Saving Another Catalina, An abandoned Catalina 36.

[mikeracca]

Hey there everyone. Well I did it again. I bought an abandoned Catalina that needs lots of love. This one more so than Luna needed. This time the boat has only been sitting for 4 or 5 years, but it has not been cared for as well. She had a good owner that once got divorced went to live onboard with his parrot and dog, then he got into drugs and left the boar with the bird and dog stuck inside. The bird died, the dog was rescued and things were not left well after that. I’m prolly gonna need to completely refinish the interior, I need a new engine and will most likely need to replace all the electrical just like I did for Luna. This one will not be as fast as a restoration as Luna was, I don’t have the income to do it so there is that. Stay tuned for pictures and more.

Anyone know where I can get a Universal M25 for cheap?

 

[mermike]

Was this the boat?

 

[mikeracca]

Was this the boat?
View attachment 218962

Yup that’s the one.

 

[mermike]

I enjoyed your tales of Luna's rescue. Hope this one works out for you.

 

[kloudie1]

Looks like a project, Mike.. Congrats and good luck!
Any idea what is the engine problem? That engine is reliable as bricks unless submerged.

 

[mikeracca]

Looks like a project, Mike.. Congrats and good luck!
Any idea what is the engine problem? That engine is reliable as bricks unless submerged.

Missing the cylinder head and injectors, rings seized to the bores and just flat out dirty inside. Imma try and free the pistons and see if there is any damage to the bores (most likely will be) and see if it can’t be cleaned and repaired, if not it’s getting rebuilt or replaced. But that’s job #2, my first job is getting it cleaned out and rid of any critters.

 

[jviss]

Bummer - there's a guy near me selling a 3 cylinder Mitsubishi L3E from a boat for $650, and the transmission is available, too. But it's in Massachusetts.

 

[Davidasailor26]

That engine is reliable as bricks unless submerged.

Missing the cylinder head and injectors, rings seized to the bores

Well, reliable as bricks unless submerged or that.

Sounds like a cool project though. I look forward to reading about it.

 

[Hayden Watson]

Missing the cylinder head and injectors, rings seized to the bores and just flat out dirty inside. Imma try and free the pistons and see if there is any damage to the bores (most likely will be) and see if it can’t be cleaned and repaired, if not it’s getting rebuilt or replaced. But that’s job #2, my first job is getting it cleaned out and rid of any critters.

The M25 is a Kubota D850 at heart. That engine is a dry sleeve engine so even if the bores are horribly scored, you just remove and replace them. Here are a couple of examples. I have no direct knowledge of these vendors; they are just the first ones that popped up when I did a search. Being a fully mechanical engine, they are some of the simplest to work on and you can find a bunch of YouTube videos that go through the process.
replacement head for $484
full overhaul kit including cylinder sleeves, pistons and every other replaceable part for $429.

 

[Stu Jackson]

If you can get the M25 running it's a great engine for that boat.

If not, IIRC they aren't too easy to find. Many I know have replaced their M25s with M25XPB engines, a different engine, used in the C310.

 

[mikeracca]

Thanks for the heads up @Hayden Watson

So I got out to “Cetus” tonight and did some cleaning. I got the sail off the mast, it looks like it is in ok shape, the head sail is shot, I have not even unrolled it, but I can see it‘s messed up. Oh well… I didn’t find any critters, but I think I found where they like to hide and that’s in the Vee berth area. I will have to explore that later, one of the marina workers has a dog that loves catching rats so once I get some more stuff off and get the boat opened up some more we are gonna let her loose and see what she can do for me. I removed most of the existing cushions but there are still a few in the aft berth, I will get them next time. These are pretty much just patterns at this point, I doubt I will ever be able to get the smell out of them. I removed some of the messed up lines outside, wrapped up some of the lines as well and called it a night. There is so much to do cleaning wise this will prolly take me well into next year, and that’s just the inside. I will prolly bring the pressure washer down and knock out the outside before this summer is over just to get it looking better.

Question for other C36 owners. The hatch is strong enough I can stand on it, but the cover the hatch slides under isn’t. Is this normal? On my C30 I could walk on it and it was just like the rest of the deck. Other than that there are no soft spots.

here are a few pics I took today, to give you all an Idea of what I’m up against… and you haven’t even seen in all the cubbies yet!

Outside, not great but not bad.

From the companionway.

Galley.

Aft berthing.

Galley Table.

Well it has a small heater… not sure if it works or not…

Head, and yes I found the floor piece, it’s in pretty good but not perfect condition.

Vee Berth, and most lik where the critters are.

And my data plaque it’s a 1985 and hull number 439.

That’s all for now. Hopefully I will get out to her on Sunday if not it won’t be till a week from now. Oh, yea, I’m also giving her a new name, I just have not decided on it yet. Right now the wining names are Serenity and Celeste. Cetus is a bit too out there of a name for most people. I really don’t want my boat to carry the name of a whale or the sea monster that attacked Andromeda.

 

[jviss]

There are four M25s on eBay right now, a couple of M25XPs, and lots of parts.

 

[Hayden Watson]

Well, the outside doesn't look nearly as bad as Luna was when you started. I suspect that the interior will more than make up for that difference.

 

[kloudie1]

I see that they left the rocker arms and pushrods next to the gallley sink! Ya gotta wonder where they took the head..

 

[Stu Jackson]

The hatch is strong enough I can stand on it, but the cover the hatch slides under isn’t. Is this normal? On my C30 I could walk on it and it was just like the rest of the deck.

Which hatch? If the Vberth, there were two different ones, the older solid ones and the newer ones with glazing. My 1986 C34 has a solid one and I walk on it all the time. I always thought it was funny when folks complained about the solid hatches and wanted Catalina to make see-thru ones; so they did in 1987 and the first thing these dudes did was cover up the glazing with Sunbrella, 'cuz they claimed they couldn't sleep late anymore!!!

If you're asking about the companionway hatch, the sliding part is brick solid, the top part is thinnerbecause it doesn't have any liner material - just look up when the hatch is halfway! I find I never have to strand on it, 'cuz if the boom is centered you can stand on the side, and if you want to avoid standing on it at all then move the boom off center. I consider it a non-issue, just don't push your luck.

I agree cleaning up the outside this summer would be nice, your neighbors would appreciate it.

 

[jviss]

The cover over the main sliding hatch is called a sea hood. On my 1984 Catalina 36 my recollection is that it was solid enough to stand on, but then, I'm a fairly skinny guy.

 

[Tally Ho]

I see she has a Raritan head, and. Dickinson heater, so some things are worth salvaging ;-)

The wiring looks like a challenge though.

Greg

 

[mikeracca]

I see that they left the rocker arms and pushrods next to the gallley sink! Ya gotta wonder where they took the head..

The head was in the marina office for a while, it had bent valves, but no one knows where it is today. One of the pushrods is bent as well. I hope it didn’t scrap the cam, as that is one part that doesn’t seem easy to find new.

 

[mikeracca]

I see she has a Raritan head, and. Dickinson heater, so some things are worth salvaging ;-)

The wiring looks like a challenge though.

Greg

Nothing I haven’t tackled before. With Luna I tore out every bit of wiring that wasn’t embedded in fiberglass, and completely rewired her both AC and DC.

 

[BigEasy]

Nothing I haven’t tackled before.

Well, based on your results with "Luna", you certainly have the skills & motivation to resurrect this boat. Best of luck!