Major Perkins Maintenance, Classic 34' Mainship, Perkins T6.354

[Gdavid]

Progress, finally and limited but progress.

The standard size thrust bearings I ordered were completely wrong, wrong radius, too small just wrong, I also ordered a 0.007 over set, not sure if they are going to be right. The thrust bearings are separate horseshoe shaped replaceable sets of 4; pieces, most other engines have a shoulder or flange on one of the main caps. The main caps I was waiting for are correct it is just this components which can be replaced with the crank in place

I have the crank partially installed, it is suspended by main caps 3 and 5, it is temporarily installed with the old thrust bearings but I will roll the correct in when I figure things out. The rod bearings I ordered were wrong, they didn't have any holes but should have a hole to feed oil pressure up the rod. They are also offset to one side, I have what should be the correct ones coming. I am learning the hard way but there isn't much left about these engines I haven't wrestled with.

My father was on hand to help me lift the crank into the block, we took it very slow and cautiously but I think it went well. Got a late start and knocked off before getting too tired to make good decisions.

 

[Gdavid]

Steady and slow progress I have all but one of the main bearings installed, all the rod bearings. I have been ordering my parts from heavy duty pros, for some reason they keep sending me the wrong set of standard thrust bearings. I ordered an oversized set which is the right radius but too thick. All of the standard set are for a completely different engine in the wrong radius. I'm probably 2 weeks out from having it all together.

I think all my dockmates think I'm crazy at this point and I also have a duck with eight eggs living on my fly bridge. Clearly she expects this repair to take a bit longer.

 

[Gdavid]

Still getting it out back together, managing about 2 hours progress a day. I keep reminding myself that at least I am spending time on my boat, even though stuck in the slip. I really should be documenting the hours and days spent as they can count towards sea time for licensing purposes. I let my license expire due to laziness and not wanting to jump through hoops for a medical condition but would like to reconsider in the future.

Project status wise, I have time timing gears all set up and the timing cover back on as well as the rear main seal, adapter plate and flywheel. Remaining tasks are a long list but I am trying not to rush as an oiled or coolant leak would really frustrate me. The entire fuel system, cooling system, bot manifolds and transmission remain to be installed. In addition to painting the engine bay, I am hoping to be done in a couple more weeks.

 

[CharlieO.]

Still getting it out back together, managing about 2 hours progress a day. I keep reminding myself that at least I am spending time on my boat, even though stuck in the slip. I really should be documenting the hours and days spent as they can count towards sea time for licensing purposes. I let my license expire due to laziness and not wanting to jump through hoops for a medical condition but would like to reconsider in the future.

Project status wise, I have time timing gears all set up and the timing cover back on as well as the rear main seal, adapter plate and flywheel. Remaining tasks are a long list but I am trying not to rush as an oiled or coolant leak would really frustrate me. The entire fuel system, cooling system, bot manifolds and transmission remain to be installed. In addition to painting the engine bay, I am hoping to be done in a couple more weeks.

I thought sea time only counted if you're off the dock? Just curious because I do keep track of our time on the ship travel log and wouldn't mind getting license for employment purposes.

 

[Gdavid]

I just looked it up and you are correct. Not sure if it changed or I pulled a fast one on the CG last time I filed. I have plenty of time on the water but fail to log it as I should.

 

[Gdavid]

I humbly submit definitive proof that I have indeed replaced my damper plate.

 

[BruceK]

Great progress! May your damper plate never get actually damp. Tad concerned about duck and ducklings, getting from FB to water

 

[Gdavid]

Great progress! May your damper plate never get actually damp. Tad concerned about duck and ducklings, getting from FB to water

We had some friends with a wildlife research background, specifical to waterfowl stop by to check the viability of the eggs and just chat in general, and they assured us the ducklings will just follow mom off the flybridge into the cockpit but we may need a ramp for them to get to the water

 

[Gdavid]

No new pictures but plenty of progress. I am kicking myself with all of the time I am spending on things that I should have been knocking out while waiting on the crank to get machined. I should have had all fasteners, cleaned organized and replaced as needed, instead I'm doing that as I go along and finding plenty of my paint prep to be lacking and in need or additional cleanup.

I have the transmission back on the bell housing, the motor mounts back on the engine (not the vibration isolation ones that go on the stringers) and the motor positioned to allow the oil pan to go back on. I believe I will set my valve clearances before I put the pan back on, it is simple to reach up and feel the lobe position and set the slack valves that way. The oil pump is back on. I cleaned up the engine compartment and got most of the first coat of paint on before running out, i should have gone with a gallon, I believe two quarts will do but a gallon would have been about the same price. I can apply more coats outside of the stingers once the engine is back in, it is just easier now. I am regretting not sending the injector pump out for rebuild during the down time. The pump was reportedly rebuilt about 6 or 7 years ago, and the motor runs fine but I can't find any specific receipt for it and would prefer to rule out any internal leakage. I will probably install as is and closely monitor my oil levels and have the oil tested during break in anyway.

I am hoping to get the engine back in place this coming Saturday, hopefully test fire it but at the minimum crank it over to confirm the oil system is charging. I am leaning towards lowering it without the manifolds, starter and heat exchanger to reduce weight and bulk while maneuvering it back in place, they are pretty easy to reach access with the motor back it it's home. I raised it up with a chain falls on each end of the block but am probably going to lower it with one as I can twist and tilt the engine easier this way. The lift points are offset to opposite sides of the cylinder head this causes it to twist when each lift point is independently connected to my "gantry" above whereas using a chain bridle gives me flexibility.

 

[Gdavid]

Bilge painted, oil pan back on, planning to lower the engine home on Thursday and be ready to fire it up by Saturday

 

[Gdavid]

Motor is back in position. I have not started alignment yet but will start that fight tomorrow.

