Mechanical inspection

Anything you see that needs real technical work? Most things seem like YouTube worthy stuff.

I bought her

Well all....I bought her. Proud new owner of a 40’ project??*. Haha, well I don’t think it will be that bad. Here are my plans, please include things that you may recommend.

1. Make bilge spotless
2. Change all fluids
3. Replace all hoses and belts that may need it (order spares)
4. Change all filters (order spares)
5. Repack rudder and propeller shaft boxes

When I get it hauled out (hopefully sooner than later)
1. Replace thru-hulls and seacocks (all seacocks are seized)
2. Replace soft soft wood on transom and re-glass it

That’s just my starting list. I do have a couple of questions..
1. Where do you guys go to for supplies? West Marine? American diesel?
2. Anyone know of boat yards in the Seattle area that allow owners to do there own work?

Wanna-b said:

Well all....I bought her. Proud new owner of a 40’ project??*. Haha, well I don’t think it will be that bad. Here are my plans, please include things that you may recommend.

1. Make bilge spotless
2. Change all fluids
3. Replace all hoses and belts that may need it (order spares)
4. Change all filters (order spares)
5. Repack rudder and propeller shaft boxes

When I get it hauled out (hopefully sooner than later)
1. Replace thru-hulls and seacocks (all seacocks are seized)
2. Replace soft soft wood on transom and re-glass it

That’s just my starting list. I do have a couple of questions..
1. Where do you guys go to for supplies? West Marine? American diesel?
2. Anyone know of boat yards in the Seattle area that allow owners to do there own work?

Click to expand...

Anytime you can buy engine parts (or anything else for that matter) from a non-marine source, you will likely save money.

American Diesel for FL parts
Fisheries Supply for other parts (they offer a new boat owner discount)
I think SeaView (Shilshole) allows some DIY repairs in their yard. So does South Park Marina. Port Townsend definitely does but...not near Seattle.

Good luck with your project. Happy to connect in real life sometime if I can offer any of my limited but hard earned DIY experience.

Thanks Airstream, I will take you up on that offer!

Also check out Defender Marine, Hodges's for electrical parts like motors and pumps and Deep Blue Yacht Supply for anything to do with cutlass bearings.

Within your to do list I would also suggest replacing all rubber goods on the engines (hoses, belts, fuel lines) and take a very close look at all of the heat exchangers.

Ken

Congratulations on your new boat. Like you we purchased a 40 year old boat that needed some deferred maintenance taken care of, some similar things you're seeing. If it were me I'd address safety and USCG compliance issues up front. Top of the list would be either freeing or replacing the seacocks. You need to also change those cracked hoses, those types of things can sink you. Finally, you're required to have operating running lights, we had the same issue and the fix was very simple (burned out bulb in one case, and bad ground in the other).

If you need a haul out in Seattle that allows you to do your own work, consider Canal Boatyard in Ballard (I don't work for them!). We used them a number of years ago without issue and they claim they have a list of contractors who they can refer you to if things get out of hand. Also, several of the former Jensen Motorboat employees are doing contract work, I had great experiences with the Jensen crew (Peter Proctor 206-605-0227 was the foreman).

For supplies, consider Seattle Marine and Fishing Supply on West Commodore way. It's aimed at the commercial fleet and has a good selection with reasonable prices. I also like Fisheries Supply.

Finally, I learned that no matter what I expected on costs old boats have a way of surprising you, be prepared for some 'discoveries'. Frankly I'd be a bit worried about that water tank and why just one of them rotted out. Is that tank leaking?

Oh, final comment. On the velvet drive I've had two heat exchangers fail (every 10-15 years) and when they start to leak the drive pumps its oil into the cooling water. It will drop out of gear when it gets low (which is sort of a self protection fail safe!). In particular if your drive heat exhanger uses salt water, I'd change it. If it uses fresh water, I'd carry a spare.

Wanna-b said:

Well all....I bought her. Proud new owner of a 40’ project??*. Haha, well I don’t think it will be that bad. Here are my plans, please include things that you may recommend.

