Hi John.
Just to simplify things a little, if the dynastarter still works - use it to charge the starter battery and the alternator for the house battery. There should be two battery switches on the starboard side, tucked in beside the engine cover / step above the sink drainer (hopefully still with the switch levers in place - they are detachable) Just wire through these if they are in good condition or replace them if they are not.
A couple of tricks for starting the MD6a
Look for a lever (possibly yellow?) attached to the rocker cover on top of the engine. Lifting it up pops the valves and removes compression so the engine is a lot easier to turn over. There should be a crank handle among the bits and pieces which came with the vega - Battery switches on (to protect the alternator) Ignition on, lift the compression lever and turn the engine over with the crank. Build up a bit of momentum then drop the compression lever back down again and it should start without any bother.
You can also use it to start the engine if the belts from the Dynastart get a bit loose or worn too and start to slip when cranking it on the key. Compression off, turn it over on the starter and drop the compression lever to start.
Remember the MD6a is raw water cooled and will overheat very quickly without a water supply so give it a bucket of water to drink from if you are going to run it for more than a minute or so with the boat out of the water - disconect the inlet hose from the engine sea-cock and dip the end into a bucket of water, leave a hose trickling into the bucket to keep it topped up (any overflow will make it's way out the keel drain) - once it's running make sure water is coming out with the exhaust.
Before you leave it it might be a good idea to run a 50 / 50 mix of antifreeze through the engine from the same bucket to protect it from the winter weather.
Try to get into the habit of ALWAYS checking the exhaust for water after starting the engine - it'll save a big repair bill the day you forget to open the engine sea-cock (we've all done it!!) or have a bit of local wildlife living in the inlet!
Enjoy the Vega - she'll look after you.
David
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Just to simplify things a little, if the dynastarter still works - use it to charge the starter battery and the alternator for the house battery. There should be two battery switches on the starboard side, tucked in beside the engine cover / step above the sink drainer (hopefully still with the switch levers in place - they are detachable) Just wire through these if they are in good condition or replace them if they are not.
A couple of tricks for starting the MD6a
Look for a lever (possibly yellow?) attached to the rocker cover on top of the engine. Lifting it up pops the valves and removes compression so the engine is a lot easier to turn over. There should be a crank handle among the bits and pieces which came with the vega - Battery switches on (to protect the alternator) Ignition on, lift the compression lever and turn the engine over with the crank. Build up a bit of momentum then drop the compression lever back down again and it should start without any bother.
You can also use it to start the engine if the belts from the Dynastart get a bit loose or worn too and start to slip when cranking it on the key. Compression off, turn it over on the starter and drop the compression lever to start.
Remember the MD6a is raw water cooled and will overheat very quickly without a water supply so give it a bucket of water to drink from if you are going to run it for more than a minute or so with the boat out of the water - disconect the inlet hose from the engine sea-cock and dip the end into a bucket of water, leave a hose trickling into the bucket to keep it topped up (any overflow will make it's way out the keel drain) - once it's running make sure water is coming out with the exhaust.
Before you leave it it might be a good idea to run a 50 / 50 mix of antifreeze through the engine from the same bucket to protect it from the winter weather.
Try to get into the habit of ALWAYS checking the exhaust for water after starting the engine - it'll save a big repair bill the day you forget to open the engine sea-cock (we've all done it!!) or have a bit of local wildlife living in the inlet!
Enjoy the Vega - she'll look after you.
David
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]