Hoisting the engine

[ILikeRust]

I went ahead and cleaned the double-walled exhaust pipe and was surprised to find it's very heavy copper pipe, with soldered-in bronze fittings:





The flange collar is cast iron.

[13jeff13]

Nice

Is that Chevy orange you are using for the color? I just hate to be a copy cat,, but I was thinking of Using Chevy Orange and Black as my paint scheme Also.

Looking good though.

[ILikeRust]

Ford red.

Just looks more orange in the pics than it looks in real life.

[hanleyclifford]

My guess is that the PO eliminated the copper jacketed system but kept the first few inches to connect to the engine. You will need a redesign.

[13jeff13]

Ford red.

Just looks more orange in the pics than it looks in real life.

Ah,, I like Ford Red too,, has a tractor like look to it.

That Chevy Orange and Black has kind of a Harley look to it,,

[ILikeRust]

My guess is that the PO eliminated the copper jacketed system but kept the first few inches to connect to the engine. You will need a redesign.

Seems to me, if I turn the jacketed pipe over so that it curves downward, and include an anti-siphon loop in between where the water leaves the manifold and enters the pipe, I might be able to make this work - maybe something like this system from the ABYC standards:



The manifold is below the water line in my boat.

[hanleyclifford]

That copper unit is a little small and restricts the exhaust. If you intend to keep the waterlock system and your manifold is below the water line you need to go to a black iron riser, the higher the better. This is mine.

[ILikeRust]

That copper unit is a little small and restricts the exhaust.

So what internal diameter do you think I should be shooting for?

[hanleyclifford]

This has been a subject of some debate here. I think that the standoff has settled with the idea that bigger is better, up to a point. My system is 2" ID but I have a custom flange, 1 1/2" NPT, stepped up to 2". The limiting factor is the capability of the exhaust to "batch" out the cooling water. Mine does well at 1 psi. The head against which the waterlock is working is to be taken into account. See the thread on exhaust system size.

[Wasn't Me]

Well, I 'spose it does.

As soon as we can fabricate batteries in the shape of a keel and make sails out of photovoltaics I'm in! I'll have to ditch the compass though, it'll just spin around.

Actually, I thought about building a ballast-filled fiberglass keel around the shape of the batteries. Of course you would have a lot of space left over fore and aft of the batts after fairing the keel, but you could fill what you like with concrete, or lead shot wetted down with resin, leaving a nice big bilge well down there below battery level and of course access for redundant automatic bilge pumps. It simply wouldn't do to have seawater covering your batteries and releasing all that pesky chlorine gas in your boat.

PV sails might be doable one of these days. Meanwhile there is wind, drogue generators, regen power from the prop, and cabin top solar panels. The casual sailor might be well served with shore power charging only, if he only needed the prop for docking/undocking.

The class way to do it would be to couple an A4 to the forward end of the electric motor shaft, so it can turn the prop right through the electric motor while charging the batteries with the motor regeneration. You would get to have your cake and eat it too. electric until the batteries run down, then the gas engine for backup propulsion and charging.

[ILikeRust]

Here is the reversing gear cover all cleaned, masked and ready for primer:







I put some duct tape across the big opening, from the inside, to keep the overspray out of there.

[ILikeRust]

And here it is after a shot of primer:

[ILikeRust]

Just picked up block and head from the machine shop. They did a very nice job of surface grinding both. Will post pics later.

[TomG]

Bill,

Things are looking great! Thanks for posting all the pictures. Looking at the tranny housing above, I noticed you had not performed the "Kaminsky Modification." Not trying to give another project, but now would be a great time to do this if you were so inclined. If you have access to a 3/4" tap, ten minutes now could save a bunch of time...

Here is a link to the Tech Tip:

http://www.moyermarine.com/kaminsky.htm

[ElmaBay]

A little help from a friend...

I removed my A4 this past season, rebuilt most of it and returned it to new engine mounts all without incident, but I did not use the boom. That engine is heavy and ackward. I lifted the engine off the mounts by putting a steel beam across the companionway and using a small engine hoist rig. Once clear of the engine mounts and most of the way up to the companionway, I connected the engine to a Hiab truck that was able to reach out across the marina (roughtly 25 to 35 feet) and lift the engine out the rest of the way. With the use of the hoist I was able to control the movement of the engine through the companionway and not do any damage. The Hiab opereator was not able to see the engine until almost through the companionway. It was at this upper position that we hooked up the Hiab and used it to remove the engine totally from the boat. Entire operation took less than 20 minutes. I was very relieved to see the engine clear the boat and then make it's way across the marina in the air onto dry land. I imagine those things would make quite the splash. I looked as using the boom, but deicided against it. Too much at risk. Good luck.