Misc. Updates

In my last update I mentioned that the fiberglass work was done and the engine was coming along.  The original plan was to have the fiberglass shop also install and wire up the engine.  I ended up modifying my plan slightly after the fiberglass guy called me while I was out of town to say he was worried about my boat getting impounded because the shop owner was an alcoholic and either had or was or might not make the rent payment on the facility.   Not really the thing you want to hear especially if you were going to cut a reasonably large check to have additional work done.  Plus, the time it takes to resolve legal stuff like that could potentially take months (or more) to resolve.

So the boat is back at the storage place and the engine is still in the garage but a lot has happened.  I was able to get the heads installed, lash set, and intake installed.

The intake was an interesting story.  Apparently an aluminum intake on  cast iron heads is not quite a bolt-on procedure.  I found that there were 4 center bolts (which stick into the heads) that needed bolts that were longer than what was in my bolt kit.  And because they stuck into the heads they had to be just the right length or they could interfere with some of the push rods.  A trip to the hardware store and some meticulous searching fixed that.  Next problem was one of the bolt holes in the remanufactured cylinder head as being stubborn.  I ended up going through a box of parts from the old engine and finally found one that was agreeable.  However, I also found that some of the bolts would not thread properly into the holes.  I'm not sure if its due to the deck height from remanufacturing the block/heads or if it was due to the machining of the intake being a little off, etc.  But... luckily some time ago I realized a day would come where I would need a die grinder!  I was able to bore out the holes in the intake just enough to get the clearance I needed.  Interestingly enough... the holes for the bolts (more like an oval slot) offer a fairly large range of motion up and down for the bolts but not side to side like I needed.

My next step will be to finish off attaching the accessories and then I'll be ready to drop the engine into the boat and start getting the drive system going which means... actually being able to drive the boat!  I want to make sure everything runs and the boat performs before I start redoing the cabin interior.