2 A4's--What would you do?

[splashlog]

So I now have 3 A4s. One is in my Grampian Classic 31 which has issues. And two more sitting in my garage. One of those two is in running condition aparently..and the other was the spare that I got from someone who repowered with diesel..

The existing engine on the grampian is the older model. The 2 new ones are newer models.

Last year the boat engine got a brand new water pump, carb, EI, 55A alt. & coil...and still is not running (I messed up the timing and can't get her to run again..)

Obvously I will take all the new parts off the boat engine and replace them to the new "A" engine at some point, however the question I pose; do I do a full tear down on the two newer engines and make a "AA" engine, or should I just go and repower with the one that is supposed to be "good" and call it a day.

My hopes are to get the one on the boat running before launch (Mid May) and just enjoy the season and then yank that engine, work on the other two over the winter and then repower next spring.

The PO stated that the good engine had 80/80/80/80 whereas the one in the boat now is 85/85/85/70 compression wise..

[joe_db]

Why not fix the timing first? It isn't all that hard.

[Al Schober]

I'll go with Joe - fix the one you've got in the boat.
Hey, you swap in a rebuilt perfect engine and you can mess up the timing. Consider this a learning opportunity! Looking at the flywheel, which way does the engine turn? If you don't know, find out and put a big arrow with a magic marker. Now (question #2) which way does the rotor in the distributor turn? Ditto. You should know these answers WITHOUT THE BOOK!
You hire a mechanic these days and they don't know the answers either! That's why they suggest you tear out the A4 and put in a diesel (that they think they know).
A4 is a good engine. Worth becoming friends with.

[Sam]

The" early" model A4 in the boat has a different carb/flame arrestor set up and distributor [smaller Prestolite vs Delco] which has a different the EI base plate. With modifications on the hold down clamp or new from MMI you can put Delco dizzy on early model but not Pretolite on late models. [Who would want to- dates back to the 1940's design/parts etc] If you have timing issues now you will have even more but they are fixable. The new parts you salvage are just the water pump, coil and alternator, and then the bracket will probably need to be modified/changed out.