Nola Mike's 3.7/470 --> 4.3L swap thread

nola mike

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New fuel pump today, it's putting out 2.5 psi. Still fuel gushing out of 1 side (both before). Reset float drop and level with Swiss time piece precision. Still gushing. Loosened top and wiggled the float. That did it, guess I must have had it caught on something when I put it back together.
And I'mma just gonna leave this for now:
https://youtu.be/W7C8ms18oek
 

achris

More fish than mountain goat
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Probably not a good idea to be running that engine without water... Just saying.

But it does sound very healthy. :thumb:
 

nola mike

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achris , why you got to be ruining my fun? 30 sec, no rubber bits to burn. Tomorrow I water it and think about testing the power steering (or work on the transom stuff that I've been ignoring). Good news is that I think I'll be in good shape if I never go above idle at least. I can't believe how much smoother this is than the 3.7, even sitting on the driveway with no exhaust...
 

achris

More fish than mountain goat
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achris , why you got to be ruining my fun? ...

It may 'ruin your fun', but I'm trying to help stop ruining your engine...

No water means no lubrication to the water pump shaft seal, no cooling around the exhaust ports and valves and red hot (even at idle!) exhaust gases against uncooled manifold internal castings.

But, it's your engine..... I was just trying to be helpful. ;)

Chris..
 

nola mike

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Managed to get the stripped shift cable out with my new bolt extractors. Didn't see that happening as easily as it did with these! Now it's raining, and almost beer o'clock already, so that might be all for today.
 

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nola mike

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Alright! Progress!
1. Transom work: finished 4200ing, fixing rotted section of transom, new lower shift plate bolts. Everything tightened without collapsing transom. Yay.
2. Outdrive. Was hoping to use the one from the donor, but it has a huge leak somewhere. Then hoped to use my lower that I replaced the shift seal on a few years ago, but it's still leaking :( can't imagine I never tested it. Anyway, got a combo that holds pressure. Replaced water pump and u joints.
3. More transom. New shift cable installed. Realized gimbal wasn't seated. Hopefully got that straight.
4. Steering cable. That was fun. Turns out it was bound in the steering tube. Freed it, cable itself seems fine.
5. Engine. Hooked everything up, ran it for about an hour. Looking good. Temp didn't move (had to run it at 1500-2k for a minute to get the stat open). Idle, mixture set. Pressure stayed right at 40. Oil looked great. Hooked up the power steering. No leaks, but...
6. Actuator doesn't seem enthusiastic. I don't know what expected behavior is, if someone can check video? Ram extends pretty much on its own. It will retract with some prodding. I think there's a way to balance it? Gonna look for that.

So I said memorial day, now maybe labor day. Missed the summer but damn it I'm going to get some boating in.

running:
https://youtu.be/kIUVTM6n2LM

Power steering:
https://youtu.be/VO2XlHqo0bM
 

nola mike

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Ok, so looking at the finish line (hopefully).

Had a y pipe mismatch, where only 3 bolts lined up. Held my nose and attached just the 3. Also had a ton of water in my bellows when I pulled the drive this year. I put the drive on and dunked the boat. Didn't get as deep as I'd like without the engine, but no leaks, jumped on the drive etc. So ok.

Put the engine in! Was able to align it without too much drama, which was a surprise. Unfortunately, my mounts were *just* short. Top nut had half the threads off the bolt. Probably would work, but I shimmed it with some plywood.

Power steering ram just cleared the boxes on the side. Like less than 1" to spare. Still don't know if the ps is going to work, but it turns easily with the lines disconnected, so worst case I have no ps for now. Luckily the ram looks pretty easily accessible.

So, I have not much room on the sides at all. Patting myself on the back for installing the remote oil filter. But those spark plugs...

Front of the engine compartment is cavernous.

Tomorrow.

I have to pull the motor again to drill the lags. I have the height set perfectly, so I'm going to put in the lags and drop the motor on the mounts. I redid a bunch of the wiring so that should just be plug and play.
Wasn't sure of official shift cable routing, though I know it exists. Pretty straight shot though.

Hurricane remnants coming, so let's see if I can splash by Sunday.
 

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nola mike

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Well, **** me.

Got everything in today (except outdrive). Running great on the hose. So after about 30-45 minutes, it just died. Had been running fine. Ok, turn the key, starts right back and dies again. At some point I saw 0 oil pressure. Had been sitting around 30. Go to check the sender, notice everything is loose. And there's oil back there. The brass fitting had cracked at the block, and when I wiggled it it snapped off completely. All of my oil in the bilge. Only thing I can think of is that I must have knocked the sender assembly while maneuvering the engine. The fuel pump must have cut out when the pressure dropped. No strange noises or anything prior, but...crap.

Obviously, REALLY hoping I didn't do any damage. I think it's possible, since I was idling and it cut off pretty quickly. Nothing I can do about it now until wednesday when I come back.

Other problems were that I ripped one of the exhaust boots getting it on there (note to self, never try to do this again with the elbows in place). Also at some point the alternator stopped working. But super small potatoes at the moment.

Is there any way to tell if it's damaged? If I get good pressure and no sounds, am I in the clear?
I need a pep talk...
 

nola mike

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Thanks for talking me off the ledge. I'll start fresh on Thursday. Hopefully still on track for labor day weekend.

Alternator output is weird. Was working initially. I wired the trim pump positive to the orange wire on the alternator. Looks like it should work, but maybe I'm missing something. Put it back on battery positive. Ordered a new exhaust boot.
 

nola mike

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The wire was a touch short. Neater install to the alt,but screw it for now. Got a spare alt at home I'll bring back with me...
​​​​​
 

nola mike

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Good news!

I tried to drain the engine today, and got about a quart out (I think I had 4.5 in there). Put a bit more than 3 back in.
Started it up, and...all appears well. Ran it for a while and the pressure was around 40 after it warmed up. Whew.

Installed new exhaust boot after waiting on USPS on a 2 day late delivery.

Put on the outdrive, and ran it. Man, that thing is so smooth and quiet compared to the 470. However, it isn't shifting correctly. Feels like the slide is hitting something. Not sure what I screwed up. Funny that the thought of pulling the outdrive to fix a mistake doesn't phase me one bit at this point.

Alternator is doing weird things. I was only getting 10.5v on my purple at the alternator. Cleaned a few connections at the helm and got it back up to 12v. At that point I hooked it back up and it was charging. When I fired it back up at the end of the day, not charging any more. So IDK. I'll recheck that purple, since that's what turns on the alt, correct? I have a spare alt with me, but want to make sure it's not a wiring issue before I swap it out.

Power steering I'm still not sure if it's doing anything, but it isn't hindering anything at least, so I'll take that.

So, at the very least, I know that it will go forward at idle speed in the water. Which I think I can do tomorrow.
 

Rick Stephens

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All you can do is fix things as you find them. Nothing like a rebuild to find every little problem.
 
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