This is the power-plant. Totally locked up because,as I find out, the piston rings ar stuck in the cylinders. I stood on that thing with a pry bar til i got a hernia!!! Didn't move. I took the plugs out and sprayed the cylinders with PB Blast!!!!! Let 'em sit for a week.
After that, a little persuasion, removing the head, and the help of a small hammer, she broke loose. This is just the beginning of the fun!!!

This is HER!!! ( Only after I washed and buffed the poor thing)
She sat for six years at a guys house. He hoped to do something with her, but said he didn't know where to start.

I got this boat right before winter, so I decided since the engine wouldn't be running til spring, I would clean up the outside and cover it until I could use the warm weather to my advantage. (I don't have a garage to work in!!) So that's what I did... and she sat. WAITING FOR ME!!!

I tore the engine down as I stated earlier to get the pistons free. I ended up taking it all apart!!!! Took the pistons out and destroyed two of them to try to get the rings free from sitting and from salt water exposure. Ordered new rod bearings and got two good used pistons. Put it all together, with new plugs, electronic ignition, filled her with oil, sprayed some carb cleaner in the carb, and BOOM!!!! She fired right up!!!! I did the war dance and yelled so loud I thought my neighbors were gonna call the police!!!
It didn't run long..........I had fuel pump problems. So I had to wait til the following weekend to get back in her!
When I came back the following weekend, I sparayed some carb cleaner in the carb and tried to turn it over. (Just for the gratification of reviving this boat from a 6 year nap)
Didn't budge. I thought maybe my battery was weak. Tried jumping it........NOPE!!!!
This engine was locked again!!!!!! Once again I broke out the trusty pry bar with no luck.
This is a picture of the volvo after the first start. Notice I have all but the cooling system in place.
I knew the engine didn't over heat because I think it only ran for a total of about fifteen minutes. Something else hung it up.
Tore it back apart very angrilly to find pin holes in the #1 wall. They were going into the water jacket. Also the oil pan was full of metallic oil.
MAIN BEARINGS!!!! Didn't check them!!! AUGHHHHH!!!!!!

After lots of searching, thoughts of just burning her,research, head-banging, I found an answer.
I read lots of boating forums, and I found that some people were finding good used auto blocks to replace their salt-water beaten marine engines.
I went on a hunt!!!!! I needed a good short block from a 1979-82 volvo 240.
What a chase!!!! But I found this poor thing at the back forty of a known yard. It was placed here only two months ago, and there weren't any(or hardly any) parts robbed from her.
This is the 82 240 I decided to revive.........but for the water.

It looked fairly clean for its age.
If you ever have to do this, let me tell you that the bracket that holds the a/c and power steering unit is about half what the engine weighs!!!!! wooh!!! One heavy monster. I think it robbed horsepower. Or it acted as a counterweight on the engine!!! hahaha!

Degreased actually before the head and oil pan removal.

This is it. A 1982 volvo 240 sedan engine with a B21 block. Fuel injected. (very early)
Course all I need is the short block. It looked good. Pulled the oil pan and head off so I could see the guts. Very surprised to see clean oil and nice pistons and rods. I am gonna look at the bearings next.
BUT FIRST, SHE needs a bath!!!!

Its amazing how new something can look after it is degreased and covered with a fresh coat of paint.
Now its ready for clean hands to get into the real heart of the engine.
Going to go through the bearings to make sure they are ok.
Then we have to look at the rings. We don't want any smoking.
Sounds like congress, huh?

After dealing with some rust and a lot of humidity, I pulled the old engine out. I have to clean this nasty mess up before I install the "new" engine. The transom shield and exhaust elbow are in good shape. Took awhile to get the upper gear housing to break free because someone had coated it with the same stuff that was put on the hull. What a pain. But I did it!!! Now for the fun........

I have an engine hoist, but had to get a come-a-long to lower it once i got it up there. Otherwise the hoist would hit the side of the boat and I would have to "man-handle" it in there. Nope!
I left the oil pan and head off for clearance. Transferred the bell housing and oil pump.....and she is goin in!!!! I will attach a few more parts before I actually drop the engine into the bilge.

