Another project to play with

[Papee]

I have my nav lights as well as lights I use for night fishing. I also have an anchor winch that I use often when fishing. It's about the same as an atv winch. I have no problem keeping the battery charged.

[Bart]

thanks for the info. that the stator is keeping you happy.
Papee,
i think i will follow your lead, the reason i mention the hand warmers, the weather up here is fun, in the summer, it will be sunny and 80 degrees, then the next day it will be raining and 45 degrees. i have ended up putting hand warmers on all of my ATV's, maybe i am getting old, but having my hands out in the open breeze, when it is cold and raining, isn't so much fun anymore.
one thing that helps if you put an hand warmer on the rudder stick is to spray a little expanding foam inside the tube. this really has helped a lot of toys that the do not put out a lot of voltage, so most the heat is radiated outwards,

[Bart]

been having fun playing with the 4A084 engine. I didn't like how the push rod tubes were looking so took a couple off to get a better look at them, really don't know how the bend came about, but one of these was next to the mag. attached are pictures of the worst 2.
I ended up ordering 8 new ones, from Saturn Surplus, all of them had some major dings, and with the bow in 6 of them, I just didn't know if the O-rings would hold.

[Bart]

it has been snowing almost every day for the last 2 weeks, so I took time and cleaned out the webbing in the intake manifold, after reading how the back cylinders liked to run a little lean, may be this will help, it is a fine line on how much is too much to take out. but with a 1" flap whee on an extension, it didn't take to long to make it look good, also cleaned up all the inside root passes where the intake tube were welded to the mounting flange, I have learned from rebuilding a few motors that smoothing out all inside passages for the air flow can make a big difference,
even looking at the gaskets, to make sure there is not a little lip hanging out. a lot of little things make a big difference, with the air flow.

I think I have more fun going though a motor and seeing what little things that can be fine tuned, and are in need of repair.

[Corky]

You're right Bart, all those little improvements add up to big gains in the long run..The intake joint is definitely an area that usually needs attention...I bought an NOS intake joint in the box for future mods and that one does'nt look any different with casting flash needing attention etc...

[aerokirk]

Regarding the hot wire power, I used the power supply from an old C-band satellite rotator which was 30v and did a perfect job with my hot wire cutter on my foam. There should be alot of them out there since there used to be so many of those dish systems years ago.

[Bart]

Well I never have had much luck, drilling a hole though something 3 feet wide and having it stay on point, and I really didn't want to make a wallered out mess of this, then I came up with this idea, use the hot knife and cut out the holes, it turned out not to bad.
On the first one I didn't leave the knife in to long, and it took a little to get the core out, on the second one I did allot of slice and dicing, and the cores almost fell out,
Still have a lot to do, but getting little things like this done. Makes the days go a lot better

[Rollbar]

Nice. Did you use a Chevy 14" flexplate? And how did you mount the starter?
Thanks, trying to build a library on my PC when my build time starts, but I'll probably lose it.

[Bart]

Mr. Rollbar,
for the starter set up, I first tried a smaller ring gear on the pulley on the front of the motor, but none of the 3 starters, that I had would crank the motor over, once there was compression. ( Eskimoboy put a set up like that on one of his builds), but I think that the starter he used had a planetary gear in it.
really didn't want to go spend an other 150 for a new snowmachine starter,
so I started to follow Mr. Doozit's lead. on the direction that he went with. I had an flex plate and starter left over from replacing the transmission in my sons truck. just needed a spacer to give some distance between the prop and the flex plate.
Mr. Doozit had mounted his starter on the other side, of the motor. but with the materials that I had on hand, what I did worked out.
( I still need to finish up couple of things and see if the motor will start up. ( when I do, I will put a volt meter on the stator, just to see what the raw voltage that it will produce.)
there are many different ways and ideas that you can use to attach an ring gear and starter motor, to this motor, that is the beauty of playing on these motors, nothing is set in stone, and a lot of the people on this forum, have came up with some real awesome ideas and designs. my own method is usually comes from a bunch of hard knocks and mistakes. and by the 3rd or 4th attempt, I will usually get it somewhat right. or at least it is working good enough to go forward.
but have fun with your build, and enjoy the small successes.

