Good morning Frank and welcome to the Vega family,
my input may not be the most useful as I'm a long way from Alaska, but for what its worth:
Engine - When contemplating a replacement six years ago, I was well advised: -
If your MD6A or indeed any diesel engine starts easily, then there's not too much wrong with it SO LEAVE IT BE. I ensure that the oil/filter is changed regularly, that the diesel tank/lines are cleaned and the filter changed annually and that the cooling water flows freely, so about once every two years, I remove the cooling manifold and degrunge the whole thing; as a result, we've probably had another fairly faultless albeit smokey, couple of thousand hours from what we thought was a worn out motor and are hopeful that we'll get many trhousands more.
Engine Spares - both fuel and oil filters are off the shelf jobs and probably available through your local motor factors for less than $8 each; ask for Crossland 659 (oil) and Crossland 658 (diesel) or the local equivalent - I have a list of about a dozen manufacturers for each if they've not heard of the Crosslands in Alaska. The water pump seals are a standard type R23 available for cents at your local bearing supplier and the impellors too must be a fairly 'standard' model as they seem to be available in any chandlery - I found them on 'special offer' in Spain one day $2 each, so bought ten! Injector nozzles are similarly a 'standard' Bosch item that your local fuel injection engineer will match for a 1/4 of Volvo's price, just don't mention the words boat or marine, tell them it's for a diesel generator set! Other than those (either lucky or beacause we leave it be?) we've hardly bought any. The cooling manifold gasket is expensive, but with
thick gasket paper and a sharp scalpel, you can make a new one in two hours. For bigger bits, they're all still available from Volvo (in Europe at least) though at a price and the second piece of good advice from six years ago - which we intend to follow one day, was: Come the time when the starting becomes progressively worse, or something big/expensive breaks, DO NOT WASTE YOUR MONEY OVERHAULING/REFURBISHING A SMALL DIESEL ENGINE, JUST PULL IT OUT AND RENEW IT. Whether an engine is 10hp or 100hp, the labour cost in doing the job 'properly' is $1500+ dollars, to which you've got to add the cost of re-engineering and new parts; with a 100hp/$50,000 engine, that makes sense, but with a 10hp/$6000 engine, it never will.
Battery - there's ample space for two batteries under the saloon floor; on Spring Fever we've got two 100 amp/hr ones there, with a seperate starter battery in the engine bay. I presume your MD6A has an alternator fitted as well as the dyno-start? I understand (though I've never tested it out) that if you try to charge more than one 50-60 amp/hr battery just using the dynostart, it knackers the dynostart and they are big-bucks to replace, so check that out before wiring a second battery into the system
Mildew/Smells - If you've got the 'black rash' on things, I've never found anything to clean all of it completely - I persevered with our forecabin insulation lining for years and eventually gave up and just painted over it. With regard to the smell, we used one of those spray on 'pet smell neutraliser' sprays on SF when she'd been stood for over a year, but I know friends who just washed everything down with white vinegar & water (smelt vinegary for a week, but fresh enough once it'd disipated) and one (he's got a very damp wooden yacht) who closes the yacht up for twelve hours once every few months with an incense burner - sat in a fireproof box - going; Lesley thinks it's lovely, personally, I prefer the musty/damp smell! Once it's been removed from a Vega and the boat is 'lived in' smells aren't a problem provided you keep things well ventilated.
Insulation. that's something you probably need to take more seriously in Alaska than we do; SF has a foam backed(1/8") vinyl lining pretty much everywhere and that does OK for us. One nice budget approach we came across had a similar lining to ours, but rather than just glueing it directly to the hull, the owner had first glued 1/2" dense foam to the hull - made from cut-up hiker's sleeping mats - and stuck it on top of that. Whatever method you choose, do ensure that those hull areas within the lockers (back of the saloon cabin seats) are insulated at least equally to the open areas, otherwise all the condensation will settle there and your spare clothes get damp.
Hope the foregoing was some use and that you and rain dog have fun together,
BobnLesley, Spring Fever 1776.
Sun, 18/7/10, sitkatm82 sitkatm82@... wrote:From: sitkatm82 sitkatm82@...
Subject: [AlbinVega] Questions
To:
AlbinVega@yahoogroups.com
Date: Sunday, 18 July, 2010, 21:47
Hello,
I am new to this, just purchased hull # 2417 (Rain Dog)in Juneau Alaska. Will be moving it to Sitka soon. MD6A seems to be OK but I would like some spares, impeller, injector, etc. Any suggestions and where to purchase from? Is the engine worth keeping or should I start planning replacement? If so any suggestions for replacement inboard or outboard. Only one battery in boat where have you placed a second battery, I like 2. Also need ideas on removing old smells (mold/mildew) I want to insulate it for winter use, any ideas? I am 70 and this is part of my bucket list, mama sez go for it!! If it sleeps two and she can stand up (she is 5'6"). I/we have not been sailing in 45 years but did a lot of dingy racing (penquin, snipe) and have owned several powerboats during the past 40 years. Our dream is to sail SE Alaska May thru Sept spending one night per week ashore then winter in motorhome while visiting (9 kids 21 Grandkids). I am reading past posts for
ideas.
Frank
