Pretty Engines

[Avenger]

Tom, agree, spick and spam bilges are one thing we keep up on.

So, if your bilges are spic and Spam, does that mean you can eat processed meat off the floor?

 

[luckydave215]

Sure. Three minutes on the manifolds at 1800 rpm should do it.

 

[saltshaker]

X3 Stocking feet in the ER!!!!WOW!!!! I would sleep in there!

Captddis asked me if we could go into my ER in our socks. Never thought about it before but the answer was yes. After doing some work in there this past weekend it's time for some clean up to keep her that way. I need to get mine more like Daves but I try to keep her clean and odor free.

 

[captddis]

These are on my friends 45C. We rebuilt both 11 years ago. See any leaks?

 

[captddis]

Here is my port engine when I rebuilt five years ago. still looks the same.

 

[captddis]

stbd engine

 

[captddis]

Yours truely on first start of rebuilt port 8V92 Dec 10



click on picture

 

[Boatsb]

Cummins 5.9

 

[Boatsb]

450c in a 42c

 

[Bob Bradley]

Very nice, but some of us actually run ours.

And Dave, don't laugh, but I had a friend who used to bring out cold bacon and egg sandwiches wrapped in aluminum foil and then warm them on the manifolds of the 327's in my old Chris.

 

[Milacron]

As an aside, on our months long boat search the nicest looking engine room was on a 1990 Hatteras 62 in Lighthouse Point, FL. (The boat was really a Hatteras 54ED with added aft deck and cockpit by Hatteras of Lauderdale) The full beam standup engine room was nearly pristine, complete with SS tubing to guard each engine somewhat, carpet on the floor and even a mirror on the opposing wall to reflect the engines beauty and make the room look larger.

HOWEVER.... the seller could produce ZERO records proving they were total overhaul 600 hours earlier (or was it 800, can't remember now). He even ignored our request for a past engine survey. (He had only owned the boat 2 years). In fact he could produce no mechanical records on the engines at all !

Combine that with the high price and we passed as there was definite "lipstick on a pig" possibility there. Probably not...they probably really were rebuilt but owner previous to him to slack to keep up with the records* and he didn't care. Still, even if we went forward and there were excellent engine survey results by us, the lack of records would haunt us when it came time for us to sell years later. But oh what lipstick it was....amazing looking engine room for that age boat.

Below are pictures I found of the Hatteras 54ED/62 engine room I mentioned earlier. Photos don't really do it justice but better than nothing.



A screenshot from PDF file I saved of the brochure.

 

[luckydave215]

My engine room doesn't actually look like the pic anymore. I got tired of wiping footprints off the gloss white deck so I laid carpet.

 

[SEVEN]

You will always get more money for things that look maintained. It may not run any better painted but it appears you take care of the boat. I always go back to a story told to me years ago. If you go to a nice restaurant that looks clean in the dinning room. Then you go into their bathroom to find them filthy. I ask myself as I'm quickly leaving. I wonder if the kitchen looks the same. Hope this makes sense.

 

[Milacron]

Got em on Ebay...$31 bucks, just go to boat parts and search V71. The stickers are thick, encased in clear urathane. they stand up to the heat and POL environment.

OK I looked....they sound like etched aluminum or zinc from their description...not really "stickers" in the traditional sense. Nice looking.

 

[dottieshusband]

http://m.ebay.com/itm/DETROIT-DIESEL-12V71-EMBLEM-SATIN-/311400843732?nav=SEARCH

They are peel and stickers..very nice, and they have them for all Detroits

 

[luckydave215]

You will always get more money for things that look maintained. It may not run any better painted but it appears you take care of the boat. I always go back to a story told to me years ago. If you go to a nice restaurant that looks clean in the dinning room. Then you go into their bathroom to find them filthy. I ask myself as I'm quickly leaving. I wonder if the kitchen looks the same. Hope this makes sense.

Listing a boat with peeling paint on the engines is like listing a house with peeling paint and filthy carpet. It doesn't make sense to think the overall value is better with painted engines (or clean carpet) but "Curb Appeal" is everything.

 

[gbharrington]

Well I can't top Dave (can anybody?), but I thought I would show a reasonable before and after. A lot of hours here!

 

[Avenger]

Looks pretty impressive to me Greg. I can't top Dave either, but here's my Near Before ( I didn't take a pic before I painted the valve covers):

After:

BTW, I'm not suggesting this is ordinary maintenance. Here is what in between looks like:

In sailing they say "A boat is like a woman. The rigging costs more than the hull." (Sorry ladies)

A guy on the B31 forum used to say "The money is in the iron."

Looking at a boat where the boat is immaculate but the engines look like cr@p I'd think the owner has their priorities mixed up.

So, in relation the OP, while the engines look like they're mechanically sound, a little attention to color uniformity would suggest the same level of care that the rest of the boat receives.

 

[kelpy]

Very nice, but some of us actually run ours.

And Dave, don't laugh, but I had a friend who used to bring out cold bacon and egg sandwiches wrapped in aluminum foil and then warm them on the manifolds of the 327's in my old Chris.

I would think all of these clean, well cared for engines pictured in this thread are run and run regularly. They just fortunate enough to have an owner who cares about them and is willing to maintain them in the same fashion as the rest of the boat.

A nasty stinking engine room full of rust, corrosion, peeling paint, and oil leaks shows a complete lack of regular maintenance and, most importantly, "pride of ownership". A Detroit will not leak oil or anything else if properly and regularly maintained.

 

[Boatsb]

My er is nasty but 60% better than when I got her. I have not taken the time to totally repaint them but have tried to balance e use and maintenance.

The oil gets changed regularly. The wiring is in a constant state of cleaning up. HE cleaned and new intakes. Rebuilt raw water pumps, new hoses and lots of clean up. Maybe I could take a month of evenings and make it look that nice but life is what it is.

I plan on another 100 hours of use this year. That is more important than cosmetics. I didn't buy a boat to look good.

If I had started with beautiful engines I'd probably have kept them that way but it's a long and slow process. So much to do so little time.