MD17C in A25

[DesertAlbin736]

Careful, careful with a steak knife and old piston ring and a hot cup of coffee...

I've never tried using coffee to clean carbon deposits off piston ring glands. Starbucks coffee would probably work if you soaked it long enough, but not the cheap grocery store house brand medium roast blend we buy. That view is to die for though. Sorry we didn't get a chance to swing by & visit on our way home last summer.

Unlike others on the forum, I don't run my boat in the Desert (Albin). Sorry Steve!

In fact we did take our boat out on the lake Sunday afternoon 12/4 & stayed overnight into Monday, only our 2nd time out on the water since returning from Bellingham in August (too hot before late October). Didn't take any pictures this time (this one of Lake Pleasant is stock photo off the 'net). We booked a guest slip at the marina so we could plug in our electric heater, since it does get chilly overnight down to the mid 40s this time of year, but the high was in the mid 60s. So far we've not had any nights come close to a hard freeze, but a couple times got down to about 34. It's so dry here we rarely get any dew or frost on the ground. They are pumping the lake up with water from the Colorado River via Lake Havasu & the Central Arizona Project canal, so the lake level is rising by 4 to 6 inches a day from now until next March when it'll be close to full. Right now it's about 30 feet below full capacity, with water being pumped in 24/7 at the rate of 470 cubic feet per second. This is because this lake doubles as the main storage buffer for the whole CAP system. There are many people who keep large motor yachts & 30+ foot sailboats on this lake, which in a fast motorboat you can get from one end to the other in 5 minutes. But why anyone would pay close to $5,000 a year in slip fees to have a big boat that you can't take any farther than 4 or 5 miles from the dock (plus another 5 miles up the Agua Fria River arm, but that's closed to boat traffic from December 15 to June 15 due to nesting bald eagles) is beyond me. Even with our boat, other than doing club raft ups with our friends Lake Pleasant is boring having sailed and boated on it since 1998, which is why we take these long trailer sailing road trips to go coastal cruising.

"Real Captain"? Since when did she get demoted from "Admiral"?

[WillieC]

That is some tide there in AZ. 4" to 6" a day. Be sure to leave enough scope on your rode to account for it! Just like the Canal. NOT! Good call on the coffee, Steve. I should have tried that.

Today's biggest issue is a busted motor mount stud in the block. Flush. And of course these are grade 8 bolts, not so easy to drill out. I practiced welding a bolt to a bolt, end to end using a smaller bolt with a wedge taper ground onto it. Have been soaking busted stud with Kroil and PB blaster and then hitting it with the mapp gas. Looks like thread may be wicking the solvents in so if I can get any weld to hold, a big if, I may have a chance at pulling it out. This is a forward mount that really could use three bolts, but I may have to live with two. OR, I could move everything over to the spare, spare crankcase! Another NOT! required here.

About half the paint is off the crankcase as of today. And the pan. Cylinders and heads are already repainted. Hoping for a warmer, drier spell for painting. Maybe I'll haul it all to The Desert (Albin)'s and paint it in his driveway! Nothing in the CC&Rs about that!

[WillieC]

Ah, Patience, Grasshopper!

I stalled watching the snow melt as long as I could this morning. Even threw my coveralls in the washer to buy some time. But I had a mission to accomplish and putting it off until later would only prolong the agony.

I had the welder set up and a bolt ready to go from the night before. Now let's see how good you really are. It only took me a few tries to figure out that I wasn't going to be able to butt weld the busted stud to bolt, but I did learn that I could build up a knob on the end of the bolt stuck in the crankcase. Now if only I could strike an arc inside a half inch diameter and not fuse the bolt to the crankcase. One bad miss off to the left, and a very brief wildman's arc to the flywheel which I was SO CAREFUL NOT to do, not wanting current coursing through the main bearings. ( I attached the ground to the local area i was working in. So much for large motor skill coordination.)

With about a quarter inch built up, and not too much of it welded to the crankcase, I whipped out my trusty ViseGrips (tm and all that...). I think I need a new pair since the knob kept getting smaller and smaller with each slip of the VGs.
I kept the Kroil flowing and couldn't get a budge so I took a file to the edges of my weldment up against the crankcase in hopes of weakening any unintended fusion. FYI, 6010 rod means 60,000 pounds tensile strength. Not exactly something you file with ease.

