IT RUNS

It was too windy to lay blocks today so I screwed around with the boat engine. I wanted to flush the water jacket so rigged up a temporary water system. I removed the raw water pump impeller so water from the garden hose could flow freely. This worked so well I decided to add fuel to the carburetor float bowl  (with a syringe) and see if it would start. Since the engine controls are not connected and I wanted to make sure nothing bad was happening, Lee came aboard to turn the key. I held the choke closed and she twisted the key to start and "START" it did. Purred like Oban on steroids. Idled it for about a minute and a half until I heard it leaning out from low fuel and shut it down. Success, our project boat is now worth at least what we payed for it.

I had disconnected the fuel pump discharge to check for flow and not add anymore fuel to the carburetor. Well there was no flow. I had the intake fuel line in about a cup of racing fuel and the pump didn't move a drop. I removed the pump and disassembled it about 4 times cleaning and soaking bowls, diaphragm, check valves and things. After about 4 hours of messing around it started pumping. I reinstalled the little bastard and manually pumped it (has a primer lever) and it would not pick up the fuel. DAMN! It had to be a check valve so I put a finger over the outlet on the suction stroke and the SOB started sucking fuel. I did this for a few minutes and got the sediment bowl full of fuel and it started working just "like it says in the fine print" (for you, Tony).

Now for the longer test run. I held the choke closed and Lee turned the key. The A-4 started instantly so I released the choke and opened the throttle a little and it bogged and quit. Don't get your blood pressure up I told myself. Held the choke closed again, Lee twisted the key and the beast started again. I let it warm a minute or so and opened the throttle a little. VOILÁ ! We ran it until the exhaust pipe got to about 150° F (handheld infrared thermometer) and shut it down. We don't have water going into the exhaust yet so didn't want to melt anything. Test Complete. Feeling better about this project boat every day. Lets eat.

I had fire extinguishers at the ready.