I had to touch up the bilge paint tonight so I didn't want to disturb to much while the paint was still wet.

Hopefully I will get it aligned tomorrow after work and start installing all the system back on it. Hope to at least crank it over on Saturday.

 

[Gdavid]

The last pic is the pulley for the serpentine belt kit. The damper gets installed in front of it and sandwiches it in place. It would be very difficult to install with the motor in place on my boat. I couldn't figure any install pictures of this kit on the Perkins 6 cylinder engine, I should have taken more pics.

 

[boomerang]

After enduring an engine and engine room with years of oil and grime, it sure brings a smile to your face to have all of that stuff clean and freshly painted, doesn't it!
Nice job.

 

[Gdavid]

After enduring an engine and engine room with years of oil and grime, it sure brings a smile to your face to have all of that stuff clean and freshly painted, doesn't it!
Nice job.

Yes, hopefully I can keep it clean. I tried my best to clean every gasket surfaces before assembly and I like the gasket shellac that comes in a brown bottle, I have placed a lot of faith in that. I am sure I will struggle to maintain the mess of bleeding the injector lines, but hopefully it will clean up easily.

I will try to post some more pictures of the serpentine conversion kit I am installing. In theory it should greatly reduce belt dust in the engine compartment. The kit I am referring to is Balmar 48-PSP-6.354,but consists of a multi-groove pulley for the crankshaft, water pump and alternator, as well as the new belt. The new multi groove pulley is large in diameter and covers the forward v-belt grove in the crank pulley. You could continue to run the stock v belt on the water pump and stock alternator and run a second, larger alternator off of the serpentine belt, assuming you have the means to build a bracket to hold it. This kit never became very popular, perhaps because the 6.354 was getting less common by the kit was developed, I also suspect a lack of spring tensioner in the system is a fail. Modern serpentine belts stretch less than most v-belts and are not forgiving at all any lack of tension. I am planning to adapt a spring tensioner, perhaps from a Cummins 6bta and mount it to the camshaft gear cover. It is steel so it should be easy to fabricate this. I don't think this is necessary until I upgrade my alternator and set it up to charge the house battery as well, but I will have to closely monitor the belt tension in the mean time.

Background on choosing to go with this kit: when I bought the boat, it only had 2 lead acid group 27 batteries serving both the house loads and the engine. It had an inverter fed by this too, it was ridiculously overtaxing this bank. I don't think the boat left the dock very often. When I first increased my battery size, I didn't separate the engine load/bank, and now 4 group 31 AGM's were overloading the alternator. The bank was charging it via a single belt to the alternator and it was wearing through belts and making a mess. It was too much of a load for that system and ultimately burned out that alternator. I separated the engine and house system a couple years ago, which greatly reduced the alternator load, belt wear and the need to constantly adjust belt tension.

 

[Gdavid]

It was a humbling weekend, no bad news but I just really overestimated my projected productivity. I wasted much of Saturday chasing down fuel line parts. I was planning to convert my lift pump to secondary filter line to a hose with banjo & crush washer style. My old steel line was in horrible shape but I either failed to order the banjo bolts or misplaced them and they aren't available locally, backtracking to the steel line approach meant buying the new tubing, bending into place, locating the long misplaced fuel line olives. It was frustrating but is over. Half of the manifold gaskets I ordered were wrong, I'm kicking myself for ordering from anyone but TADiesels, they would have saved me the trouble, I have corrected my ways and placed an order with them today along with my misplaced coolant overhead sensor.

God showed me some pity and limited my frustration by conjuring up seemingly 10-15knots of wind all weekend, so I didn't feel I was missing out on any time on the water. I think I'm a couple days away from getting finished up, but I've been wrong several times already.

I did get the serpentine belt installed; it fits well but I need to upgrade my belt tensioner/adjuster at some point. My plans for a spring tensioner will take a bit of head scratching.

 

[Gdavid]

She lives

 

[Gdavid]

I tried to load a video, it appeared to have worked but isn't showing up. Yesterday was an emotional rollercoaster working on this old girl. I had fought through the last of trouble shooting the engine harness and had tracked down the mystery wires when I realized my starter battery was dead. I don't have a dedicated charger for the start battery, it charges via a automatic charge relay (ACR) off the house bank when on shore power or via the alternator underway. I had blown a fuse in the ACR circuit last fall and didn't realize it. Somehow there was a small load on the engine battery oner the winter it only had 5.6
Volts when it was time to test the wiring harness. Not a huge deal, even if the start battery doesn't come back from the dead, but I was surprised the house bank didn't start it when I jumped the tied it in. I was really starting to suspect the engine wasn't turning over as easily due to a lower end error. I was also surprised that my battery charger was staying in float mode and not recognizing the load of the dead battery drawing down the house bank.

Eventually I kept assembling the cooling system and bleeding the fuel system while waiting for the start battery to recover. I was tempted to just go replace it, as it really should be at this point anyway, but the nagging thought that I may have fouled something up and the engine would still refuse to turn over with a fresh starting battery was just too painful of a possibility to face because the boat is really worthless without a running engine, and I would have just dumped more money into it.

Throughout the day, I did try the starter and it would turn the motor over a little more each time, just enough to give me hope, reveal it was making oil pressure, and eventually enough to bleed the injector lines. Finally, with the injectors bled and it turning over at a normal speed, she came right to life. I still need to put some hose clamps on the engine coolant side of the system and fill it up, connect the controls and begin the epic cleanup ahead.

 

[boomerang]

I could hear the sigh of relief all the way down the Bay. I'm glad for you!

 

[Dwk]

What a job to be proud of! I’ve followed from the beginning knowing you would get all things right. Congratulations George!