Watching the knob deteriorate with each failed attempt at loosening i hit upon the idea of welding my own lever to the knob. Who needs stinking visegrips!? I drilled a hole in a piece of flatstock I had laying around and cut it off so it would swing behind the flywheel and VIOLA! (After a few ugly attempts of farmer welding.)

Tap, tap, tap little buddy. Go on home. You know you want to spin off. Couldn't tell if it was shearing or actually loosening the stud so I kept spraying it, back and forth, little by little, then what the heck. Either it is coming loose or I weld some more. Success!

Enjoy the pics. Until I can figure it out, just click on each pic to view correct orientation.

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[WillieC]

Of the three injector pumps I took in to H&H in Tacoma, they had to rob one for parts, re-sealed and calibrated one and checked out the functioning pump from the MD3B. I have a practically new one and one for a spare.

Of the four injectors I took in, the three from the MD3B only needed cleaning and adjustment. The fourth, supposedly a completely rebuilt unit from the DPO, was deemed NFG. Not. Fairy. Good. It figures.

So the fuel system is good to go.

While in Tacoma, I stopped at Williams Oil Filter Co. to see what I could get for the oil pan drain. Done and done. I highly recommend both of these establishments in the Lower Puget Sound.

Note to DesertAlbin, here's the fix for low point pan drain.
1. Remove the engine from the boat. Remove pan from engine.
2. Spend $20 at WOFSCO.
3. Drill and tap hole in pan.
4. Goop it up with Airplane gasket cement
5. Spend two days scraping the old pan gasket off.
6. Put it all back together and replace engine.
7. Route hose to accessible location

Piece of cake. (Thanks to BetaDon for his suggestions!)

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[DesertAlbin736]

You da man, Rick!!! Now that's dedication! You will be richly rewarded come cruising time next spring.

[Beta Don]

Don't you just LOVE it when a plan *finally* comes together!

Don

[kerrye]

Nice work. You're a stud.

[WillieC]

Thanks all for the encouragement, even Kerry!

I keep meaning to take pics of my paint prep, but I actually get busy and forget. Degrease, scraping, grinding, wire wheel(s), paint stripper, if I have to, then rinse, blow dry, then degrease again with SuperClean, works pretty good, don't get it on you, or wear rubber gloves. It is quite caustic straight from the spray bottle. Rinse with HOT water so it dries quickly. Blow out the crevices where it doesn't dry or daub with paper towels.

Then I warm up parts by keeping them in the house, it is getting cold here again high 20s right now at 10pm. Then I brush on Ospho rust treatment. A little goes a long way and I keep brushing it out so it doesn't pool anywhere. Let it dry overnight or as long as I can stand it. Sometimes I get a white residue, I think from too much Ospho, so I lightly sand it off and brush the dust off then i am ready for primer. At least two coats, usually three by the time I am done. Then topcoat with VP green from Fisheries. Sorry, I couldn't handle the Farrest Green from Rustoleum. Too green. And I have taste. Still debating what color to paint the valve covers. I will end up with three sets so I might paint them different colors and change them according to my mood. Or mix and match. One of the sets is missing the black ball on the compression release lever so I am thinking of threading beer tap handles for that set. Don't think they would fit under the doghouse, though.

Ordered the parts today. Just under 2 Large. I might get a new shaft and prop yet. Now I need to get real serious about getting the crankcase painted. Might have to build a small warming enclosure in the shop over the engine stand. Or promote the real captain back to admiral and send her away for a week and drag the whole thing into the living room. Reminds me of my motorcycle days.

[WillieC]

Progress.

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There is a poem about the people who paint the bottoms of boats. I'll try to dig it up for y'all.

Maybe the Nobel Prize Winner for American Literature could whip one out for the painters of oil pans in the bottom of boat bilges, which oil pans are hopefully not to be seen for another 40 years.

[WillieC]

Here is the poem, properly credited. Thanks to the Admiral.


For Those Whose Work is Invisible
This prayer is from “Six Prayers,” by Mary Gordon in God Is Love: Essays From Portland Magazine. Brian Doyle, ed. Augsburg, 2003.


