OIL LEAK REPAIR

I started the repair a few days ago and it is coming along very well so far. I had to drop the drive line at the u-joint between the transmission and the v-drive. Then fight the rusty motor mount nuts for a couple of hours to free up the mounts. This is where the new engine access hole in the cockpit came into play. I ran a block and tackle from the boom to the rear of the engine to lift it up (no blocks required) and was ready for dis-assembly.

PRE-REPAIR

At this point I removed the transmission, bell housing, dampener, flywheel, starter and backing plate. When I removed the dampener I noticed it was badly worn and had to be rebuilt or replaced. That ended my first day.

PARTIAL DIS-ASSEMBLY 

The next morning I headed to town and it was an incredible day, to say the least. First let me say that in La Paz the chances of finding repair parts is next to zero. Most things are not available and have to be ordered at great expense. Upon arriving at the marina, me amigo Heimie called out to me and asked what I was up to. I informed him of my quest and he offered to drive me. He not only drove me, but was a great help in translating for me. Well, after striking out at all of the parts houses and repair shops, a gentleman told us that his retired father had a small shop that he worked on boats in and might be able to help.

SPLIT SEAL ASSEMBLY

We headed back across town for the third or forth time and found his little shop behind his house. We showed him the dampener and he went to a dust covered wooden box on the floor and pulled out a dampener. It was the only one he had and after measuring it, we discovered it was the right one. Now that was truly "one in a Million." He sold it to me for 500 pesos, which is less than it would have cost to ship one down from the US.

ALMOST BACK TOGETHER

Day three I went on another search for engine paint. I figured as long as I had everything apart, I might as well clean it up again and paint it. By the end of the day the engine and transmission were clean, but I was beyond filthy and so was the boat. I spent the evening cleaning the boat and myself.

Today I will complete the installation and hopefully will have solved the problem.


This is the type of latches I am in search of (cheap) for the cockpit access hatch.

FLUSH MOUNT ADJUSTABLE LATCH