Throttling up....and out

Ye olde Westerbeke W-52, a.k.a. the Perkins 4-135, a.k.a. the Mazda R2 block found powering a range of B2200s and Ford Rangers in the '80s, travelled farther yesterday than it has in some time, going as it did for a ride on the end of a truck crane's hook. Much sweat and swearing went into releasing the engine from a corroded engine mount bolt, and I learned that it's best that it goes back at as close to its eventual "resting angle" as is possible.

I finally got the pilothouse roof freed, after many hours of fruitless sabre-sawing through steel-aluminum galling and excessive amounts of "5200" glue, which Galactus uses to keep his helmet on, as far as I can tell. I did this not only to prime and paint the pilothouse's inward turning flange (and to naturally insert some sort of gasket between the steel and the aluminum), but to get a straight drop into the engine bay in order to get the engine out for the "prophylactic rebuild" I mentioned in a previous post.

The engine is getting picked up in a week by a recommended mechanic on a trailer. In order for this to happen, it has to be within range of a stationary boat crane at my club, so it's sitting on a shipping flat swaddled in a plastic tarp. What a lovely couple. Needs some TLC, however.



Alchemy's "engine room" seems strangely empty and predictably filthy, as plenty of sump oil chose the airborne moment to escape.

That tank dimly visible was a stainless steel holding tank. It is (I hope) empty save for a thorough swab-out and drying, because I am going to convert it to a diesel day tank. This will increase my fuel capacity from 100 to 140 gallons, and will allow me to "polish" the keel tanks' contents via my soon to be installed Filter BOSS Racor filter set-up so that I can with confidence always have 40 gallons of relatively pristine fuel for my refreshed diesel.



What that pipe is I have yet to learn.


The bilge will get attention, namely a big cleanout and a white paint-job, not to mention the removal of that "stock pot" water muffler in favour of a Vetus-type waterlock muffler.

After that, out comes the busbars, the batteries and lastly, the massive water tanks. Then, all gets painted with sound-deadening paint, and then I have fabbed up four 50 gallon tanks and a load of piping. The idea is to get the water tanks low, just off the hull and between the frames, for better weight distribution and because I want two "city water" tanks, a rainwater tank and a watermaker tank, with circumstances and a bypass manifold determining what water is used at what tap.