[Rollbar]

Thank you, I'm asking these things to save some time and I do understand.
If I can keep the OEM starter and use that while reducing voltage after the regulator, then I'm good to go but won't know until I have the engine in front of me.

That is my plan, to keep OEM and after that (if freezable) feed the supply voltage of 12v to the battery/lights etc.

Thank you,

[Rollbar]

P.S. Are you running the OEM carb or are you switching to a Solex like some have mentioned?

[Bart]

at the moment i am leaving the stock carb on the motor, i can understand the fun it has given many, where it has a few flat spots when you open it up. i don't know which direction i will go later, the VW carb. looks like it gives a pretty good bang for the buck. but i have a bunch of mukini carbs hanging around, already have everything to put it together, so maybe after i get it running, (still haven't taken the time to start it. (busy tending grandkids after work the last couple of days)) i have read a lot, on many of the forums about the mukini, solex, and if i had the money, i would attempt to go to the SDS fuel injection. i know that they are a install your self kits, but maybe latter this summer i may call the company and see how hard it would be to set up. sometimes it is fun to throw a zinger in the middle of things,
i could keep it stock, papee and others have put alot of information about the small things you can do to help it out.
alot of the air craft forums went to the mukini carb, but i haven't seen many new posting in the last 10 years, (with these two i am not out any cash)
the VW carb. it depends on what quality of carb that i want to go with, i have a cousin that used to play around with them alot back in the day. and i will need to visit with him, on a few pointers.
i guess i will be coming up to this cross road before to long.
you are starting to get me more things to think about, this is what keeps a person young.

[Bart]

it has been a busy time, lately, more grandkids coming to visit and summer is here, almost 18 hours of daylight. I love summer in Alaska.
I have been looking at a few things on this motor, after torqueing the hub, there really was not a lot of clearance between the bolts and the flywheel, so I went to a socket head machine bolt. but I forgot to think about repositioning the starter, I would crank it over and the tang on the solenoid would kick out of the lever that pushes the bendix out. but I was able to finally hear the motor run, it is real loud with out any muffler. the grandkids went running to their moms real quick. they didn't know what was in the shed, but they didn't want anything to do with something that loud. my wife is still laughing about the it.
so while the motor was running, every once in while I would see a few sparks coming off from where the flywheel was touching the bendix. but the oil pressure was looking good. the gauge was reading 60 psi. then I happened to look over at the #2 cylinder and the exhaust was just a little red. so I shut it down. I was thinking about all the possibilities of why just one cylinder would act up. if it was the timing, being retarded, I would have all the cylinders running hot. so the next, thing would be air leaks, which like a dummy, after taking everything on and off of the motor so many times, why would I want to put silicon on the gaskets?
if I might be taking it apart, again.
so now all of the intake is sealed.
Just need to finish up getting the starter situated a little better, might need to make a new bracket, depends on how elongated the bolt holes end up. also thinking about fabing up a muffler setup. so the neighbors don't get to excited.

played with one of the rudders last night for a little bit, put a small bend in the aluminum so it would hug the Styrofoam a little better,
I decided to apply a thin coat of silicon on the inside skin of the aluminum so it would be a tight fit. ended up using a little over 2 tubes on 1 rudder. put some clamps on, to hold everything tight while it dries. and I will look at it tonight, and see how it looks, but things are starting to take shape, a little here and a little there,
I am liking how lite these rudders are ending up.
I wish I would have taken a full picture of the motor when I got it, It wasn't something that would look good on the kitchen table. (not saying that I have used the kitchen table to assemble things before). if I hadn't seen what every one was doing with their motors, I probably would never had thought about pimping it out, but it gave me something to do. this partial picture will have to do.

[Corky]

It looks like a tight fit back there...If all else fails you could take some off the bolt's head to gain clearance if the other style bolts don't suit you... You have an interesting history there in Valdez Bart...Is there any remnants of the old town that was relocated ???

