Bob mitchell's Blog – April 2011 Archive (4)

         Engine block hunting turned about to be more of a challenge than expected. After the decision was made to go back to the original Ford Osco Diesel 172 (1967) instead of the Ford Osco Diesel 192 (cylinder walls were gone) that had been put in in 1977 - because the 192 was a 172 block, which in my opinion, was overbored, I started with a 172 block from Russel Tractor parts in Scottsboro, Alabama, for $500.  However, it was not tapped for an engine balancer. But my diesel guru Jerry of…

     In March Deb and I took a trip up the Eastern Shore of the Chesapeake to Lewes, a very cool old town on the Delaware Bay, where we caught the ferry across the Delaware Bay to Cape May, New Jersy. At that point we weren't far from the home ground of Captain Clyde Phillips and the Dorchester Shipyard. Clyde, of course, worked at the Dorchester Shipyard building that most famous and loved (or cursed?) of all boats, the Newporter 40 (if you want more info there are articles by and about…

Clyde caught this cutlass bearing intake in one of the photos of the deadwood repair, and emailed me back.

        While rebuilding the apron and upper layers of deadwood at the aft end of the boat I had the opportunity to disassemble the propeller/shaft system. Captain Clyde answered numerous questions I had, so he deserves credit beyond just the specific quotes of his that are included. The first two photos show the shaft coupling which connects to the transmission coupling, and next the stuffing box (aka. packing gland) with the heavy, but flexible, hose making it a "flexible stuffing box" (as…