1992 - 370DB major project

[Skeetobite]

Haven't been on this forum for awhile. Been swamped with work and now a major project in overhauling my engines and the engine compartment.

The project is nearing completion and I wanted to share some pics.

Got hauled and blocked up. Prepped the cabin for the ensuing mayhem. Prepped both engines for removal. Pulled the starboard engine near the end of the day.

The disaster in the engine compartment was brought on by the oil cooler in the port side blowing out and spewing oil and coolant all over the bilge. Next, the water heater failed and flooded the engine compartment. Finally, a clamp broke on the exhaust cooler, which sprayed salt water all over the starboard engine. This fried the starter selenoid, which closed the circuit and fried the starter, which fried the wiring harness.

I decided enough is enough. Everything gets yanked, broken down, inspected, repaired or replaced.

Hatches up - ready to rock and roll

Pulling starboard engine

My God... the horror!

Picked up the new block for the port side.

Most of the prep work is complete in this set. We're starting paint and re-assembly by section.

Battery switches before:

Battery switches after:

Turbos rebuilt & ready for paint:

My brother doing the prep and paint work:

James Cleveland (my mechanic) repaired the leaky starboard exhaust cooler and prep for paint:

Props tuned and balanced:

Engine parts waiting to go home (started rebuild this P.M.)

We discovered that the prior owner swapped out the 18/19 OEM props for 19/18 props. This has cost 300 rpm off the top end and overall performance issues since they are in prop pockets.

Things are beginning to wrap up. Several small "nit-picky" type items remain but none that should keep us from going back in the water early next week.

Port engine nearing completion

Starboard engine nearing completion

Through-hull tranducer going in

Through-hull complete. Note the limber holes have been "dug out" and re-bed. No rot found.

Two tanks Absolutely clean!

Final coat and touch up in progress in bilge. I added non-skid to the top of the stringers.

Dripless shaft seals installed

So far:

• New block - x1
• New heat exchangers - x2
• Turbos rebuilt - x2
• Alternators rebuilt - x2
• Raw water pump rebuilt - x1
• Added dripless shaft seals - x2
• 100% of hoses & clamps replaced - engines and bilge
• 100% of flex conduit stripped and all wires inspected/cleaned. Replaced as needed
• All sea strainers cleaned and rebuilt
• All battery cables replaced
• New battery boxes - x5
• New bilge pumps - x2
• New airhorns
• Added Hurley trim tab lights - sweet deal on ebay
• deleted transom mounted transducer - replaced with Bronze through-hull w/fairing
• New battery switches - x2
• "re-glassed" starboard exhaust jacket
• new mounts for pumps - x3
• New Racors - x3
• Replaced 100' of fuel hose
• Replaced all bilge pump hoses
• Deleted engine to water heater system - not sure what it's called, but it was a constant problem
• New 15hp electric start for the Admiral's dinghy - she can't pull start to save her life
• Tanks cleaned - jetted & cleaned some more
• New cockpit bolsters - in progress
• New vinyl for the bridge seating - in progress
• New LED lighting in bilge - in progress
  
  I'm sure I'm forgetting something!

More to come...

 

[Russ Calasant]

Wow!! thats fantastic! Really nice job, what kind of a financial investment is involved in a project like this, if you dont mind me asking?

 

[tdappleman]

Looks fantastic! Like the idea of adding non-skid to the top of the stringers. What kind of bilge paint did you use?

 

[Quint4]

I'm impressed!

 

[Skeetobite]

Wow!! thats fantastic! Really nice job, what kind of a financial investment is involved in a project like this, if you dont mind me asking?

I don't mind at all. Since this is the hardest thing to get anyone to admit!

This entire project will run close to $14,000 +/-. I have been fortunate enough to get nearly all of my parts at cost since I traded a pile of barely used electronics as a bartering tool.

I did a ton of research prior to beginning this project and found most of the costly parts (Engine long block) on google or e-Bay. I estimate that I saved approximately $6,000 by planning well in adnavce and doing most of the miscellaneous work myself. Some of the parts were purchased as long as 12 months ago.

