Engine Set-back Amid Hurricane Hilary
- Abbey Seeley
- Aug 20, 2023
- 3 min read
Updated: Aug 30, 2023
Tropical Storm brings heavy rainfall in Los Angeles, CA
From Category 2 Hurricane to Tropical Storm Warning- call it what you want, boaters battened down their hatches and added extra lines to secure their assets.
Preparing for extreme weather in San Pedro, California.
Adam and I spent the day gathering engine parts to complete the final touches on our Perkins engine rebuild. It has taken almost seven months to complete this project, and despite Adam's anticipation to start the engine and call it a wrap, we ran into the following problems...
Problem Number One:
Two-inch national pipe tapered AKA 2" npt is not actually 2". In reality it's more like 2.25" diameter, and, even though the exhaust elbow measures 2" diameter, it's ACTUALLY 1.5" npt threads... Whoever came up with this system was clearly smoking doobs. To try to make it work, we found a 2 in. x 1 1/2 in. black iron reducer bushing, and while this solved the thread problem, it created a new one; it now sticks out too far to allow the drawers to slide fully into place. (AW)
Problem Number Two:
After filling up the engine with oil, coolant, and the transmission with ATF, changing the Racor filter, and bleeding... and bleeding... and bleeding, the engine finally started for the first time back in the boat! However, when I went to increase the throttle, it was stalling. No problem, that's what the anti-stall screw on the top of the injector pump is for; just a quick adjustment, and we'll be breaking in this engine in the slip! This was not to be, unfortunately. The running theory is that when rebuilding this pump, the anti-stall screw was not threaded in very far, maybe a thread or two. Even while being ginger with it during bleeding and making sure that I had a wrench on the lower nut, it stripped when I went to adjust it....so that's going to be a MAJOR setback... I guess that's just how it goes sometimes, laugh or cry. (AW)
Things we did complete:
We installed soft fuel lines, finalized the routing for the transmission cooling lines, and decided on a fabric for cockpit cushions.
Preparations for Hurricane Hilary
We knew there wasn't much to worry about after confiding in good ol' Predict Wind, but after seeing others on the docks preparing their boats for heavy storm weather, we added an extra line for good measure...
Due to Hurricane Hilary, the city of Avalon on Catalina Island "strongly encouraged" boaters to leave the island and seek shelter on the mainland. It wasn't until we spoke with some friends that we found out that seeing all the boats coming from Catalina Island was quite a sight.
She runs! Video courtesy of SoCal Marine USA and proof that Adam's favorite sound in the world is the sound of Atlantean's heartbeat. After hiring SoCal Marine to rebuild our engine we couldn't say enough good things about them! They specialize in boat repairs, tune-ups, servicing, and maintenance. If you're in the South Bay and are looking to buy a boat or even rent one for the day they have those options as well.
If you happen to check them out, tell them Adam and Abbey sent you and the password is #teammonohull.
Be sure to check out our friends at SoCal Marine in Wilmington, CA.
They also have chickens and sheep... :)
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