Ugh.. our Yanmar 50 Hp engine; the bane of our lives. The constant problem throughout our journey for as long as I can remember.
If it's not the cracked sail drive leg, then it's the disintegrated damper plate, or the rusted mounts or the misaligned alternator belt, even the sail drive leg cover's a problem. It never ends.
I know we have a lot of other issues on-board the boat that cause us to stay at a place for longer than we would like, but the engine (or some part related to it) really takes the cake.
Last November, Alex decided to haul it out to be stripped, cleaned, serviced and repainted.
If it's not the cracked sail drive leg, then it's the disintegrated damper plate, or the rusted mounts or the misaligned alternator belt, even the sail drive leg cover's a problem. It never ends.
I know we have a lot of other issues on-board the boat that cause us to stay at a place for longer than we would like, but the engine (or some part related to it) really takes the cake.
Last November, Alex decided to haul it out to be stripped, cleaned, serviced and repainted.
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| Hauling out the engine |
We
sent the engine away to our mechanic here in Trinidad to be disassembled, cleaned and serviced. But as you may already know, things never go as planned or as quickly as we would like. By December, productivity slowed down tremendously as everyone was in a festive mood for the holidays.
In the end, the engine was partly disassembled by our mechanic and rest was back on us and by "us" I mean it was mostly Alex. In the end it always boils down to the same thing ... if you want to get things done (or done properly), you have to do them yourself.
It took a while before we got the main block engine and its parts back. To be fair, we were waiting on someone else to get back to us on painting the engine, but unfortunately that plan fell through.
So when we finally got our engine back, we dismantled & cleaned each part so that it could be re-painted (except the fuel injection pump which we sent away to be serviced professionally). That meant de-greasing, stripping off old paint, sanding, treating the metal and prepping the parts to be painted.
Here's what we did to clean the engine parts:
1 - First we de-greased the engine parts with the Purple Blaster, a de-greaser (apparently the most powerful on the market; formulated to clean and de-grease tough stains, oil, grease, dirt, etc; perfect for engines!). It worked incredibly well. We just brushed it on to allow it to dissolve the dirt/grease and rinsed it off with water (its seems to do the same thing with your skin though ... dissolve it).
2 - Next, we applied a thick coat of Lanco Gel Strip on the engine parts with a brush. The gel strip is a powerful, non-running type gel stripper formulated to remove coatings from metal, wood, concrete and other surfaces (but not suitable for plastic). The gel is so strong it burns your skin within seconds of contact. We really should've worn gloves for the job. But don't worry, it washes off quickly with water.
3 - The gel is left on for about 20 minutes to allow it to penetrate into the old paint.
4 - When the gel stripper skins over and appears dry, we used a scraper and brush to remove the finish and washed it down with water to remove any remaining gel from the surface.
5 - For tough spots, we re-applied the gel and repeated the process.
6 - Once the parts were clean and dry, Alex used the drill with metal brushes to remove any residual paint or rust on the surface.
7 - After that, for Aluminum parts, we first treated them with Bonderite Aero Metal Preparation Chemical (C-IC 33) and then with Bonderite Aero Chromate Coating (M-CR 1201) to prep them for paint.
What's that? The Bonderite C-IC 33 is a non-flammable phosphoric acid based cleaner, brightener and pre-paint conditioner for aluminum which produces a chemically clean and corrosion free aluminum surface. While the Bonderite M-CR 1201 is a non-flammable chromic acid based liquid used for corrosion protection and paint adhesion to aluminum surfaces.
8 - For Steel parts (which aren't painted), we coated them with Boeshield T-9 an anti-rust & corrosion spray that dries to a clean, waxy, waterproof film; safe to use on paints, any metal surfaces, plastic, fiberglass and vinyl. It was developed by the Boeing Company for lubrication and protection of aircraft components but it's also said to be particularly effective in protecting all metals in salt water environments ... the jury is still out as to whether it actually works, but our money is on 'not so much'. (In general, most products we use tend to over-promise & truly under-deliver)
In the end, the engine was partly disassembled by our mechanic and rest was back on us and by "us" I mean it was mostly Alex. In the end it always boils down to the same thing ... if you want to get things done (or done properly), you have to do them yourself.
It took a while before we got the main block engine and its parts back. To be fair, we were waiting on someone else to get back to us on painting the engine, but unfortunately that plan fell through.
So when we finally got our engine back, we dismantled & cleaned each part so that it could be re-painted (except the fuel injection pump which we sent away to be serviced professionally). That meant de-greasing, stripping off old paint, sanding, treating the metal and prepping the parts to be painted.
 | ||||
| HS Purple Blaster $63 TTD, Lanco Gel Strip $74.73 TTD, Bonderite C-IC 33 $121.10 TTD, Bonderite M-CR 1201 $157.47 TTD |
Here's what we did to clean the engine parts:
1 - First we de-greased the engine parts with the Purple Blaster, a de-greaser (apparently the most powerful on the market; formulated to clean and de-grease tough stains, oil, grease, dirt, etc; perfect for engines!). It worked incredibly well. We just brushed it on to allow it to dissolve the dirt/grease and rinsed it off with water (its seems to do the same thing with your skin though ... dissolve it).
2 - Next, we applied a thick coat of Lanco Gel Strip on the engine parts with a brush. The gel strip is a powerful, non-running type gel stripper formulated to remove coatings from metal, wood, concrete and other surfaces (but not suitable for plastic). The gel is so strong it burns your skin within seconds of contact. We really should've worn gloves for the job. But don't worry, it washes off quickly with water.
3 - The gel is left on for about 20 minutes to allow it to penetrate into the old paint.
4 - When the gel stripper skins over and appears dry, we used a scraper and brush to remove the finish and washed it down with water to remove any remaining gel from the surface.
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| Photos of the engine parts |
6 - Once the parts were clean and dry, Alex used the drill with metal brushes to remove any residual paint or rust on the surface.
7 - After that, for Aluminum parts, we first treated them with Bonderite Aero Metal Preparation Chemical (C-IC 33) and then with Bonderite Aero Chromate Coating (M-CR 1201) to prep them for paint.
What's that? The Bonderite C-IC 33 is a non-flammable phosphoric acid based cleaner, brightener and pre-paint conditioner for aluminum which produces a chemically clean and corrosion free aluminum surface. While the Bonderite M-CR 1201 is a non-flammable chromic acid based liquid used for corrosion protection and paint adhesion to aluminum surfaces.
8 - For Steel parts (which aren't painted), we coated them with Boeshield T-9 an anti-rust & corrosion spray that dries to a clean, waxy, waterproof film; safe to use on paints, any metal surfaces, plastic, fiberglass and vinyl. It was developed by the Boeing Company for lubrication and protection of aircraft components but it's also said to be particularly effective in protecting all metals in salt water environments ... the jury is still out as to whether it actually works, but our money is on 'not so much'. (In general, most products we use tend to over-promise & truly under-deliver)
9 - This process was repeated for all the engine parts, including all washers, nuts and bolts.
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| Some of the many nuts and bolts - cleaned |
10 - Oh and we also coated all the washers, nuts and bolts with Boiled Linseed Oil.
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| Cleaned parts |
The process to clean & prep all the parts took weeks to complete. It was also crucial to
time the paint job as the metal tends to rust up again if it's left for too
long (more than a day or so). We had a couple of delays due to weather and had to re-clean some of the parts again (with metal brushes to remove the rust). "Fun" times! :)
Next: Spray Painting Our Engine
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Next: Spray Painting Our Engine
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