Minor problems
Mike, I too once had a A4 and experienced the same plate leak as you. The plate is a mere 1/8" mild steel plate and will deteriorate in salt water. You can replace with a factory part for probably $50 now (I paid $35 in 1988) or you can take the plate in the off season and duplicate it yourself in 3/16" stainless steel (see a local fabricator) for probably $20 and you will never replace it again. There is a trick to providing better cooling to this engine also. In the center of that plate is a tapped hole for a pipe fitting. The tee fitting that screws into the plate is connected to the water pump and then up to the bypass on the thermostat cover. The trick is to obtain a pipe cap that will screw onto the tee fitting on the inside of the plate and drill a 1/4" hole into the side of the cap. This will direct a stream of water sideways into the block. Position the cap on the inside such that the hole in the cap points to the lower rear corner of the cover plate. This will circulate water to the rear cylinders for better cooling. The water exits the block at the front, so the water will pass by all of the cylinders. This tip was given to me by the A4 expert at the factory back in 1988. The transmission adjustments are simple, and are done without any removal. There is a top plate on the transmission held with 4(?) bolts. Remove those and there is a tension adjustment for both forward and reverse. Get a manual to understand the proceedure. It might take you 30 minutes total for this job. If your A4 is running fine, just run it. When I rebuilt mine in 1989, I considered FWC but given the condition of the 1968 block, I believed that the engine would be fine for another 20 years in salt water. You might not even have the boat in another 20 years, and any engine upgrade that you do now will be unrecoverable in cost for any boat of that age. Just my 2 cents. Rich
