Trojan 440 Upgrades, Fixes and Ideas

Speaking of Motors. Dave - Do you know what temp. regulators you have in your cats? I ask as I have the right one according to the parts manual yet it has to be wrong according to the service manual. Boat Diesel has conflicting information as well. I am going to post in engine forum to see what others think. But I think I will be changing the regulator in my starboard motor.
 
John, I am glad you could make use of the transponder. As far as your marina's WiFi speeds perhaps your WiFi system will be put
to better use once you start cruising. It seems like the Mason Dixon line holds true fort slow internet. You guys from Baltimore
south seem to have poor speeds while those of us north seem to have excellent speeds.....
Bill
 
Thanks Bill. It is working perfectly. Went out for a short cruise on Friday. It worked tooling around the harbor and at speed outside the harbor. Very happy with the install.

The internet thing is a bust here. That is for sure. I did find if I use Chrome it was much better. Unfortunately, my work computer it is not an option. Fortunately my work computer comes with an air card with unlimited access. :)
 
So I finally got around to doing something constructive again. I finally painted the scratched up no gloss faded back door. I have been wanting to try roll and tip painting for a while as I am likely going to do it on my arch. I got some of the Interlux brightside topcoat paint in white and some of the interlux primer. Sanded the door down with 220 then 320. Two coats of primer with a 320 sanding between coats and two coats of paint with a 400 sanding between coats. The outside of the door came out better than the inside but both look pretty good for my first attempt. I am going to let it harden over the next year and when I compound and wax next spring I will wet sand and compound the door as well. I was actually surprised how easy it was to paint that way. I will be doing my arch next spring.

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I also got all of the rotted wood dug out of the anchor locker. It still has not dried out from the rain so I put plastic over it and duct taped it down. We are not supposed to have any rain this week so hopefully next weekend I can epoxy and fill the area. I am taking Bob's idea and using a plate for support. Although I will likely epoxy in starboard on each side rather than steel. I think I may have figured out a way to direct the water so it does not pool there as well. More on that as I McGyver it. lol

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I am done for the weekend though. It is just to dang hot out there. Heat index yesterday was 110. Today it is 103.
 
The arch will not be as easy!

I'm pretty happy with my handy work as well this simple mount is something I could have made years ago it only I had seen something like it sooner.

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Having the davit make light work out of lifting the motor and launching the Dink.

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Granted a freedom lift would be nicer!
 
Very nice Dave. I may plaguerize that. lol. I will need something like it. I also like the mount for your spare props. I presume they are through bolted with a plate on the engine room side as well?
 
I would assume as well, they came with the boat I have never had a reason to investigate how they were mounted, fortunately I haven't needed the props as of yet. The mount for the motor was maybe a 30 minute project made with scrap wood laying in my yard, the store bought version would have looked much nicer but would have cost $240 and I would have had to mount it in place this one I can simply move to a different spot if I find it's in the way.
 
John great work as always. I noticed my shelf was lose a bit as well at one point, I used epoxy to fix it.

Dave maybe these spare props will move to my boat and vice versa! I want to have 4 blades :-)
 
Hi Dave
I always hated that flimsy plywood door so a few years ago I made a new 3" thick door and got some Interlux polyurethane paint, had it tinted to the boat color, rolled it on with a foam "hotdog" roller and tipped it with a throwaway foam brush, worked great. The arch is a whole different kettle of fish. Have been thinking about that for awhile, have some cancer here and there, next year like you, so lets compare notes when the time comes
 
Odvar. I thought mine was plywood as well. But as I sanded it down it turned out to be some sort of lexan. It was clear. I suppose I could have polished it clear and had a see through door.

I do plan to use the roll and tip method you just described to do the arch. The hardest part will be sanding it down and getting it prepped correctly. I think I am going to remove the cross member entirely and take that home to do it. I want to mount my sat dish anyway. My Brother is going to make some new decals for me for the arch as well.

Where did you take your paint to tint it. The interlux white is really bright but I imagine after a few years it will fade close anyway. But it would be nice to have it tinted correctly from the start.
 
Dave i figured it was not just ply, bur flimsy anyway. Well I took the can I got from the marine store to a paint store and told to match it to a part I had cut out of the boat at one time. They said we can't do that its not compatibal, but they did and it worked just fine. Done it several times since. I was planing on doing spots as needed on the arch. My arch is in one piece so I can't take it apart. Anyway I feel that the prep of the aluminum is the key, acid wash, right primer. I went to an auto paint store and got some of their stuff for al that I have used and it seems to be good
 
I don't believe the 96 and 97 doors are the same as the 98 and newer. I have looked at Alan's and his is not the same as mine.
As for the arch I have a friend in the auto body business he gave me all the supplies to do my arch including the acid wash and the special primer for aluminum I even had him match the paint I brought his a panel I removed from the arch to match. I sanded some of the bad spots then acid washed the areas then primed within a few days it started to peal up again, I'm sure I did something wrong because the panel I brought to the shop looks great! It may have been too cold or damp when I worked on this I will try again soon once I get the prep work done my friend said he would show my how to paint it even lend my his sprayer to do it right.
 
If it's Aluminum, Zinc Chromate should be used as the primer it has a yellowish/ green look to it. That's assuming the stuff is still legal to paint with or that you can still purchase it?
Bill
 
Billy the acid wash works as an eching solution then the primer I used also has some sort of eching properties it is specifically meant to be used on aluminum what I like about it is its white and doesn't stand out while waiting to be painted. I'm sure if my friend used the same stuff on my access panel which by the way came out great I must have done something wrong probably was the temperature or the moisture at the time I was working on it. I'm just happy I stopped the expansion of the bubbling area most of what I did looks good but there are some problem areas I will have to do again on a nice day. The problem is I don't like to work on nice days I prefer to lelax and enjoy them:). I say this from my lounge chair on the Ruby Princess while heading to Venice I still have a few days left of my vacation sadly it is nearing its end.
Today is my last at sea day so I will lay in the sun eat and drink myself silly!
 
The ideal way to get paint to stick to Aluminum is via powder coating but I don't think that's going to happen with a boat arch.
It sounds like you are enjoying yourself Dave. When you get back I owe you the VHF antenna cable extension.
Bill
 
My arch had already been touched up before I bought it and it was paint not very well I might add but it still looks pretty good!

Billy my VHS is the last thing I've been thinking about but thanks for remembering.
 
Dave I hear u about enjoying sunny days. I'm parked up in the North West, San Juan islands , catching cooking BIG Dungeness crabs#128522;I agree the aluminum needs acid wash and a good primer, and the weather has to be right! Home Depot stuff will not work. I think u are on the right path with your friends input. Like to know what those products are.
 
Awesome............. there haven't been that many boats over a weekend in our entire Bay so far this summer!
Bill
 
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