In the a.m. I was able to get the 1/4″ SS all thread. I also looked at replacing the strainers but the installation will be a little problematic. I had till 10:30 to decide as it takes me 30 minutes to walk to the store. I’m sure they wouldn’t close if I walked in a minute before and wanted to buy the $400 strainer.
What I was waiting to see mostly was could I get the one I had repaired. I started by removing the broken studs. It was much easier than with the header tank. I do think they were brass studs because for the most part they crumbled. I drilled a good part of them out and then attempted to use the easy out again (smaller size). All that did was tear more of the stud out and I was concerned about tearing up the threads on the fitting so I stopped. Then I grabbed the tap to clean up the threads. Being cautious to make sure it starts correctly and doesn’t change any of the current threads I slowly worked it through the holes. Bingo. I tried the new all thread in each hole and they functioned properly. If worse came to worse I was going to drill through the holes so I could run the all thread through there and just nut the bottom. Fortunately I didn’t need to do that.
With that done W/ set about to clean the bronze pieces. We heated up some Vinegar and dipped them in there. That wold get rid of any of the corrosion on them. We also cleaned up the gasket (just in case I bought some rubber gasket material. With all that accomplished I was able to reinstall the strainer.
I liberally doused the threads with Loctite and screwed them into the bottom bracket. I then put some Teflon tape on the drain nut and on the center toggle bolt carefully fitting both items. The top nut most always seems to leak so this time I tried a Cu washer thinking I would get it to seat. I had it all back together and opened up the seacock and removed the clamp on the hose to the dripless stuffing box. Water slowly entered the bowl, rose to the top and seeped out the center bolt seal.
I take it back apart and find a rubber washer we had in the spares and use it in place. I reassemble it and tighten it back up; remove the clamp, open the seacock and bingo. A little water fills in and then it stops.
In all this process I had checked my email and both my super people had given me hints. One was to check for a bleed screw on the coolant system (I can’t find it and there is only a place where I could have imagined one) and the other said to run it up with considerably more rpms. I ran it at 1500 rpms and it still was getting a bit too hot. We shut the engine down and waited a couple of hours. Then I ran it up to 2,000 rpms and the temp went to 180, then 190, then close to 200 and settled there. I checked the engine temps and the coolant tub and they were all within the good zone. As I came back out to the cockpit W/ said the temp was going back down. She settled at about 185 F. FANTASTIC! We are in business.
We run it for about 30 more minutes and to be sure after we shut her down again and wait a couple of hours we run it again for an hour to make sure. It will take us about an hour to get to the anchorage and we don’t want any emergencies in the airport control zone nor the channel between the reef.
It’s almost too good to be true. The temp rises up to 175 and stabilizes there. The book says the engine temp should be between 160 and 190. So we are on the money and in the money. We celebrate by W/ dragging me out to a Pearl shop she’s found something she likes. It doesn’t matter. I’m on cloud nine; after 14 days of working on this project we’re whole again. Boats not broke, and I’m not broke. People talk about sympathetic pregnancies; I have sympathetic boat symptoms. But no more. I’m whole again.
Go Slow
Sail Far
Stay Long