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283 chris craft restored II part video

"I watched your video. I can’t

"I watched your video. I can’t determine if the engine has any knocking sounds because that cameras angle only lends itself to exhaust sound.

By the way Very beautiful boat and Resto work

What I can determine from the video is that it sounds like you have one or more cylinders misfiring at idle and under partial throttle.
It also seems like it starts/tries to pick up a cylinder when you revved up the engine.

The water flow looks ok form both sides.

Pull the sparkplugs out and mark what cylinder they came from on the insulator with a grease pen so you can verify any issues with that corresponding cylinder
Replace the sparkplugs, Make sure you gap them tight to the spec. If you can get A/C Delco plugs they will run better than Champions in that engine

If you have a single points type distributor set the dwell (dwell angle is 29 to31 degrees) and check/set the timing. It sounds a little retarded or late.

Make sure your wires and Rotor, Dist cap don’t have any carbon tracking on them because this will cause a short and resulting plug misfire. Make sure you have spark to all cylinders.

You may also want to look at the Carb idle screws and turn them a ¼ turn out and then a ¼ turn in and see if when doing this you get and better idle quality.

If you can take another video, try taking an overall close up of the engine then hold the camera or microphone over the top front of the engine then the rear top of the engine and then hold the mike /Camera down low on each side of the engine. This will give a better sample to diagnose by.

Post back what you find if this all turns out ok and it still is misfiring then you may have mechanical issues like burned/ sticky valves, cylinder/piston/head gasket issues.

Note a cracked /bad exhaust manifold can cause a misfire

Hope this helps



These are just my opinions

Bluecometk."
 
"Thank you very much, bluecome

"Thank you very much, bluecometk, it's such an exhaustive survey from so a small element like my video. I will surely proceed with all the checks you wrote. But what about the overheating? My technician says that should be a damaged piston that cause the noise and irregular friction through the cylinder that overheats the left block and causes steam from the left exhaust. That's why he firstly wants to open the left block and sees what the pistons show. Could you agree with him? Could there be an overheating caused just by an incorrect setup or a cylinder misfiring? thank you very much for your patience and attention."
 
"G'day Pietro,

Firstly,

"G'day Pietro,

Firstly, gorgeous boat and restoration. Looks really nice sitting there, and that beautiful exhaust sound hides all the other noises you mention.

Did you rebuild the engine as well?

If you did, and fitted new Cam and Lifters, then I would be running in the engine first, and not letting it idle for so long.

On start-up, hold the engine revolutions at 2,500 RPM for 1/2 Hour, so that the Lifters and Lobes will not wear away. If you have to stop the engine for any reason, turn it straight off, and don't let it idle at all. Even running it for shorter times will do, so long as it isn't allowed to idle.

Misfiring could be caused by a worn Cam Lobe.

The Camshavt will sustain damage in the first 5 minutes of operation if it is going to wear at all, because the Lobes and Lifter Faces only receive lubrication via the oil that is thrown off the Crankshaft Big Ends as the internals rotate. Slow rotation equals poor lubrication to these vital components.

Bruce.

PS. Great video of a great boat. Love to see the engine up close."
 
"Hi Bruce, thank you very much

"Hi Bruce, thank you very much for your compliments, I appreciate them after a long and hard handy work.
Yes, the engine was rebuilt in Germany, we do not have so many experts in rebuilding here in Europe.
As I said to Bluecometk, my first issue is overheating. The left block puts steam from the exhaust after 10 minutes at idle, and you can no longer place your hand on the left pipe and riser, it's too hot. Right block is ok. You see that water comes out enough, so it isn't a problem of how much water flows to cool. We also ear that strange beat, at idle as well as we put some rpm, bot after ignition and when the engine is hotter. Do you think it could be a mechanical problem rather then a wrong setup? Is it good to open the left block and have a look inside? Maybe a piston that is damaged and determines friction and heat? Pietro"
 
"Overheating of the Exhaust Ma

"Overheating of the Exhaust Manifold on one side of the engine directly indicates the lack of cooling water going to that Manifold. You may have a limited flow of cooling water to one side.

Can you please post a picture of the engine, and how the cooling pipes are running?

I am having a similar quandry with the engine in my Seasoprt 16, with a Buick V6, that is converting it from total Raw Water cooling to a Closed Cooling with a Heat Exchanger.

I am off to bed n ow, seeing as it is 12.30am, Saturday morning down here.

Bruce."
 
"Pietro,
I have read through

"Pietro,
I have read through this I think.
from what your saying, and what I can see.
It seems you have a bad spark wire, or two out of place. Else a valve or two not set right.
Testing, I use a timing light and go wire by wire.
Does the light light? enough current for spark.
Does the fly wheel jump or shake? one cylinder check that one and the opposite. All of them adjust timing.
I didn't hear the metal on metal sounds for something broke. Of the mistakes I have seen the Germans make the wrong head on a engine block isn't one of them.
Let me know if you get a chance to test this.
It's worked for me for many years. If you don't find it in the first ten minutes. Pull the heads because there is mouse in the hole. The object you seek is there.