Installed the oil pan and am gonna set it in next weekend. After I degrease the bilge from the previous attempts to make the original engine run. I never thought I would be doing this, but I will have the confidence knowing that all I have done to this "new" block will make it worth it!!!! once I get this in,install some bellows that were rotted, and get the electric fuel pump mounted, we move to the interior. That may be next year, as I am tappping out my funds!!!! Lawn chairs will work fine for now!!! hahahha!

OK!!!! I got the engine installed this morning...........Had it put together and running by 2:00. That's good!!!! It sounds beautimus!!!! Next is installing the electric fuel pump and making the guages work. I have some new guages. gotta trace the wiring, and then it's good to go......Looking forward to being on the water by the 4th of July. But I have no interior, so we are looking at lawn chairs!!!! HA! That's what you call desperate for water!!!!!

Volvo sells a coupler to drive the seawater pump, but that wouldn't work since this is a car engine. Iwould have to buy about 200.00 worth of parts to change the sprocket over, so I welded a piece of flat stock steel to the head of the bolt that holds the sprocket on. That worked very well, and cost me NOTHING!!!!! HAHAHA!!
Someone told me once that desperation creates a vision.

Here is a view from above the boat! What a mess. When it's done, it will look awesome, but for now, I have a big mess!!!!

Bought this at a local parts house for 30 bucks. Works well, but was putting too much fuel into the carb

That brings us to regulating fuel. The engine calls for 2-4 psi for fuel pressure. Bought this gem at the local parts house for 29 bucks!!!! It will regulate from half a psi to 8 psi.
The jets in the carb have been eaten away by the nasty salt, so they were "oversized". Iadjusted pressure down to 1 and a half psi, and that compensated for the "larger" jets. Now it is keeping the carb bowl full without overflow!!!! GENIUS!!!!!

This is a view of how I mounted the regulator.
Notice the spaghetti that is underneath it!!!! What a pain!!!! That is where I am now. Dealing with the wiring!!!!
AUGHHHHHH!!!!!

Put the wiring to the side for now..........This is what it looks like with the cooling system in place.
Got some leaks.....to be expected.

Once I got the antifreeze leaks stopped, by fabricating some gaskets, I had to deal with the copper tubing leaking for the seawater pump. Those tubes are like 150.00 a piece.
I found that some good metal epoxy works well at sealing the leak. Course I had to wait 24 hours to try it again...........And it held!!!!!!

Ok!!! Here we are staring at an engine with no more leaking.
Now I have to move to the wiring.............

Here is a view of the engine bay wiring mess! And I must say a big fat one!!!
I have to trace and eliminate some of this to the dash, which is a big clusterf**k!!!!
Someone before me had the apparent knowledge of a rock when it comes down to the wiring. O BOY!!!!
The next adventure begins..........

I had to install new u-joint bellows and a water inlet.

Had to remove the upper housing for the engine.
The shift cable was screwed, and the drive bellows were shot. So was the water inlet.
I killed FOUR BIRDS with one stone!
Here it is, rough, but back together.
I will paint this back to white. eventually.

What dash? I started to look at the guages that were onboard, and it ALL fell apart.
So I thought, Hey!!! that's a great place to start on the wiring! Ha!
This is where it begins.....
I had some new guages to install anyway.

Another view before.

This is what it looks like after the initial cleanup. Still have to run some wiring and new fuse block to protect the juice.

I looked for plexiglass. EVERYWHERE!!! I was thinking white or maybe black.
I couldn't find it anywhere. So I decided to do something I can replace down the line. Wood.
I really just wanna get this thing on the water so I have to get the electrical right.
This is the "rough in" picture. New ignition switch,temp,volts, and oil pressure. Got to get a new tach. Which will go in the right center.

Here's the dash drying. I decided black engine enamel. Speckeled it with red like the engine.

Trying it out before the wiring. The ignition switch it tooo small for the hole I cut.
Gotta move on and wire it up anyway.

This is an installed view of the dash. I moved the ignition over to the left for easier access. It was mounted to the center of the wheel.
Also have left room for a tach. I will move the switches to the right of the captain. They were scattered on the dash.

Got the basic ignition wired. Changed the old alternator with a single wire and look at the charge at idle!!! THIS IS GETTING GOOD!!!!