[Bart]

I thought I would put a couple more pictures of what I tried with putting the rudders together, on the first one, I still was concerned about the silicon keeping everything secure, so I put some small screws, with the style of nuts that would sink into the Styrofoam. I just kept them close to the edges.
after looking at it last night, the silicon was holding every thing real good. just need to put rivets down the tail of the rudder, and attach the bottom and top cap, along with the pivot rod.

the second rudder, I decided not to use the screws, the silicon appears to be holding real good, just put in some pictures of the coverage, also, on the first one, like a dummy, I used my arm to spread the aluminum open while I applied the silicon, (sometimes I need to just stop and look at what I am doing), a 2x4 or a stick works a lot better. also when I put the boards and clamps on it, one little rock was imbedded in the plywood, that I didn't see, it made a nice little dent. (might be the first of many, when I get it running).

I found some machines bolts locally, to help with the clearance problem. (just didn't like the thought of the flywheel catching one of those bolts and creating a lot of entertainment). the only kind they have in town were stainless steel ones, but I have some grade 8's on order, but for the moment I can move forward on the little touches in finishing up the motor odds and ends.
I am having fun looking at all the different designs of the frame for the motor mounts. at first I was wanting to try to do a mount similar what has been done for all that are using the circle S redrive. but with the starter set up, I am using. I could/may still use the 3 point setup, just the elevation on the back two mounting points will be a little lower,
really haven't done much conduit bending, but I like how I have seen in the last couple of builds, where a jig has been made, and the frame was built to match the jig. I might have to ask for the help from one of my electrician friends, in making all the bends, they make it look so simple, (they are always telling me that practice, makes perfect),

[Bart]

Corky yes, Valdez has some history, started out with the gold rush, as the gateway to the interior of Alaska, not as talked about as the Chilkoot Trail, or Nome, but until Anchorage developed, this was the place, to get off a boat, traverse 60 or more miles over multiple glaciers, then a few hundred more miles to Fairbanks where gold was being found. I don't think I would want to do that. they were some tough men back in the day.
after the earthquake in 64, they moved the town site down the bay, about 5 miles, to a little more protected area, haven't really took a count of how many homes were actually moved, I know of 5 to 6, with out really thinking about it. it is kind of sad that the town lost a lot of the Alaska frontier look, in the rebuild. (you look at other coastal towns in Alaska, and you see the old store fronts, and boardwalks) so much history disappeared, when the town site was moved.
and a lot of the residents of that time frame are not around anymore, and they are getting fewer, and fewer
I came to Alaska in 82, and worked in the fisheries for about 20 years, those were some fun times. now I am just managing a tool room, at the Alyeska Pipeline Terminal. it keeps me busy, and I am always learning new things, every day.
one quote that I have always heard, is when the town was settled, back in the day, the natives that lived in a village just outside the narrows, always said " only a white man is dumb enough to want to live there". makes you kind of wonder. if we are all that smart, or not.
I think that this was due to that fact of all the glaciers in Port Valdez at the time. you always had fog and the mountains held a lot of the weather, it can also be about 10 to 15 degrees colder, like I tell people that ask what the weather is like here. when it is sunny it is hot, and the scenery is awesome, but when it is cloudy, it is not.

[Bart]

a question about the stock carb on the 4a084, I have been going over a lot of the builds and have read a little about the drilling out of the metering rod, and from what I am understanding is that the upper hole next to the threads, that if it is drilled out to the same diameter as the bottom hole, 1/16 of an inch, this will really help out.
is this correct.

an other question, I have looked a lot of places, trying to located a fuel flow diagram for this carb,
in the past with dealing with the mikuni carbs, there are many different ways for adjusting the fuel, at the different throttle openings. I copied a simple picture of a mikuni carb that has an simple explanation of what part the gas is being delivered though, at each part of the throttle opening

just wondering if any one has seen a chart like this, for the original carbs on the 4A084 motor?
I understand that the this is a very simple carb, but still there has to be some drawings someplace that will show how the gas is metered throughout the throttle cycle

