 11 years later. I simply recommend you exercise patience before making drastic decisions!!

AND... if it were me...
I'd take Joe (SubtoSail) up on his offer!
He knows more than he's lettin' on.

[sastanley]

AND... if it were me...
I'd take Joe (SubtoSail) up on his offer!
He knows more than he's lettin' on.

I do not know Joe, so I did not want to speak for him.

[roadnsky]

Hey Shawn-
I didn't mean to insinuate you were dissing Joe.
I guess my post kinda sounded that way.

What I meant was that Joe could be a valuable partner to help Ric.

[sastanley]

Hey Shawn-
I didn't mean to insinuate you were dissing Joe.
I guess my post kinda sounded that way.

What I meant was that Joe could be a valuable partner to help Ric.

Jerry, all good, brother!!! I agree. The population of A-4 smarties is probably a bit limited in Hawaii due to geographic 'challenges' for on-site help, but maybe Joe can help Ric out.

[ric sheridan]

I got a guy

I got a guy. he looked at it an said I have compression. He said he has to send his skinny guy to do the work. He said $500 to get it going. He said. See attachment.
Also the motor mount looks like it is half eaten away. Hard to see in this pic but maybe enough meat on it to save. Maybe clean off and naval jelly it?

[SubtoSail]

Salvageable

Ric,

Thanks for the pictures, they help. I’ll give more detail below, but I think your engine is in acceptable shape and worth restoring. That is pending some investigation of the cooling system.

If you have compression, that is a good thing.

Looking at the pictures, it looks like there are some missing pieces. The flywheel cover and alternator cover appear to not be on. I do not know what the results of operating that way would be. I suspect the only risk is debris getting into the gears and causing damage, or a hand getting in causing pain.

The exhaust pipe is broken. And the exhaust flange gasket is not installed through both bolts. Is the exhaust flange bolted to the manifold? I think that hose connecting to the front of the T fitting in the exhaust line is the cooling water. My arrangement is different, but I think yours is fine.

I’m trying to make heads or tails of the cooling hoses and I’m struggling. Is it raw water or fresh water cooling? It looks like the inlet to the water pump (outboard hose fitting) is coming from the bottom of that 3 way something suspended at the front. Is that a strainer, or an external thermostat, or maybe something else? From the outlet of the water pump it looks like it’s going to the thermostat on the front of the engine. There should be a T fitting before that going into the side of the block. I can’t tell if there is anything on the outlet of the thermostat or if it’s plugged. Where is the hose on the top of that strainer(?) going to? The manifold maybe? If this is a freshwater system hopefully someone else can give a better idea if it’s set up correctly, I’m raw water cooled.

From the flywheel end of the engine, under the manifold on the right, above the metal screen flame arrestor is a hose coming out of the block. Where is it going? It appears to angle up and go aft. That may be a PCV system, which I do not have experience with.

Lots of verdigris on the metal fittings and sea water pump. The head looks to be in good shape, at least the nuts look good, much better than mine. The manifold and flame arrestor (so maybe the carb) look red and the rest is blue, so they may have come from elsewhere, not a problem.

My plan? Sort out the cooling path. If it is abnormal it may be because there is a problem with the water jacket. Is there water in the oil? (A milky/mucus green, rising level after turning over? That could be a big problem, I don’t know of an easy way to fix that. A pressure test of the cooling system would help identify any issues. Next clean/replace the water pump, replace exhaust hot section, get covers for the flywheel and alternator, check spark and fuel and you’re off to the races.