For those who paint the underside of boats,
Makers of ornamental drains on roofs too high to be seen;
For cobblers who labor over inner soles;
For seamstresses who stitch the wrong side of linings;
For scholars whose research leads to no obvious discovery;
For dentists who polish each gold surface of the fillings of upper molars;
For sewer engineers and those who repair water mains;
For electricians;
For artists who suppress what does injustice to their visions;
For surgeons whose sutures are things of beauty.
For all those whose work is for Your eyes only,
who labor for Your entertainment, or their own,
who sleep in peace or do not sleep in peace,
knowing that their effects are unknown.
Protect them from downheartedness and from diseases of the eye.
Grant them perseverance, for the sake of Your love,
which is humble, invisible and heedless of reward.

[Chris G]

Just a thought about the fuel filter:

There's not a lot of space in the engine box with the insulation on (I've also got an MD17 in a Deluxe). I found that the fuel filter was quite vulnurable. Before I reinsulated the box I noticed that the area of the insulation around the filter was compressed and soaked in old diesel from when the previous owner owned the boat. I think that the box caught on the filter each time the box was removed and 'thrown on/kicked into place' again. The box is quite heavy and hard to get hold of. I've but a pair of folding handles on to make things easier.

I've also moved the fuel filter and bolted it onto the back of the floor beam in the area of the seawater inlet valve, out of harm's way. I'm just waiting on new fuel lines to replace the old fuel lines and banjo bolts. The new fuel lines can follow the sea water hose into the engine box. I've ordered them from my local boat parts pusher but things move slowly at this end of season time of year But then again, I'm busy with the aft cabin anyway!

All the best with your renovation project.

[kerrye]

To make the opposite point: I was once told by a wise man that when painting a bathroom you only need to do a really good job on the wall opposite the toilet.

Here is the poem, properly credited. Thanks to the Admiral.


For Those Whose Work is Invisible
This prayer is from “Six Prayers,” by Mary Gordon in God Is Love: Essays From Portland Magazine. Brian Doyle, ed. Augsburg, 2003.


For those who paint the underside of boats,
Makers of ornamental drains on roofs too high to be seen;
For cobblers who labor over inner soles;
For seamstresses who stitch the wrong side of linings;
For scholars whose research leads to no obvious discovery;
For dentists who polish each gold surface of the fillings of upper molars;
For sewer engineers and those who repair water mains;
For electricians;
For artists who suppress what does injustice to their visions;
For surgeons whose sutures are things of beauty.
For all those whose work is for Your eyes only,
who labor for Your entertainment, or their own,
who sleep in peace or do not sleep in peace,
knowing that their effects are unknown.
Protect them from downheartedness and from diseases of the eye.
Grant them perseverance, for the sake of Your love,
which is humble, invisible and heedless of reward.

[WillieC]

Kerry! That is hilarious! That is exactly what our sheetrocker said when finishing the drywall in our bathroom. Only the whole wall got covered with cabinets and mirror! AND he left a nice rake/ding on the wall right next to and at eye level when reclining on the commode.

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[Beta Don]

You 'recline' on the John?

That sounds really uncomfortable!!

Don

[WillieC]

Don, you almost left me speechless, but I want to remain a member in so-so standing so I will refrain from embellishing my commode etiquette. (Hey, I just had hip replacement! They made me use the high-rise seat! Film at 11!)

On another note: since I have nothing but time on my hands, I am thinking of rigging up a method to run oil through all the galleys in the engine without use of the cam driven oil pump. NO! Not permanently, just to clean out the galleys and make sure I don't have a blockage somewhere. My concern is that the big end bearings on the rods looked like something left over from the last ice age. A few big chunks made their way through. And bearing material showed up in the oil analysis, which now I know why. I have the oil pump off, exposing in and out orifices in the crankcase. I am thinking another flat plate with two brass 90s, hmmm, one of them will have to be straight since they are so close to each other, and a home made gasket and a cheapo 12v pump from HF. I may have to throw at least two of the rods back on the crank so the oil makes it to the last one, depending on how they are fed. Let it run long enough to see how much mess I can make and hopefully flush at least a little crud out. And, here's the real beauty: if it works, I can pre-prime all the oil galleys, and of course the filter, just before I reinstall the real oil pump. No waiting for priming on my new bearings and valve stems! Or I could get a real job.