[Bart]

well a little update, picked up some EMT and started on putting together a motor frame,
it has been fun reading what others had done, cutting the fish eyes out with a router, it works real good, and just looking at the different ways and styles that have been used,
anyway, i was visiting with my brother in Cordova, about what methods that I was using, and when i mentioned that i was using my little MaxStar stick welder, he had some advise, that i had not came across before, or even thought about.
he mentioned that EMT and stick welding, was not a good idea, a friend a couple of years back made a cage for his airboat the same way, using a stick welder, long story short, he finished building his boat, and a tree branch happened to tag the cage, every joint on the cage shattered, just next to the welds. the prop didn't like it much either.
as far a I know nobody was hurt.
they figured that using the stick welder, it created to much heat, on the weld joint and the EMT, tubing next to the weld became brittle,

he recommended, that his first choice would be using an oxy/acetylene torch, it spreads out the heat the best, and has a better cool down.
second would be a mig,
but if i wanted to use my stick welder on EMT, just be ready for it to shatter when bumped.

i have been recalling that back in the day, he has has his cage banged up pretty good. but the welds never broke. at least the times that I went with him. I even recall that he even rolled one of his airboats next to the beach, once. and his cage held up. and he was able to get back home under his own power.
so after thinking about this, it is time to find a mig welder at least,

then I also decided to build the frame for the motor, out of square stock tube. it might weigh a couple more pounds, but it will give me a little more piece of mind.

so maybe the next couple of weeks i might have something to show.

[Bart]

i have been looking for parts and pieces for the 4A084 motor, it seems like finding spare heads, are far and few between.

so for the last couple of months, on craigslist, a gentleman had been posting 2, 5 KW generators for parts, over in the valley. really wasn't thinking much about it. until i started looking a little closer at the pictures. they were powered by the 2A042 motors, the part numbers for the heads, pistons, and from what all i could see where the same,
so i made a quick call to Saturn Surplus, where they would let me know if i was correct with my thinking or not.
and as luck would have it, i was going to Anchorage last week anyway.
so know i am the proud owner of 2 very heavy gen sets. after getting them home. i was looking at them a little.
one of them is missing a mag. But i purchased them for parts. and i really can't complain about that, for what i paid for them.
one was built in 64, and the other in 69. both have around 1800 hours on them. turned them both over a few times with the plugs out. the compression was reading around 120 on both motors. sprayed a little WD-40 in the cylinders and the compression went up to 135.
then the impact extension i had ground down to fit in the drill sheared. so i didn't get to see if the other 3 cylinders jumped up in pressure or not.
but that isn't bad for 2 motors that have been sitting out under a tarp. for the past 10 years.


the motor with the mag, even has a good spark. latter this week I'll look at the carb, and see if it will start up. ,
one thing that i did hear, when spinning one of the motors over, was it was sucking air around the rubber hose that connects the intake tube to the intake joint.
i think that i will be purchasing new rubber hoses for the 4A084, it is always the little things that will get you. on these motors that have been sitting for a while.
i had replace the front and rear main seals,
and for as many times that i have taken the intakes on and off. the rubber hose, looked okay. but when the motor is running i don't think i would hear the air leak until it would be to late.

[Bart]

the latest direction that i am going.
is to invert the cuyuna motor and put it on the small hull. this will give me the lowest center of gravity
there may be a issue with it being to small, but i have visited with a few, on how to rectify the situation without building a complete new hull.
so maybe here in a few weeks i will know a little better in what direction this is going to take me.
i can see the lighter motor with what i have being a better match-up. and if it is to unsteady, i will look into widening the hull a little.

with my 4A084 motor, i will be slowly putting the rest of it together. hope to have a stand for it also, to be sitting on before to long, ( if nothing else, it is a lot easier to move them around, ) when they are on a stand,
just having the Cuyuna motor on the EMT stand at the moment. makes it so much easier to get a better visual of what is needing to take place.

but on a better note, the kids were out on the 4-Wheelers the other day, one of them ended up rolling, after turning to sharp to go down a small embankment. all i know is that somebody upstairs was looking after them.
it really makes a person stop and realize what is more important, material items can always be replaced,
I even had some good father/daughter time, as we attempted straighten out some of the parts and pieces that didn't fair to well.
to many times we take for granted that we or our family all will come home, safe and sound, after each adventure.