1. Make bilge spotless
2. Change all fluids
3. Replace all hoses and belts that may need it (order spares)
4. Change all filters (order spares)
5. Repack rudder and propeller shaft boxes

When I get it hauled out (hopefully sooner than later)
1. Replace thru-hulls and seacocks (all seacocks are seized)
2. Replace soft soft wood on transom and re-glass it

That’s just my starting list. I do have a couple of questions..
1. Where do you guys go to for supplies? West Marine? American diesel?
2. Anyone know of boat yards in the Seattle area that allow owners to do there own work?

Click to expand...

Fiberglass Supply - Burlington, WA: Fiberglass, polyester resin, epoxy, cabosil, milled glass fibers, etc These guys are into building surfboards, but will stop and talk to you about any project you are doing and offer any help you might need. While they aren't necessarily boat restoration experts, they know their products and will make sure you have what you need to make the job come out right. They are a small local business, and their prices are competitive enough for me to shop there regularly, but I live 15 minutes away so I never have to worry about shipping gallons of resin. I'm sure you can find shops like this down in Seattle, but I don't know where they are.

Harbor Freight: 4" grinder, Oscillating saw (for your fiberglass demo work), flapsanding discs for 4" grinder, disposable gloves. Think about a good shop vac and PPE for this kind of work, the grinding and demo is miserable.

American Diesel: Ford Lehman marinized parts. (Anything added to the base engine to cool it in a boat, basically.) A few of the things they sell, like some of the raw water hose, are simply straight RW hose cut to the right length for me, but buying the entire hose kit means you have it all in one swoop ready to go. I'd love to keep them in business at least as long as I'm around, so I support them!

Harbor Marine (Everett, WA): Your local transmission experts. Pricey, but you've already heard that these things are. They are the only chanderly at Everett Marina besides WM and have a good old fashioned parts counter, if they don't have it they can find it. Again, I try to stop in and shop there when I can to give them business so they will be there when I need them. I stopped in to see what they could tell me about engine mounts, and they welcomed me into the back, educated me about the different mountings the LH came with, opened up some historical sales literature on the FL, and had the new mounts I needed in stock (all 8 of them for my twins.) This is a good old school shop that hires young guys and trains them to work on these marine trannys, which is really good to see in this day and age. They hired a guy from my son's class out at the marine tech school in Anacortes.

Sure Marine, Ballard: Have a look at their website. If you have/need any of the products they sell, please keep them in business. They are another one of those businesses you can call on the phone for technical assistance with the installation of (for example) your Webasto diesel heater, and they will walk you through the possible issues, and sell/ship you the $12 worth of parts you need to make it happen - my personal experience. They also helped me properly reconfigure the ducting of my heating system that didn't quite seem right, but I didn't know for sure how to redo it. I was on the right track, but they honed in on the best method to accomplish what I was doing - over the phone, for free, and their method, while using some more expensive ducting, ended up costing the same because I was able to use less of it.

Regarding your seacocks - I had some that I thought were seized, that in fact just needed some regular prodding before they would move. Not force, just regular attempts to get them unstuck. Seacocks are (generally) pretty durable items and you might find you don't need to replace them, just exercise them.

I've got to run to school, but others have shared some "care and feeding of the Ford Lehman" tips with me in the past... I'll see if I can find it for you as that might help you look at your engine with a critical eye as to what is important to start with.

Congrats!

Man, you guys are money. I appreciate all the tips. My list just keeps getting longer, but that’s ok.

Fractal- I thought I saw you were in La Conner. I will be moored at the La Conner Marina until a spot in Seattle opens up. If you’re up for coming by I’d love to pick your brain.

Slowmo and fractal - great lists! I wish I knew about all of those resources when I started.

I’ll add one other. Fiberlay in Kent WA for all of your fiberglassing supply needs and advice.

". Replace thru-hulls and seacocks (all seacocks are seized)"

If the seacocks are proper tapered bronze , the can easily be made perfect again.

When on land remove the nut holding the taper in and tap the shaft with a piece of wood and a hammer , to not damage the threads.

A bit of fine valve grinding compound as you hold the tpered plug in place and it should be as good as bew.

Some folks will replace the 1/8 in winter drain plugs with SS outboard zerk fittings and give the unit a hit with grease before exercising it.

Thru hulls only need replacing if pink from electrolosis.

Store all fuel or oil filters and rubber hoses and belts in an air tight bag.