Head job on the starboard engine

2023-03-16 update

When we bought Third Wave in 2016, we were told that the stbd engine had just been replaced with a new short block.  So, new pistons, rings, probably remanufactured block, bearings, crank shaft, cam shaft, etc.  But a short block does not include heads which you are supposed to swap over from an existing engine.  Since much of the cost in engine repairs can be the labor, it only makes sense to go though the heads when swapping out blocks, but there was no indication that the cash strapped previous owner did this.

During the long cruise down from Virginia to Freeport we had various fuel related issues ranging from the fuel tanks being full of water and sticks  to loss of suction to the fuel tank caused by leaking fuel fittings.  The net of it was that we could not run the boat hard and much of the time we ran on one engine only.  Some people might be aghast at the notion of driving a boat on 1 engine but I would say the vast majority of small boats in the world are single engine from the manufacturer.  This fact is lost on people sometimes.

In any case we got to Freeport and fixed all of the fuel issues which allowed us to run up on plane at 22 mph top speed and 16.5 mph cruise @ 3300 RPM.  We used the boat like this for a couple of trips, the first being a Wahoo fishing trip and the second being a dive trip to Bimini.  So these were really the first shake out runs for Third Wave.

Upon return from the 2nd trip (Bimini dive trip) I began to notice that the stbd engine was having issues staying cool and it was also consuming coolant.  Those are the top two symptoms for blown head gasket.  Changing the head gaskets in Third Wave is not a huge job but it is not trivial either.  The single biggest factor we have going for us is that our butterfly engine bay doors open the entire engine bay for easy access.  In a smaller boat they sometimes shoe horn the engines into place and simply getting access is a total nightmare.

If I were retired I would have done this job myself but given my work schedule and the fact that I have planned a tuna fishing trip for the first week of April I decided to have one of the local experts handle the job.  So I once again leaned on my good friend Charlie Symonette for a recommendation of top talent for this work and I was given the name of Carlton Roxbury.   

My first impression of Mr. Roxbury is that he is all business.  He reminded me of Winston Wolf, the fixer, from Pulp Fiction.  When you were talking to Mr. Wolf you were talking to a pro.  He'll politely listen to you for about 5 seconds and then give you your opinion.  Anyone with a brain would just shut up and take direction from this man because he knew his business.

Mr. Carlton Roxbury is very similar.  If you work for him you are going to hear "time is money" more than once.  There is a unique focus and presence about this gentleman.  Mr. Roxbury proudly turned 70 just the other day, but to see him work you would be thinking early to mid 50s.  He gets around very well and I observed him carrying and handling a big block Chevy head, which is around 80lbs of dead weight, by himself.

Within a day of beginning work, Mr Roxbury and his helpers had the engine torn down and the heads were spirited off to the local machine shop.  After being unbolted, nothing moved further from the engine than it had to not only saving time and energy during the tear down but also simplifying the reassembly.  In the picture below you can see clean spots on the pistons on the inboard side of the engine.  This is a clear indication that coolant was entering the cylinders.

This is what the outboard side looked like.  No clean spots means the head gasket was not leaking on this side:

Once at the head shop we learned that both of the heads were warped.  While this is often caused by overheating an engine, we know that was never the case with this one.  So the suspicion is that the heads that came off the other block were warped and really should have been milled before reinstalling.  This really was a rookie move by the prior owner but I understand where he was coming from.  Money was tight and boats are not cheap so corners were cut on everything.

When Mr. Roxbury took on the job I did not know that he planned on doing the heads but his take was simple: "I can't guarantee work I didn't do".   But he told me that if I just do it his way, the right way, then that will be the end of the issue for good.  So not only did we get the heads milled but we also ground the valves and put in new valve seals.  This is how they came back from the head shop:

Nicely milled head gasket surface:

Here is Mr. Roxbury fitting the new head gaskets into place:

2022-03-21 update:

Mr Roxbury got the engine reassembled today and this video is the initial startup.  He also swapped out the port starter for a rebuilt unit.   So Third Wave should be back in action for tuna fishing in early April.