ThePinkPanther
29-10-2015, 12:24 PM
Hi Followers :bigcry:
I've been absent from this site and my associated post for quite a few weeks whilst holidaying in Canada!
And no, I never resolved the issue with the newly rebuilt OMC Cobra V8 (Ford Windsor 351) insofar as its unlocatable overheating issue when at 3,000 RPM it ran at 65-70C and at 3,300 RPM it hit 100C in an instant!
But I'm going to jump far ahead because a wrist slashing problem has now arisen as in a motor full of salt water!
Of course we all known that's not possible but I assure you it is! Good quality, fresh salt water from Moreton Bay!
How did I know? Well firstly, the motor was becoming very difficult to start and when it did fire up, it was far from happy! Misfiring, backfiring and all sorts of horrible noises!
So, whilst I was messing about with the starter motor, I noticed a couple of drips of water on the back of my hand and a closer look indicated a slow leak immediately below the rear No 4 spark plug - not a good sign. And some rust there as well on the block! A closer look around the offending area revealed a completely missing nut on the manifold, not even there so hence the water leak and though hard to believe almost every nut and bolt on the PORT side was just above finger tight though I know they all need a re-torqueing after an overhaul.
Somewhat alarmed, I whipped the spark plug out, cranked the motor over via the front pulley and was rewarded by (salt) water splashing out of the plug hole! I said to myself that this was not a good sign and required further investigation.
Off came the manifold, riser and head in a record time of 45 minutes! Aaaggghhhhhj! Water, water everywhere!
Yes, I have a Solicitor looking into it but he believes that the costs of getting this boat back to the Marina, the lift and hard stand costs plus making the "mechanic?" fix it and even being able to prove the cockups he made (see old post), the cost of his services and his ability to slow the job down etc. etc. would be more than a new motor would cost. He figured about ten grand it would cost on the assumption I had a win.
So guys, I need advice now on the recovery procedures!
The rebore, new pistons, new head, rings etc. seem (?) to have contained the water above the piston tops in each of the four bores and the engine oil has not the slightest sign of water in it so could I be lucky enough to have water only above the pistons and very little getting through to the crankshaft areas?
Whilst the bores look pretty horrible being covered in very light rust, oil and water, nonetheless with some 2,000 grade wet 'n dry sandpaper they come up pretty good with no sign of any serious corrosion, more stain marks! I got to it hopefully fairly quickly so I am hoping I can work miracles on it???
I'll pull the other head off just in case the oil has got some salt water in it and has worked it's way up into the other bores. Not a big job to do this.
So, if I use the above sandpaper on all the bores or as necessary, obviously drain the oil, clean the piston heads (in good shape actually) will this be enough or should I be looking at some flushing oil down the bores maybe?
I deliberately filled one of the bores with a small amount of fresh water, marked the level and after 12 hours there was not the slightest sign of it lowering so does that confirm my hopes that the water was somehow contained to a large extent in the above-piston-head areas?
Maybe enroute to repairing this damage I will come across the problem with the over heating!
This has not been one of my better projects!
Thanks again
I've been absent from this site and my associated post for quite a few weeks whilst holidaying in Canada!
And no, I never resolved the issue with the newly rebuilt OMC Cobra V8 (Ford Windsor 351) insofar as its unlocatable overheating issue when at 3,000 RPM it ran at 65-70C and at 3,300 RPM it hit 100C in an instant!
But I'm going to jump far ahead because a wrist slashing problem has now arisen as in a motor full of salt water!
Of course we all known that's not possible but I assure you it is! Good quality, fresh salt water from Moreton Bay!
How did I know? Well firstly, the motor was becoming very difficult to start and when it did fire up, it was far from happy! Misfiring, backfiring and all sorts of horrible noises!
So, whilst I was messing about with the starter motor, I noticed a couple of drips of water on the back of my hand and a closer look indicated a slow leak immediately below the rear No 4 spark plug - not a good sign. And some rust there as well on the block! A closer look around the offending area revealed a completely missing nut on the manifold, not even there so hence the water leak and though hard to believe almost every nut and bolt on the PORT side was just above finger tight though I know they all need a re-torqueing after an overhaul.
Somewhat alarmed, I whipped the spark plug out, cranked the motor over via the front pulley and was rewarded by (salt) water splashing out of the plug hole! I said to myself that this was not a good sign and required further investigation.
Off came the manifold, riser and head in a record time of 45 minutes! Aaaggghhhhhj! Water, water everywhere!
Yes, I have a Solicitor looking into it but he believes that the costs of getting this boat back to the Marina, the lift and hard stand costs plus making the "mechanic?" fix it and even being able to prove the cockups he made (see old post), the cost of his services and his ability to slow the job down etc. etc. would be more than a new motor would cost. He figured about ten grand it would cost on the assumption I had a win.
So guys, I need advice now on the recovery procedures!
The rebore, new pistons, new head, rings etc. seem (?) to have contained the water above the piston tops in each of the four bores and the engine oil has not the slightest sign of water in it so could I be lucky enough to have water only above the pistons and very little getting through to the crankshaft areas?
Whilst the bores look pretty horrible being covered in very light rust, oil and water, nonetheless with some 2,000 grade wet 'n dry sandpaper they come up pretty good with no sign of any serious corrosion, more stain marks! I got to it hopefully fairly quickly so I am hoping I can work miracles on it???
I'll pull the other head off just in case the oil has got some salt water in it and has worked it's way up into the other bores. Not a big job to do this.
So, if I use the above sandpaper on all the bores or as necessary, obviously drain the oil, clean the piston heads (in good shape actually) will this be enough or should I be looking at some flushing oil down the bores maybe?
I deliberately filled one of the bores with a small amount of fresh water, marked the level and after 12 hours there was not the slightest sign of it lowering so does that confirm my hopes that the water was somehow contained to a large extent in the above-piston-head areas?
Maybe enroute to repairing this damage I will come across the problem with the over heating!
This has not been one of my better projects!
Thanks again