Lee"
 
"thank you folks, now I have a

"thank you folks, now I have a lot of work to do. Let me see and I will post a next video."
 
I have worked on a lot of old

I have worked on a lot of old Chris Craft eng' before it looks like a 283-F eng with a mallory yh distributor. the exhaust system I don't like that it puts to much back pressure on the eng and will cause the valves to burn out prematurely. Owens eng's were noted for this the exhaust was to small. That eng should be a minium of 2.5" dia and even 3" would be good all the way to the transom. sounds like you plug wires are off the firing order for a right hand rotation eng should be 15634278 opposite or left hand rotation 18724365 and the timing is on the red dot marked on the flywheel I took the firing orders right off the exhaust manifolds of 2 complete eng's I have stored in my barn. when you first fire up the motor sounds like the timing is to far retarded and also the plug wires are not in the correct order. The red dot on the flywheel is factory set at 12.5 degrees before top dead center. If that were my boat I would definitely do somthing different with the ehaust system.
Fred Durbin
 
"Thank you Fred, I will surely

"Thank you Fred, I will surely consider your advice regarding the exaust,. What about the issue I reported in my previous post: after 15 minutes at idle the left bank puts steam from the exaust, and overheats, while the right one is ok, and I ear a beat, non a metal one, on the same bank that overheats.
Pietro"
 
"Hey Pietro I don’t think we c

"Hey Pietro I don’t think we can get any closer to a fix with out an engine close-up and or video engine close-up.

At this point I don’t think pulling the engine apart is necessary. You have a few directions to go first. Firing orders, valve lash, leak down testing, compression testing, timing .

Steam coming out of the exhaust doesn’t necessarily mean the manifold/ engine is overheating. The manifold design could have a hot spot (low flow) area. The engine timing could be late as stated before. The coolant lines could be plumbed wrong. Who knows?

You can tell a lot with a hand held Infrared laser Pyrometer. They are quite reasonable in price now and you can get a descent one for $60 American. Just point it at the area and it gives the temp. Maybe your technician has one he could lend you.

Does the engine Physically get hot and stop?
What is the oil pressure?
What location is the temp sending unit in on the engine?

Fredrick I don’t feel as Chevrolet savvy as before you posted those firing orders. I have been building engines in the USA for 35 years and I have never run across those. I have only heard of the 18436572 and counter rotating 12756348 Chevy orders. Well I guess you learn something new every day.

These are just my opinions

Bluecometk"
 
only Chris Craft used those fi

only Chris Craft used those firing orders for some odd reason there cams were of a different grind Owens Flagship used the firing orders that you mentioned seems like marine engines were a different beast especially Chris Craft the valve lash for the CC was .010 intake and .020 exhaust hot. I'm looking for My service manual because I want to post these spec's for everyone.
Fred Durbin
 
"Hi Bluecometk, my technicians

"Hi Bluecometk, my technicians has just wired the gauges, tach works, water temp and oil press no, maybe sensors, we really do not know if the german guy who took the engine in Germany and then back to me in Italy rebuilt has put new sensors on it, nor the gauges was the originally coupled with the engine, I have found them on ebay looking for something vintage that could be in accordance with the style of the boat. As we haven't ever look at the inside of the cylinders, don't you think that it could be better for a more confident use of the boat to know if pistons and cylinders and valves are ok, at least for left block, where we ear that beating and that overheats? My mechanic says that pull out the engine doesn't need a great budget, and I will take the occasion for refinishing the painting in a more precise way. Am I doing right? I never end to thank you guys for the help, I would like to be in USA to better work and restore my boats. By the way, I have started an other boat, looks like a Chris Craft Futura, I am not sure, I will post some pics to have it recognized from some of you guys."
 
"Before pulling anything to pi

"Before pulling anything to pieces, I would be performing a Compression Check of all Cylinders.

Plus, if the engine is still running, a Vacuum Check of full Manifold Vacuum.

Also, put a Timing Light onto the Ignition, and see what degrees of Advance you have.

Bruce.

PS. You don't have to be in America to restore boats, or engines.
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"Sure Bruce, I was referring t

"Sure Bruce, I was referring to well trained and experienced technicians and cheap spare parts. Next week will be the "week" for my engine, I have a lot of informations to use."
 
"Well, there are experienced &

"Well, there are experienced "Technicians" on this internet site, and I don't think there is anything such as cheap parts, especially when going on the Internet sites like ebay.

I am doing pretty good down here in my neck-o-the-woods, that is if I can tear myself away from this computer.

Bruce. >:D

PS. All Engines are virtually the same when it comes to the way they work, especially pre Computer-Controlled ones. A Chev V8 is just a larger Fiat 500.
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