Starting new project 1973 Sea Ray 240 SRV

[sheboyganjohn]

I can always wait for a good block. The one I have will work for now to get the boat in the water but I would prefer a 100% block like the other engine and relegate the one I am building as a spare. Yes Micky, I am talking two piece rear main. Thanks a ton to both of you. We will keep in touch to work out the details when we get closer to the time.

 

[mickyryan]

cool deal, also i have 1 120 block that was in great shape could get it bored and have plenty of meat left !

 

[sheboyganjohn]

Took the head apart today. Need to clean it all up so I can double check it for cracks. Just have to remember what I used last time to clean all the carbon off of it. The valves all looked ok. Need to replace a few springs that have rust on them. I think I have enough new springs to do the entire head so I might as well replace them all. Have one piston in the can of dip to decarb it. Will slowly rotate them all through this week. Also found a chunk of exhaust flapper in the outdrive when I pulled it so we will be replacing the exhaust flapper on this engine also. Maybe in August I will finally get it on the big lake.

Also took measurements so I can start on a full engine cover with sun pad and built in seating. Sort of like this picture. Took it from one of the members on here in the Sea Ray section, but I don't recall who it was.

 

[Scott Danforth]

120 (2.5 liter) has a shorter deck height than the 3.0

 

[sheboyganjohn]

cool deal, also i have 1 120 block that was in great shape could get it bored and have plenty of meat left !

I would prefer to stick with a 140 / 3.0 block. Even though they are the same but the bore size, i would somehow stumble into something on it that isn't the same with the way my luck is going.

 

[sheboyganjohn]

120 (2.5 liter) has a shorter deck height than the 3.0

Thanks Scott, I had a feeling there was something else that was different.

 

[mickyryan]

Odd, the machine shop said were same except bore but eh i haven't touched it besides tearing down to store so I'd have to check, these blocks haven't been tested.

 

[sheboyganjohn]

these blocks haven't been tested.

As long as they don't look like they have been abused I am willing to take my chances.

 

[sheboyganjohn]

Started to frame in the motor cover/sun pad. Also started on the bench seat in front of the sun pad. Spending more time standing in the boat thinking of how to lay it out so it can be easily removed with-out tools to get to the engine while still being structurally strong and will not blow out while trailering down the road. I think I have it now. I will post pics as I start to get it together.

On the motor side, more bad news. Pulled the latest piston out of the decarb dip and found that it had been burnt at one point in time, to the point where it melted the metal a bit. Have a spot off to one side of the piston that is all crusty and granular. So I guess I am ordering new piston now.

 

[sheboyganjohn]

I was debating on re-using the damaged piston and finally decided it was not worth it so I have pistons on order. Got the block out of the basement, or I should say I had boy child haul it out, and got it honed out. Still have a small scratch in one of the cylinders, but we will give it a whirl. Worst case might have a slight bit of blow by. I would have it bored but I don't want to go past .030 overbore. Have it all washed up and oiled. Will put together what I can tomorrow and then move onto the engine cover and rear seat. Wife it out of town tonight and tomorrow, so I have to get done what I can, Sunday is her day.

On a side note I got the dory off to the dump. I was close on my weight guess, it was 2000 lbs. Now I just have to get the trailer sold and I will have a storage unit back.

 

[sheboyganjohn]

Have as much of the engine back together as I can. The place I ordered the rebuild kit from forgot to send the water pump, so I will be waiting on that along with the pistons. Also rebuilt the head with new springs and lapped the valves back in. That was my Saturday.

Today went to brunch with the wife and then we went kayaking. When we got back she turned me loose so I was able to finish the engine cover and bench seat. Now I just need to order some foam so I can make cushions for it. Phone was in the house on the charger so I did not get any pictures. I will post them up when I get back out there again.

 

[sheboyganjohn]

Got a little bit done during the week. Took the flywheel cover off the port engine and started it, same clicking sound. It is coming from the rear of the engine. It does not sound like anything being damaged, it is more annoying then anything. i will have to see how it is once I get the engines fully enclosed and the sun pad and seats on to help absorb sound. Still waiting on the pistons and water circulation pump. If I don't get the pistons tomorrow I will not be doing the engine until next week since I will need to wait on the machine shop to press the pins out and in. I did it myself the last time but I don't want to screw around this time since I had at least two hours into it last time using a home made press to remove the old pins which also damaged the old pistons, and then having to heat the rods and freeze the pins and hope I got them centered before everything locked up.

We are working on a refi for the house, so I have some house projects to finish up this weekend anyways.

