Update on Hunter 40-1 Refit.
Today was the BIG day - starting the engine. I have been living in fear of this day for six weeks now.
This boat had been on the hard since 2017. The yard sold it to me very, very cheaply as the owner, who was doing a refit, had passed away several years ago. The family, which didn't want the boat, didn't pay the yard bill. So she sat there, for years, interior cushions gone, just wasting away, slowly dying from neglect.
At one point in the past, rainwater had entered the interior, causing some damage to the cabin sole, which I've now repaired with new plywood panels. Next will be cushion vinyl flooring in a teak-like pattern as the teak and holly veneer was not recoverable. New cushions are on order.
The water also partially submerged the back of the transmission, and the excess moisture ruined the starter and alternator. I replaced the starter with a new, smaller reduction unit, and the alternator with a Balmar Series 60 unit, complete with M618 regulator.
I've installed 620 amp hours of LiFePo4 battery for now, with another 400 of deep cycle lead acid to come later. The batteries will be set up with the Bank Manager controller allowing me to combine both chemistries.
So as I said, today was the big moment. Would the engine start, or was I looking at problems, possibly a rebuild? I was prepared for the worst. After all, eight years on the hard is a long time.
In preparation for today, I had drained and replaced the transmission fluid, shifted the transmission into neutral, and it turned by hand without issues.
Because the boat was on the hard, I ran a hose into a bucket and put the water engine intake hose into it. The fuel tank wasn't hooked up as it was in the process of being replaced by the previous owner, so I put the fuel line into a jerry can of fresh diesel fuel. As I removed the fuel line from the Racor filter, a few drops of diesel dripped down. It seems that the fuel system was intact with no leaks.
I did not bleed the engine although I did "pressurize" it using an outboard tank bulb. I checked the impeller to be sure it was ok, and was surprised to find that the water pump was full of - water! No leaking even after all these years, so the impeller hadn't dried out.
The engine oil was crystal clear and full when I checked it months ago before buying the boat and again today. That suggested to me that some work had been done on the engine at some point. I initially thought that the oil had been changed all those years ago when the boat was brought ashore. I was right - sort of.
Also, the engine had clearly been removed from the boat at some point and painted white, although the paint had flaked badly from the humidity in the boat.
That made me wonder just what had been done to the engine, since removing that beast is a big job. I wouldn't be wondering long.
I stepped up into the cockpit, inserted the key into the new key switch, and then thought - "damn, it's not going to start" - at least, not until I turn the 12 volt power for the engine on!
Back in the cockpit, I turned the key, my heart in my throat. This was it!
The engine turned over quickly and immediately started. I mean, immediately, no hesitation, no grinding, no lag. Just the way it is supposed to do.
Water poured out of the exhaust, just as it was supposed to do. The engine revved up nicely, the gears shifted just as they are supposed to. The charging system showed the proper numbers on its display.
Everything was working as it should. I was ecstatic.
I let the engine run for about a minute, then shut her down. Restarted, ran for a couple of minutes, shut her down, then restarted and let her run for about ten minutes.
No problems, no leaks that I could see, no strange noises - all was good, as you can see in the video (note - the video is too large for this forum, so I've posted it to youtube here - Will she start?
I checked the oil, and it was still crystal clear. That's when the penny dropped.
For those not familiar, an engine that has been used for a while turns black almost immediately after being run as the fresh oil mixes with old oil in the oil sump. A new or rebuilt engine will have had the sump cleaned and so the oil doesn't blacken until after it's been run for a couple of hundred hours.
I am now thinking that this engine was rebuilt by the previous owner - the clean oil, paint job, the immediate start with no hesitation indicative of good compression - all point that way.
I have been incredibly lucky and I'm grateful for that. I hope to have the boat finished and in the water within the next couple of weeks.
Stay tuned. Photos of the interior work to come later.
Today was the BIG day - starting the engine. I have been living in fear of this day for six weeks now.
This boat had been on the hard since 2017. The yard sold it to me very, very cheaply as the owner, who was doing a refit, had passed away several years ago. The family, which didn't want the boat, didn't pay the yard bill. So she sat there, for years, interior cushions gone, just wasting away, slowly dying from neglect.
At one point in the past, rainwater had entered the interior, causing some damage to the cabin sole, which I've now repaired with new plywood panels. Next will be cushion vinyl flooring in a teak-like pattern as the teak and holly veneer was not recoverable. New cushions are on order.
The water also partially submerged the back of the transmission, and the excess moisture ruined the starter and alternator. I replaced the starter with a new, smaller reduction unit, and the alternator with a Balmar Series 60 unit, complete with M618 regulator.
I've installed 620 amp hours of LiFePo4 battery for now, with another 400 of deep cycle lead acid to come later. The batteries will be set up with the Bank Manager controller allowing me to combine both chemistries.
So as I said, today was the big moment. Would the engine start, or was I looking at problems, possibly a rebuild? I was prepared for the worst. After all, eight years on the hard is a long time.
In preparation for today, I had drained and replaced the transmission fluid, shifted the transmission into neutral, and it turned by hand without issues.
Because the boat was on the hard, I ran a hose into a bucket and put the water engine intake hose into it. The fuel tank wasn't hooked up as it was in the process of being replaced by the previous owner, so I put the fuel line into a jerry can of fresh diesel fuel. As I removed the fuel line from the Racor filter, a few drops of diesel dripped down. It seems that the fuel system was intact with no leaks.
I did not bleed the engine although I did "pressurize" it using an outboard tank bulb. I checked the impeller to be sure it was ok, and was surprised to find that the water pump was full of - water! No leaking even after all these years, so the impeller hadn't dried out.
The engine oil was crystal clear and full when I checked it months ago before buying the boat and again today. That suggested to me that some work had been done on the engine at some point. I initially thought that the oil had been changed all those years ago when the boat was brought ashore. I was right - sort of.
Also, the engine had clearly been removed from the boat at some point and painted white, although the paint had flaked badly from the humidity in the boat.
That made me wonder just what had been done to the engine, since removing that beast is a big job. I wouldn't be wondering long.
I stepped up into the cockpit, inserted the key into the new key switch, and then thought - "damn, it's not going to start" - at least, not until I turn the 12 volt power for the engine on!
Back in the cockpit, I turned the key, my heart in my throat. This was it!
The engine turned over quickly and immediately started. I mean, immediately, no hesitation, no grinding, no lag. Just the way it is supposed to do.
Water poured out of the exhaust, just as it was supposed to do. The engine revved up nicely, the gears shifted just as they are supposed to. The charging system showed the proper numbers on its display.
Everything was working as it should. I was ecstatic.
I let the engine run for about a minute, then shut her down. Restarted, ran for a couple of minutes, shut her down, then restarted and let her run for about ten minutes.
No problems, no leaks that I could see, no strange noises - all was good, as you can see in the video (note - the video is too large for this forum, so I've posted it to youtube here - Will she start?
I checked the oil, and it was still crystal clear. That's when the penny dropped.
For those not familiar, an engine that has been used for a while turns black almost immediately after being run as the fresh oil mixes with old oil in the oil sump. A new or rebuilt engine will have had the sump cleaned and so the oil doesn't blacken until after it's been run for a couple of hundred hours.
I am now thinking that this engine was rebuilt by the previous owner - the clean oil, paint job, the immediate start with no hesitation indicative of good compression - all point that way.
I have been incredibly lucky and I'm grateful for that. I hope to have the boat finished and in the water within the next couple of weeks.
Stay tuned. Photos of the interior work to come later.