Engine Day

Thursday, March 03, 2014 ... the little Perkins, that I've had for over 5 years, rebuilt over a year ago, finally rests on the mounting blocks in it's new home aboard Chasing Summer.  What an event, a milestone, to get Lil Perk where she belongs.
A big thank you goes out to Choice Nursery for the crane.

All hooked up and ready to lift

 



Sure hope that strap I sewed doesn't break :-(

Ok ... easy does it  ... down ... down ... down ...

Keep it coming ... just a little bit more

There she is :-) ... let's get 'er unhooked

 

Isn't she purdy :-)

Transmission

A year ago I rebuilt my Perkins 4-107 engine complete with new sleeves and pistons.  She run like brand new.  Poor ole rusty Borg Warner transmission has been sitting beside it for yet another year.  It's time to get it also rebuilt and get the power plant on board the boat.  Early last week I called Stewart Marine in Seattle for rebuild parts.  Not having cracked the casing open yet I didn't know the condition of the reversing plates.  Would they have to be replaced, too, which is normal not due to using them but from not using them.  The teeth wear from not using them.  ...  Great news :-) when I opened the case, after at least 25 years of idleness, the inside looked as if were brand new.  All the clutch plates were in perfect condition.  A tiny hase of rust on the inside top of the case but other than that ....
After removing all the parts I've been cleaning up the outside of the case, which wasn't "like new" at all.  There was no paint left on it.  There was no scale but was covered with rust.  The lighter parts i could wire wheel at the polisher.  I got a container of CLR and let the parts soak for a spell, then I put them in a heavy duty degrease to clean them.  After washing and carefully drying ... I'm ready for the first coat of self-etching primer.  ...  It's been cool and raining so I brought the casing in the motorhome, stood it up in front of my little heater to completely dry out the metal and keep it warm.
Yesterday was paint day.  ...  Oh, what's it standing on?  I needed to paint both the top and bottom so I stood it on a length of pipe with a couple in the middle for support.  Hope it doesn't tip over.  Hey, my new welding table works pretty good.

 

Welding Table

Early on in the boat project I borrowed a small TIG welder from a friend of mine to do the stainless steel work on the boat.  Last year during one of my welding sessions it gave up the ghost.  I still had work to do and it did belong to my friend so I bought another one ... naturally, a little bit bigger.  It worked well ... ok, it got the job done.  If you know anything about TIG machines, which I'm sure most of you do not, I wasn't happy with the way the argon gas was controled.  Periodically I look on Craig's List for a proper welder.  A few weeks ago I found just the welder I needed ... and at a price I could afford.  Most of the small portable machines are now incorporating A/C for doing aluminum so people are getting rid of machines that only do D/C.  I only need D/C.  My new machine is a Lincoln V200-T ... with pulse.  WOW, what a difference from the scratch start Harbor Frieght maching I learned on.  You simply press the foot peddle and the fire just jumps across ! ! !  Thanks to Arc Zone, https://www.arc-zone.com/ I got one of their trade-in foot peddles at a greatly reduced cost. Anyway, with a new welder naturally I needed a new work station. Here it is.

Bilge Pumps

Many years ago Whale Pumps upgraded their Gusher 25 pump.  I like the old model better ... and there were 6 of them at Minnie's Yacht Salvage ... at a really good price.  So, I bought 3 of them.  Two to install and one for a spare.  They looked pretty raged so my friend at Vista Brake glass bead blasted them for me.  Then I sprayed a coat of etching primer on them.  The final coat will be red so they will stand out.  They will be plumbed so I can use either or both pumps to pump the tanks or the bilge.

Cockpit Seat Locker

I've been planning this job for a couple years now.  There's a lot of wasted space under the cockpit seat.  I didn't want to do it during the rainy season so I've been putting it off.  Last year I even marked out where the lift-up was to be located.  Well, today's the day.  What do you think?

Now to get the bottom and sides glassed in so it's completely water tight. You hear stories of boats that took waves and the boats were flooded thru the cockpit lockers.

Next step is to make a lip with a water removal channels that the lid will rest on.  Here's the mold.  This is the second mold.  I wasn't happy with the way the first one turned out.  Remember, the mold is upside down.



Newfound Metal Portlights

Today the porlights from Newfound Metal arrived.  There will be 10 total.  Six large ones and four smaller ones.  Aren't they pretty?

Finally ... painting

It's the dawn of a new year ... ok, all I really did was tear another page off the calendar ... well, not really I don't have a paper calendar.

I'm ready to lay down the first coat of InterLux 2000 barrier epoxy paint.

No more raw glass or patches ... she's all one color ... isn't she purrrdy ???

Diesel stove vent pipe & Mast step

Hooray ... the vent pipes for my Sig Marine diesel stove came today.  That means another hole in the cabin top.  What's that make 7 now?  ...  yup  Hope I don't have to many more to cut.  That means one more hole to keep out the sea. 

Before I can cut the hole, though, I need to make a level place for the stack to sit.

 

Now, just fair, sand, cover with 5 layers of glass and I'm ready to cut the hole.

 

Just one more job on deck before I'm ready to start finish sanding and put down the barrier coat of epoxy paint.  I want to re-enforce the deck area where the mast step rests.



There ... all ready to finish grinding and sanding the cabin top.

More about the Dorade Vent Boxes

Let's see ... where did I leave off ... oh ya ... now it's time to make the vent tubes.  Again, you can't just run to the store so we'll be making them.  I need a 4.6 inch inside diameter tube so the cowl attachment ring will fit inside.  The closest thing I can find is 4 inch PVC pipe.  So, I bought a roll of brown floor covering paper and wrapped the PVC until it got to 4.6 inches, then I tacked the edge down with 3M-77 spray adhesive.  ... but resin will be absorbed by the paper ... ok, let's spray the paper with PVA mold release ... about 5 coats.

Sorry, I don't have a picture of the tube once the paper and PVC was removed from inside.
Here's how it all goes together, though.  I cut a hole in the cabin top, glass the tube through the hole, and set the vent box over the hole ... well, kinda ... there's a little more to it than that but that's the general idea.

There ... now just do this 6 more times.

November update

So ... a lot has gone on in the last 2 months.  The days are shorter so there are less hours to work but it's also cooler so I've gone back to grinding on the topside.  I can work in the sun without sweating too much.
First order of business was making 6 dorade vent boxes for cabin ventilation.  There's the theory behind the dorade vent box.

As you can see the RED is the airflow and the BLUE is any water that may be mixed with the air.  By changing direction the water drops out, then drain out small holes in the corner of the box.  Fresh air, water free air enters the boat.
My boat, being 42 feet should have 6 fresh air vents.  So, let's just go the the store and buy them ... ya right.  Ok, then let's make them.  Hmmm, out of what?  Well, the rest of the boat is fiberglass so why not out of fiberglass?
First, I made a "plug" of what I want the box to look like.
picture of plug
Next, after 10 coats of Carnauba wax and 3 coats of PVA (mold release) over top of the plug, I layed up 5 or so coats of alternating fiberglass cloth and mat.  Actually I made the plug and mold several months earlier.  By now the mold is well cured.  Really, I was just putting off making them.
Each box take about an hour and a half to lay up and has to cure over nite before coming out of the mold.

Once pulled from the edges get trimmed, a hole gets cut in the top, and it gets fit to the cabin top
Here's the fist one out of the mold.  No, it's not going there.  I just wanted to see what it would look like with the cowl on it.

Here they are all set in their relative position.

I still have to make all the tubes.  One for the box and one that goes through the cabin top.

I enjoyed a very nice Thanksgiving visiting my daughter, son-in-law and my 2 grandkids.