The head replacement project moves forward

It's still colder than hell in the boat shed but we were back this weekend slowly putting the pieces back together. We still have two exhaust manifold bolts to install but we're going to need an Allen socket for that, which we'll get this week.

We also mounted the water fittings on the manifold and some other miscellaneous hardware like the lifting rings and the bracket for the two throttle cables.

Just to make sure that the gaskets fit correctly, we remounted the inboard valve cover. It mounted OK after a lot of shifting. We have no idea of how tight this valve cover should be. It isn't mentioned in the engine manual except a caution to be careful not to tighten it down too much. We can see why. It's just stamped steel with only five mounting points. If we loose one these little washers, we're screwed.

However it's back on and is one more thing that we can take from the parts that are all laided out on our guest bunk. As that pile gets smaller, we get happier.

We certainly hope that we never have to change that outboard, starboard side manifold again. Its  clearance to the water tank is an absolute nightmare and the dorks at Silverton who designed this boat should be forced to come down here and replace it for me.

The weather has warmed up and it certainly shows in the river. Ten days ago, there was 14 inches of ice. Now the river is reasonably clear and calmly flowing out with the tide. A thaw at this time of year is good for us. It means that a lot of that snow is melting now and not in late April and early May when we'd like to get out of here.

We shot some video of the river. It looks somewhat grim but to see it as liquid, rather than ice is wonderful. Bill got a haircut so now he looks less like a deranged amateur mechanic.

More progress next week, we hope.