Sailboat I am looking at uses one of these small (61cubic inches) engines as it's kicker. While the owner says it starts right up and runs great, it has always used raw (salt) water for cooling and it does have about 20 some odd years of use since it's last overhaul.
For what it is worth.. it does have a 140degree thermostat to keep the salt from getting boiled out of the water...
Its a pretty simple motor. I think the ignition system can be a little fussy in a salt water environment but nothing serious.
They fell out of favor mostly due to safety reasons - diesel being less volatile and all of that.
As long as whatever's directly exposed to the salt won't corrode in it there's no need to be worried about that part, although the fact that it uses a low-temp thermostat tells me it goes right through the block...I can see how that's worrying.
If you want to take that worry out of the equation you can convert it to regular liquid cooling and then use some kind of sea-water-to-coolant heat exchanger that can withstand salt water in place of a radiator.
The wiki know-it-all says it dates to 1947 (!!) and is descended from an older design that powered lifeboats etc. in WWII. Cool!
OTOH, it also says the little marvel would prefer leaded fuel but will use unleaded "with precautions."
I guess YMMV. (See what I did there?)
The parental sailboat of my youth - a Cheoy Lee Ofshore 28 - had a Universal Atomic 4 for auxiliary power. On the Chesapeake Bay this means "The primary means of propulsion in July and August".
The Atomic 4 is near ford model T in it's simplicity. Cast iron flat head 4, big flywheel, dead simple single barrel carburetor. I can only recall one time in a decade where it was out of commission and we didn't have parts on board to effect repairs while at anchor.
Being a gasoline engine in a keel or keel/centerboard boat, proper bilge ventilation is a must before lighting it off.
Were I shopping bargain mid-sized cruising sailboats in the 27-32' range I'd much prefer a Volvo, Perkins or Yanmar diesel, but the Atomic was prevalent for most boats made for inshore or coastal voyages in the 70 and 80s.
The range of questions here is only outpaced by the range of answers.
Obscure MegaDork post about an odd, old, BOAT engine replied with experience by a Dork in just over an hour.
Wow.
Again, I love this place!
is it still the original copper color? Man I worked on a bunch of those back in the day, pretty much like Motomoron said, simple and dependable.
As simple as stated above. Air, fuel, spark and be sure to ventilate before starting. Most will have a blower wired to the starter ensuring they will not start before blower is on.
I raced in the '90's and '00's aboard a 1971 Cal 39 that had one. Still has the same factory one today.
I am not sure what kind of 4 knot sh!t box you are shopping but the Catalina 30 offered A4's for years and they have some very active owners forums.
The "fix it" forum section of www.sailinganarchy.com may be a second source of help.
I am looking at A Cape Cod Marlin.. a 23 foot boat that was originally designed in the beginnings of the last century and built by Cape Cod from the Mid Fifties up through today.
While not the boat I am looking at.. it looks remarkably like this one.. except the one I am after has the full cabin that makes it into a "weekender" instead of a day sailer
Very pretty boat.
With a PHRF rating of 268 (here in Lake Erie) and a displacement of 4400lbs, she wont be fast. Maybe more of a 3.5ktsb.
You can get a new one still made...for a mere $80.5k
http://www.capecodshipbuilding.com/site/fleet.php?boat=marlin
Again, pretty boat.
4400? I am reading 3500 pounds... but yes.. I am not out to be fast.. I want something pretty that sails well.. can handle the shallows and the chop that develops here in the Mid-Atlantic
I think the one in the picture above had the boot stripe painted to define the waterline 4400# but the boat floated at 3500#.
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