This is my first boat and I planned to use it to learn from. I will be putting together a website about the 3 years I have been on this project. To date I have approximately $80,000 in upgrades, replacements and improvements to this boat. She is truly better than factory new at this point and we are very proud of her. Even with all the lay up for the work described above, we have still managed to put over 5,000 miles under the hull.

 

[Skeetobite]

Looks fantastic! Like the idea of adding non-skid to the top of the stringers. What kind of bilge paint did you use?

Travis - I used Interlux BilgeKoat - white

Prep is the most critical step. After a good cleaning with some purple stuff, all surfaces were wiped down with acetone. If any oils remained, you see an orange peel affect, which you can again wipe down with a light application of acetone prior to the second coat.

 

[Skeetobite]

Thanks all for your kind comments.

 

[Pietro]

:smt038:smt038:smt038:smt038 great job!!! ...it's good to understand I'm not alone in that insanity!!! :grin::grin::grin::grin::grin: I did the same with my engines two years ago, now it's the time for generator and cabin!

Good luck with your project! :thumbsup:

 

[earthmover17]

Nice documentation of a professional job. Who did your Turbo rebuilds?

Jack

 

[Skeetobite]

Jack, it was a local shop - in Clearwater I believe. My mechanic sent them out. I'll be gathering all the documentation tomorrow for my binder and will have more details.

 

[earthmover17]

Thanks Sketo. I've got one I want to have checked and I can't bring myself to take it to Cat. $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

Jack

 

[tobnpr]

Nice job! Cleveland Marine, right?

Now you're committed to keeping her forever

I gather the port block needed replacement because it blew up when the oil cooler failed?

 

[Skeetobite]

Yep.. James Cleveland. He's the only guy I trust with these engines. Everything he's done has been spot on perfect.

He took over the business from his dad about 2 years ago. Sadly, his father passed away late last year.

Pretty close on the scenario with the port side. There was a hole in one of the pistons and I didn't want to go through the expense of a rebuild when I could get (practically steal) a block for nearly the same price.

 

[Russ Calasant]

Thats fantastic, I would be very interested in that web site. Please let me/us know when you get that going and how to get there, thanks.

 

[Skeetobite]

Re: 1992 - 370DB major project: new pics

Engines set today. Ran on the ground and all is fine. Here are some updated pics:

Finished engine bay looking forward

Finished engine bay looking aft

Port side set in place

Both engines set in place

New Racors installed. Sea strainers cleaned, rebuilt and installed.

Trim Tab lights installed. new props installed.

Tomorrow all connections will be made to the engines and DC systems. The generator will be set in place and preparations made for splash Wednesday morning.

 

[douglee25]

That's looking really really good!

Doug

 

[LTD.330]

That is truly an impressive job. How many hours do you have invested in the whole project? And how many of those hours were spent making your bilge look fantastic?

 

[Skeetobite]

Thanks for the comments.

Today is day 21 of this project. I've spent 3 hours on the road each day round trip and took two days off before I choked the daylights out of someone a couple times.

The approximate hours breakdown roughly as follows:

Me: 130
Laborer #1: 130
Laborer #2: 56 - (needed another set of hands)
Laborer #3: 14 - (fired with the quickness... for having no quickness!)
Mechanic: 42
Electronics tech: 3
Fuel tech: 6
Canvas shop: 8+

The vast majority of this time was spent in the bilge. Includes cleaning EVERYTHING and every inch of wire. Replacements, prep, paint, etc. Every system on the boat has been gone through with a fine tooth comb.

Laborer #1 spent over 40 hours sandblasting all the engine components, generator and various parts. His efforts also included all of the cleaning, priming and painting of these parts. Don't tell my brother I'm calling him "Laborer #1"!

 

[an86carrera]

Nice job so far. We are neighbors with almost the same boats. Maybe we will see you out and about this year if it ever warms up
Len

 

[Skeetobite]

Thanks Len. We kept her at Twin Dolphin for three years before moving to Longboat a few months ago. Would be good to see someone out there!