Indigo

[Mark S]

Good work, Shawn! Love your access to your engine. Who was driving while you were climbing stairs and waiving your camera around? Now that you're back in the water, remember, we love our engines, but it's about the sailing!

Mark

[Dave Neptune]

Happy news!!!!!!!!!!!!

Good job Shawn, I liked the vid too. The engine sounds good and the shaft doesn't wobble a bit. I'm afraid I'll be doing the same thing all to soon.

Time for some fun and time for a beer, I'm actually toasting you at this mament with a Pacifico. Maybe this will help alleviate some of "my fault"?

I went with the same goretex packing and was pretty amazed at how it performs. I adjusted it 2~3 times in the first 10 hours or so and didn't touch it for 2 more seasons. I gave it a tweak at the start of this season and it is still olding fine.

Enjoy your labors.
Dave Neptune

[sastanley]

Mark, I should have shot a frame or two of the auto pilot. - I have a Spinlock EA style tiller extension & taking advantage of the propwash driving the boat to port, I just jam the end of the extension into the stbd coaming and in smooth water, she drives herself! I waited until I was out in open water & it was 2:00 PM on Wednesday so almost zero traffic around.

In the harbor, I only dared to jump down and feel the stuffing box quickly for heat and still be able to pop my head back up after a second or two, although I'd ran it in the travel lift slip for about 20 minutes at 900 RPM and it was warm to the touch, but not hot.

Sorry about my terrible camera skills. When I was shooting it, it felt like I was 'rolling tape' forever!

Dave, it is still your fault, but so far I like the Indigo! - the wife has already set aside time to help me re-clean the boat over the next couple days so we can get her back in sailing trim. Remember, I also still need to tune the new rig as I haven't had any sails up since I replaced all the halyards & standing rigging!

[Marian Claire]

Yeeha. Looks like all your hard work has paid off. Enjoy. Dan S/V Marian Claire

[sastanley]

Gents,

In case I forgot, a hearty thanks to everyone that contributed to this thread. Without your help and this forum we might still be 'dead in the water', so to speak.

Heading out on a short shake-down cruise on the boat this weekend..I will report back!

[67c&ccorv]

Shawn - when I listened to the motor at 1900rpm I don't think I hear a sticking valve

If I was going to say anything it would be excessive valve clearance adjustment or a lifter that is worn.

Anyone else?

[sastanley]

67 - I did a valve adjustment this spring so they are all within 0.010 for intake and 0.012 for exhaust. The audio on the camera and my shaky hand is to blame.

The camera is a Panasonic TMZ series, which by today's standards is pretty old, so the audio may not be so good. I got a chance today to shoot some more with my lovely wife at the helm (she's the hottie at the very beginning of the video with the sunset in the background.)

She (the engine) ran absolutely fantastic at 2,000 RPM for 90 minutes on the way home to her berth this evening.

Notice that I've moved the ammeter to the engine bay, and I've added the free volt meter to the cockpit display. I noticed the ammeter was reading negative, maybe because I mounted it upside down.

the youtube video is 135MB, so I have to let it finish uploading. I just couldn't wait to share my joy with the engine's performance this weekend!

[sastanley]

video

If you are a motor geek like me, you'll enjoy the video...otherwise, don't bother.

Youtube dumbed down the resolution a bit, but the engine was running at 2,000 RPM, the stuffing box was warm to the touch, but you should notice that it was dripping water, there were no misfires, 170 F (RWC), 25-28 PSI oil pressure, 13.9 volts and some amps going into the battery (yes, I have it wired backwards.)

Anyway, great weekend. I got sails up yesterday and did some quick rig tune, so the mast should stay up...I'll do more tuning as we sail. The motor ran great today, so, shakedown complete...next weekend we are off to Oxford, which is about 33 miles one way.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WAOmpFftOHw

[ndutton]

Shawn,

Suhweeeeet!! Man, that's gotta feel good.

Do I see that you shortened the hose to improve access to the stuffing box? Sure looks like it.

[sastanley]

Neil,
No, I did not..that is the stock length from Buck Algonquin...I made the cutout in the front of the access port larger

edit - It is possible that my fiberglass shaft tube repairs and sanding & shaping may have allowed the new stuffing box to slide farther down the tube than previous, but don't count on me engineering it that well.

[ndutton]

The view from 3K miles away looks like the access is much improved. Hell, EVERYTHING having to do with your engine installation is much improved.

[sastanley]

Neil,
Thanks...I'll take that as a compliment. It is folks like you that gave me the confidence to tackle this problem. I had your instructions (this thread has turned into a woven, etc, etc..) from way back when printed out in the boat with me as I laid down the glass repairs.

[ndutton]

Glad I could contribute. That's what this forum's all about, helping each other. I had some experience with the project ahead of you and was eager to make suggestions. I benefited similarly when I was on the fence about electronic ignition and later on doing a thorough installation by replacing the coil too (and with the right one from Pertronix, some guy on the forum hailing from Solomons turned me on to that one). I'd never done anything like that before and with the help of listmates here the installation went smoothly and has been trouble free. Without their help I'd be burning up coils and burning through the beer fund replacing them.

What goes around . . . .

[Dave Neptune]

Nice

Shawn, nice to hear it a 2000 rpm's, that'l make the lil beastie happy and should put a on your face as well. All I can say is very nicely done!!! I have seen work that didn't look near as good from a pro(?) and they charged dearly for the work.

Now time to enjoy so enjoy the boat and the "Indigo". Perhaps it is time for this amazing thread to come to a close soon.

Check the S/Box once in a while. I was warned that the Goretex runs a bit warmer and found it does. Mine took about 4~5 tweeks in the first 20 or so hours and then I didn't touch it far a couple of seasons.

Good Luck!
Dave Neptune

[thatch]

Re: meeting the "Big Kahuna"

Shawn,
Although my weekend was spent "thrashing" in the pits helping out with the SS-7 race boat I did have occasional thoughts of your project hoping for the great results you have apparently achieved. A well deserved "Congrats" for that.
The high spot of the weekend was actually meeting the "larger than life" Dave N. (actually he's only a little taller than me). This guy is the "real deal" and it's probably a good thing we don't live closer together than we do or we would probably "creat" some real havoc. Come to think of it it's probably a good thing that the "die hard" A4 guys are spread out all over the world or we'd never get our "chores" done.
Congrats again and remember to have one for me at the "Tiki Bar"
Tom