Bought two washers at a local ardware store for 69 cents. That was perfect for filling the hole that I drilled for the ignition switch.
I put those on and thought...........hmmmmmmm. Not bad.

I had to wire the fuel pump to a switch in case of an emergency......And I also added a switch to the ignition coil which I will show soon. The fuel pump, as I understand, being electric must be hooked to a cutoff in case of a strange shutdown.
I put the switch on the coil to prevent burning the coil in case of a switch on engine off scenario. We are almost on the water. Just need the steering problem figured out.
The steering system is frozen due to exposure to salt and weather......I am going to try to free the cable before I spend 200 on a new rack and pinion.....The saga continues.....

This is a view of where we are today!!!! A semi-clean area.....All guages in place, engine running well.... Now we need steering. The seats will have to come next year. Winter-long savings HA!!!!!!
This picture still has my tools in it. They will go to the rear when we hit the water.

View of the boat...cleaned up. Kinda........With the original bimini installed.SWEET!!!!!!!!!

Got the cable removed. Took it to the shop..........AND IT BROKE!!!!! Wondermous!
So I am off for a steering cable tomorrw. It's only 300.00!!! What ever....Yikes.

My old steering system was so rusted and corroded that I had to buy a new system. This is a teleflex rack system. Very simple to install. I had it done in an hour.

Here is what I have now.New dash and steering. This is before I put the old steering wheel back on. Going to take it to the water today. 7/29/07 Yippee!!!!!!

After my last picture/post, I went out to put the steering helmet bolt in, and someone had heli-coiled the upper unit for the helmet bolt. I was going to try to rethread the bolt back in, but the entire heli-coil came out.....ugh. Now it is 4:30 and I am waiting on a local parts house to bring me a kit. I think I can fix it for like 10 bucks, but I have to wait......I am GOING TO PUT IT IN TODAY!!!!! Even if it's dark.

I got the heli-coil kit from the parts house. Cost 10 bucks. Put it in.... and did a pre-dock check for everything I might need in case of emergency. All ok. Went to the ramp at 6:00. MAIDEN VOYAGE!!!!! YEE HAW!!!!
This is a picture of a local ramp in which I have trusted for a few years.....

Here I am taking the bow line off the winch..... It is floating......... That is a beautiful thing to see. Doing all the work to a boat not knowing if it will take on water. Putting it in and finding out what I have hoped from day one. Will it float? Will it take on water? Will it make it off the trailor before sinking?
It did!!!!! We still have a long way to go, but this test proved a wonderful turning point for me and the boat.............

I got the boat in, and it satrted just like in the drive.
I left the dock, and she stalled. Started right back. But I have a problem when it comes to speed. This thing only moves about 10 knots. max!!!! Hmm.
I have checked with a forum I have been consulting, and they are pointing to the prop. Like it is spinning on the shaft.
That's where we are going next.
This has been a wonderful learning experience. (Kinda)

I got the boat out finally................ But the thing wouldn't do over 10 mph's HMMMMMM!!!!
So I did a little research, and I found out that this outdrive had a prop that was set up for a v-8... O MY!!!!! This has turned out to be aq boat from HELL!!!!! This is my next venture! I looked and looked. Turned out that the prop is wrong.
I have done research and got a prop from a local prop shop that I think will work...............

This is the new prop before I took the boat out to try it. When I took it out, it gave me 1000 more rpm, and brought my boat up on plane.
I finally got it up to speed with a little adjustment to the distributor. Now she is going 4500 rpms and doing about 30 mph on the water. UNBELIEVABLE!!!!!! This boat weighs 2100 lbs dry.So this is awesome for a boat the size of the on I have. I am VERY HAPPY!!!!!

I have repropped, and have had carb issues.
No interior yet, BUT, We love the water!!!!!! The next few pics have no captions, BUT, the Expressions will say it ALL!!!!!! More pictures of the interior will come next season......................................

here is the new number .........making us LEGAL!!!!!

Happy family, but in lawn chairs, yuk!!!!! That's the next project!!!!!!

Noah checkin out the bow!

Fast enough to tube!!!!

Nikki lookin confused.

Captain ME!!!