Help a new C30 owner!

[drjoans]

Howdy folks,

Wondering if y’all can help me identify some things. Boat is a 1977 Catalina 30. Haven’t been able to locate the hull number, perhaps someone can point me in the right direction?

Boat has the Universial engine, which from reading around here is a diesel. Can anyone help further identify it from the attached pictures? It looks pretty rough.

There is also water in this compartment under the dining table. Can someone give me an idea of where it might be from?

Thanks in advance. Hope to be around these forums for sometime

 

[Justin_NSA]

Those look like spark plugs. I think you unfortunately have a gas engine

 

[kappykaplan]

I see spark plugs in your first and third photos. Not a diesel.

 

[drjoans]

Aww shoot, I’m a dummy. I’m assuming it’s the universal Atomic 4. Well one mystery solved.

 

[Michael Davis]

Is the water under the table fresh or salt? Could be rain water if you have a leaky window, hatch etc. ( I know it never rains in California ) If salty could be your packing gland needs adjustment.

 

[jeepbluetj]

No assuming, it is 100% positively identifiable as an Atomic 4. Looks pretty bad, but you can clean up the outside and paint it if it runs. Looks like the carb may be painted too - which I may guess that means it was a rebuild. A crappy paint job and they'll look like that in a few years or so.

They are dead simple to fix, and actually have a decent reputation, (well, until you get to the "gas engines on boats are always bad" POV, which interestingly enough, most powerboats of 30' or so are gas, not diesel, and they don't seem to blow up all the time. Only sometimes) If you can fix a lawnmower, you can fix an A4. You already have an upgraded electric fuel pump - that's a positive. Another common and valuable upgrade is electronic ignition. moyermarine.com for all things A4. (you can even buy a brand new A4 from them, there's enough demand they manufacture new blocks) They are about 2x as thirsty as a diesel, and you'll find that reverse sucks bigtime. (~2:1 reduction in reverse, 1:1 in forward) Depending on what prop you have, the A4 powered C-30 has significantly more propwalk in reverse.

That compartment that has water in it is also known as the bilge. There's a bilge pump in there but off of a float switch they never get all the water out. You may have a manual switch. How does water get in there? Every way possible. Some possible, but definitely not complete C-30 reasons:
1. Leaky rudder shaft (wheel steered boats)
2. It's where the shower drains to.
3. Leaky deck penetrations - i.e. poorly bedded deck hardware, particularly stanchions.
4. Leaky ports (same as #3, really)
5. Through the sail locker or rear lazarette. (The one in the far back)
6. Bad shaft seal.
7. Leaky waterpump seals on the engine
8. Bad hose somewhere on an open thru hull.
9. Leaky waterlift muffler and/or exhaust hose. (This is quite dangerous)
10. Overfilled fresh water tank.
etc....

Your hull number should be on a plate affixed right above the lazarette, below the stern light.

 

[drjoans]

Thank you jeepblueTJ! Amazingly helpful information. Much appreciated. I’ll defiantly check out the site and go from there.

Regarding the water, I’m thinking it could be rain. It actually rained here in SoCal over the weekend. I checked out the boat a few weeks ago and it was dry. It rained over the week, so I suspect some leaky deck hardware. Fingers crossed it’s nothing too bad.

 

[Justin_NSA]

You can try to isolate the leak with a garden hose. Spray small areas starting from lowest to highest areas you want to test.
Where in SOCAL? I used to be stationed at MCAS El Toro in Tustin

 

[Joe]

universal atomic 4 links
You need to carefully check that the motor will turn over manually.....use a big wrench... before cranking the starter. Squirt lubricant into the cylinders and let it soak overnight. Also be aware that you must ventilate the engine compartment to scavenge gas fumes before actually starting it up. Hopefully, the previous owner left all the systems and operations manuals in a folder somewhere on the boat. Even if you acquired the boat at auction it should have that stuff, and it looks like it's been awhile since any maintenance was performed. Moyermarine is the go to resource for this classic engine. They're like Jeep motors from WWII

The water in the bilge can come from anywhere.... any water that gets into the boat will end up there unless it's being absorbed by a cushion or mattress. You'll have to track it down yourself... there are some clever ways to do that, as mentioned earlier. Rainwater is common.... but check your freshwater tank plumbing also.

 

[jeepbluetj]

So, Is your A4 a runner or not? If so, just maintain it and run it. If not, Joe's advice to getting it going is good. It's a flat-head lawnmower engine. Suck, Squeeze, Bang, Blow. 1940 level mechanics. If it's a runner, and has decent compression, your main pain points are going to be ignition, impellers, and carbs. Ignition is easy, send moyer $$$, get pertronics distributor. (Indigo may offer same/similar) Impellers are a part of boating, diesel or gas. Carbs? They'll die about every 3-4 years with methanol gas (which in so-cal you'll be forced to use) Rebuild kits are available for ~$15 on amazon. Whole carb is around $200 if you know what the Zenith part number is. (It's a tractor part) Replace fuel filters often.

OTOH, if you can't fix a lawnmower engine, a 1977 boat is going to get very expensive, very fast.

And on the gripping hand, I've got 4 parts non-running A4's sitting around, free to any takers. 2-3 are pretty much full engines, seized or no compression at all. (No carbs...) The other 1-2 (or so) are boxes of parts. (Just sold my A4 powered C-30... to somebody that didn't know what a choke did... Long story...) I've been trying to get the head of off one of them for .... IDK..... a year or so? But not trying real hard because the boat was running fine. Now no boat, no need for a bunch of dead A4 engines...

 

[jeepbluetj]

Oh, and things I didn't mention:
Justin_NSA - the op listed location as MDR. I'm in Dana, so I'm very aware what MCAS El Toro was - went to quite a few airshows there. Was kinda sad when they shut down and f/a 18's weren't flying past my windows anymore. Just one more getting rich people richer move.. We still get a lot of Ospreys out of Pendleton, but no fighters.

drjoans - if you have wheel steering, the pedestal almost _always_ leaks unless bedded really well. Since it's in the cockpit (which fills with water until the drains get it out) it's a major leaker. Search this site for more info and how to DX. (flour is your friend.... + a good shop vac)

And, not to be too crass, if a 1977 boat leaks a bit, so what? You're talking about a boat that's likely had for salvage prices. If it works, use the boat. Fix the dangerous stuff. Pump out little leaks. If your v-berth is soaked after washing the boat? Y'all may wanna fix that. If there's a real slow leak out of the stuffing box? Sure, on a $100K boat I'd fix that. On a $5K boat? Who cares.....

 

[shemandr]

If you can find out from the seller how long the gas has been in the tank it would be helpful. Old gas is a huge cause of engine problems especially with alcohol in the gas - which you have. I had a A-4, on my R29, and trust me that Zenith Carb doesn't like the orange sludge that forms. I had to take my tank out and have it cleaned and sealed at a radiator shop. If the gas is old I would remove it from the tank and put in a small amount of fresh gas or use a portable fuel tank (Like for an outboard) to initially start the engine.