HI! Call me Gordo

[lat 64]

Whisky-Delta-Four-Zero

Wd-40 was primarily a protection from rust. It is best used just a Shawn suggests. It first displaces the water and then the light volatiles evaporate and it leaves a gooey film to protect the metal from rust. It's only a fair lube and a so-so penetrant. However, it's all I ever have around, so I use it for everything.

I use it for:
generally hosing down the rust prone stuff on the engine,
cutting oil for aluminum,
cleaning parts,
cleaning my hands,
and some say if you spray it on fishing lures it will catch Halibut—never tried that yet.

It will protect your guns from rusting, but it attracts dust and you should clean it and use proper oil before using. my tool box on the boat is slimy with the stuff

Russ

[ndutton]

WD-40 is also the best "engine crack" starting fluid for diesels I've ever seen.

[ILikeRust]

Kano Labs, makers of Kroil, also make some other great products. I'm not a paid spokesman or anything, but I should be. I just have used, and have been quite satisfied with, their products. I haven't used them all, but I have used these two, in addition to lots of Kroil:

Prevox for excellent rust prevention.

Exrust rust remover.

I have no reason to believe any of their other products would not work as wonderfully as these do.

For your firearms and other finely machined items: Ballistol (not a Kano Labs product, but I've been happy with it).

[Gordo]

OK Guys...pulled the tank, hooked up e temp tank, fired her up:

[YOUTUBE] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6birXvocwuU [/YOUTUBE]

I'm so amazed at this engine! I was SO CLOSE to pulling it for the storage!!!

So it got hot pretty fast when it started and stayed running. A few minutes of no water discharge and I shut her down. Started the troubleshooting at the pump since I figured the impeller would be rotten. It looks brand new!!! With the pump open I opened the seacock, dibble dribble :-( OK, pulled the hose...dribble dribble. took the street L off the stopcock, opened it, BAM water! (Why does ANYONE think through hulls are a good idea????) So I cleaned the bugger out, put it all together, let is cool a couple hrs to be safe, BAMMMMMMMM ran for over 30 minutes, highest temp was 160. That's probably ok considering my injection temp is close to 90 degrees right now!!!!

SO...need to: Get a new impeller and gasket to be safe, change oil a few times, flush cooling system, clean and reinstall tank, get new filters, etc. I think a $100 budget will get her working safely with more stuff done over time.

OH! as far as the shaft turning goes, that was taken care of for me. All my reading here taught me that the shaft may well turn despite being in "neutral" so I finally looked after about 10 minutes of running and sure enough it was! So I checked for a leak and it was a nice slow drip so I figured "what the heck!" put her in gear both ways several times....OMG it all works!!!!

[roadnsky]

Gordo-
Excellent news!
Isn't A4 Heaven a lovely place?

[lat 64]

That looks like ford blue. A little touch up paint from the auto parts store and you got a $4000 motor.

Russ

[Administrator]

The A4 was used as a tractor engine as well as by many military vehicles back in the day. They were designed to be simple and fairly easy to fix, or easy to fix because they are simple, or both.

From what Don knows, the A4 engine was designed specifically for marine use. I'm guessing you may be thinking of the Palmer engines (likely the P-60) which bear some resemblance.

Bill

[Administrator]

Great video, and a great story!

For the bystanders, another UHS!

Bill

[CalebD]

Atomic 4 pedigree

Perhaps I misspoke about the A4's pedigree.
This quote from wikipedia:
"History and Lineage

The Atomic 4 is descended from an earlier Universal Motor Company design called the Utility Four, which was used extensively in World War II by the United States Navy and allies to power the lifeboats for the ships, barges, and tankers of many navies and merchant marine fleets. The Utility Four was replaced by the Atomic 4 in 1947."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Universal_Atomic_4

At least I was correct about the military uses this engine and its ancestors contributed to various efforts.
More then likely Bill is correct that the Palmer engines were used in farm vehicles and trucks etc. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palmer-Moore_Company
The Palmer engines are pretty attractive with their open flywheel. I'd hate to get anything stuck in it though while it was running.
My engine was installed in my boat in 1967 so presumably the engine is of the similar vintage, yet my engine block is considered an 'early model'. I wonder what is the earliest model year A4 that MMI has seen in running condition? Any engine blocks from the late 1940s still out there? 1950's?
I know there are working A4's from the 1960's as I own one and there are estimated to be about 20,000 of them still out there which I presume are mostly from the 70's and 80's through 1984, when it was discontinued in favor of diesel engines. This gives me an idea for a poll.

From what Don knows, the A4 engine was designed specifically for marine use. I'm guessing you may be thinking of the Palmer engines (likely the P-60) which bear some resemblance.

Bill

[ndutton]

From this site:

Don asked me, "What do you think the engine was originally designed for? What was its original application?" Uh-oh. Pop quiz. Think back to British cars. Side valves, low rpm. Tractor use? I said as much and was surprised by the answer. The Atomic 4, from metallurgy to oil passage placement, was designed to be used as a sailboat auxiliary. Every single Atomic 4 to leave the Universal plant was bench-tested and verified to deliver rated output. Don has the original factory dynamometer and is using it for his own rebuilding efforts.

reference:

http://www.moyermarine.com/about2.htm

[Mo]

Sounds good.

Good stuff, everyone's comments. Gordo, haha. You gots yourself an engine. I listened to it running on You Tube and it sounds pretty good!

[ILikeRust]

Makes you wonder why the previous owner let it go so bad, if you were able to start it up like that. Maybe it wouldn't start for them one day and they just assumed it was shot and gave up on it?

There are too many people who take that approach.

[Mo]

Just a little Hijack.

I know what you mean Bill. I was on the verge of buying a new autopilot yesterday. People like to deal with what they are familiar with... a little note from this mornings log:

"Auto Pilot is back on the job this morning. Not his fault. Moved a tool box to a forward compartment for last Saturdays Race. Put right above the fluxgate compass..poor old compass had the equivalent of seizures..wandering around aimlessly. Traced the wires and found out where it was.. right next to the tool box. Compass located so no metal near it...OOOPS! I had it working when I had my tool box out "working on it". When I thought I had it fixed and put everything away it was all over the place again....I'm a stund arse...only took me 2 days to figure that out. Finished 1am this morning."

Some days are like that.

[Marian Claire]

Love it: First time something was fixed by just picking up the toolbox.
I pulled a 2 hp outboard out of the recycle bin, checked with the dock master and in a few hrs had it up and running. Rewinding the pull cord recoil was the hardest thing to fix. Dumpster diving at its best. Dan S/V Marian Claire

[ILikeRust]

Furthering the thread drift here, a couple years ago, while dropping off some debris at our local landfill, I spied one of those little Ryobi 2-cycle mini-cultivators sitting in the "Too Good to Waste" area. The thing looked brand new. I tossed it in the back of the truck.

Got it home, opened up the sparkplug and peeked into the cylinder. I saw shiny, reflective piston crown looking at me. Opened up the carb - pristine and spotless. The thing looked like it had never been run.

Filled the tank with 2-cycle mix, squeezed the priming bulb a few times, pulled the cord.

On the 10th pull, it fired right up. It has run flawlessly ever since. I have used it to turn over the wife's garden plot and to cut in new border beds.

These things go for about $280 new.