 

[Baylinerchuck]

The house projects never seem to stop.....cuts into the boat projects, :cold:

 

[sheboyganjohn]

House inspection is done. I think we will have a lot of painting to get done before the loan will go through.

Yesterday did the dragon boat races with a work team. Took 11th overall out of 56 teams and the top five were professional teams. Not too bad for our second year and half of the teams first year with only one day of practice.

But in the mean time I got the pistons back from the machine shop. As of this morning the engine has the pistons installed. Just need to put the oil pan back on, water pump and head then it is back into the boat.

Done for this morning. Off to Sturgeon Bay for the wooden boat festival. The Sika flex boat races are this afternoon at 1pm. You get a couple of 2x2's some 1x2's and a couple of sheets of plywood along with a bunch of sika flex. Have one day to build a boat and then race it the next day. Can only be held together by the sika flex. Always entertaining. I am going to have to participate as a builder one of these years.

 

[Scott Danforth]

miss the dragon boat races.... then again, miss the bath-tub boat races held in two rivers

last event I participated in was a duct-tape boat race - 7 medium U-haul box, a roll of plastic sheeting and 3 rolls of duct tape. team has 1 hour to build the boat, distance and load holding are the two judging categories.

make sure to stop in at Kitty O'Reillys in Sturgeon Bay for a bloody mary with a spotted cow chaser.

 

[sheboyganjohn]

make sure to stop in at Kitty O'Reillys in Sturgeon Bay for a bloody mary with a spotted cow chaser.

That is our normal stop when I am up turkey hunting or if I spend the weekend up there during goose season. Ended up going to the Log Den just south of Egg Harbor for food. Wife wanted to go to Door 44 winery after the boat show so we headed north.

Got home early enough to get some more engine work done. Water and fuel pumps are installed, head is on. Oil pan is on. Tonight will be lifters, push rods, rocker arms and distributor. Everything else has to go on once the engine is on the chain hoist to go into the boat, or in the boat in the case of the manifold. Plan is to put it back in Tuesday night.

 

[Scott Danforth]

got my wife hooked on the Frozen Tundra.... Buddy lives on Clark Lake. we take the mopeds to Door 44, Stone Harbor, Simon Creek, and door county brewing

 

[sheboyganjohn]

Lifters, push rods, rockers, distributor installed. Harmonic balancer back on. Valve lash adjusted. Oiled the lifters when I put them in and then found oil on the side of the engine when I turned it while adjusting valve lash. Rocker cover was leaking oil. Must be a bit bent up. I am trying gasket sealant first. If that does not fix the leak then it will be some RTV. Have to go out of town for work tomorrow during the day and may not be home until after 6pm so I doubt I will get the engine in tomorrow. Calling for rain the following two days so it might not be until Friday afternoon. Have the afternoon off. Management declared a snow day in August so we all get an extra half day off this week.

 

[sheboyganjohn]

Did not get much done yesterday but spent today on getting the engine in. Got it in and decided I should put on new battery cables and I probably should put an oil filter on it before filling it with oil, and some oil would help too. I never imagined how hard it would be to find battery cables and an oil filter that was not a Fram. Started at Walmart, went to Fleet Farm. They had the battery cables but a negative on the oil filter. Went to Gander Outdoors and they had the filter. Stopped at an auto parts store after that for the oil.

Good news is it fired right up and ran well. Bad news, has some blow by. But with the scratch in the one cylinder I expected that. At least it is not shooting oil all over the place. Good news is the JB weld job on the outside of the block that I put on an old freeze crack appears to be working. Bad news, this engine also has an oil leak. Good news, it appears to be just the valve cover so that won't be that hard to fix.

Now I just need to wait for my son to be around so I can align the engine and get the drive put on. It is a lot easier to just tell someone up or down then checking, jumping in the boat and making an adjustment, then back out and check, repeat about 100 times. I connected the water hose directly to the engine when I ran it in case anyone is wondering how I ran it with-out the drive on.

Now it is back to working on the house. Hopefully I can get it in the water for a run next weekend. I would like to get it out a couple of times before it is time to put it away for the season.

 

[sheboyganjohn]

got my wife hooked on the Frozen Tundra.... Buddy lives on Clark Lake. we take the mopeds to Door 44, Stone Harbor, Simon Creek, and door county brewing

Can you have wine shipped to you down where you are at? If so I know they ship. If you join their wine club they have a wine package 4 times a year and I think it ships for $10. Which reminds me, need to drink some wine and make room in the wine cooler. Next month is wine club pick-up.