REPAIRS COMPLETE, I HOPE!

After a complete re-assembly of the engine and drive train, the engine refused to start. I tried to bleed the fuel for a couple of hours to no avail. At this point I was very tired and decided to call it a day, thinking that maybe  tomorrow would go better. It seems that revelations always come to me in the middle of the night and this night was no exception. I was soundly asleep when I suddenly sat bolt upright with the realization that what had been nagging me in the recesses of my puny little overfilled brain, was that I had failed to bend over the lock tabs on the flywheel bolts. Damn, now it was inevitable that I dis-assemble the the drive train to access these tabs to lock the bolts in place.I completed the task in record time, unfortunately due to the repetition of this procedure. However this did give me time to contemplate the fuel issue.

It was now time to resolve the starting problem. I started from scratch, trying to bleed the system. The fuel pressure had been bleeding off when the engine sat for a few days, for some time now and needed attention also. I decided to change all three fuel filters, the two Racors and the filter on the Perkins. The Perkins filter had a crease in the old gasket that could be the problem, or at least part of it. I followed the fuel lines all of the way to the injectors, making sure there were no leaks and everything was tightened properly. Since I had cut the access hole to the engine compartment, it made this task a lot easier. I did notice that two of the injector hold down bases had a hairline crack in them. Yeah, yeah I know, I should have replaced them at that point, but I wanted to find out if what I had done so far, had corrected the problem. Yes, it was a mistake. Oh, the engine fired right up and immediately blew an injector out of the head. What an awful noise that was.

I had four new injectors in the parts bin, so at least I didn't have to go on another fruitless search in La Paz. I dug them out and installed them, re-bled the system and fired the engine, only to hear this loud puffing noise. Damn, here we go again. It seemed that my troubles would never end. Oh well, tomorrow would be another day, and hopefully a better one at that!

The next morning I was confident that this would be a day of success. I removed the offending injector injector,  cleaned both the base and seat, and then re-installed it. I fired up the engine and the puffing noise was louder than before. You might say that I was becoming just a wee bit frustrated by this development, but if nothing else I am very stubborn. Actually I prefer to think of it as tenacious. So, I removed this offensive rascal and upon doing so, I dropped one of the hold down bolts. Of course it fell on the side of the engine that is inaccessible due to the bulkhead being so close. I spent an hour or so trying to locate it to no avail. Hmm! Seems I use that word a lot, does it not? I'll have to work on that. Anyway, off to town I went. Now this should be no problem, just go to any auto parts, or fastener store and buy one, right? Huh! Not in La Paz,it seems they have no fine threaded bolts, much less case hardened!

It was now time to locate a small mirror and return to my quest for that damned errant bolt. I stopped by my Australian friends boat and borrowed Slelly's small compact mirror. Of course Drew threw in his two cents worth, saying "just don't use too much of the make-up base! With the small mirror I was able to locate and install the injector once again. Unfortunately, with the same result. Who? Me frustrated? Naw, NOT ME!

Okay, it was now time to use drastic measures. The hell with the book on how to install injectors. Every time  it was installed, I noticed it was leaking on the same side. This time I would do it my way. I brought the offending side bolt down finger tight plus a half turn. I then brought the other side down barely snug. I then alternated from side to side taking it down to the torque specs. Beulah! It worked! She now purrs like a kitten.

CLEAN & PURRING!