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[Ironworker]

Hey all! I am remodeling a 1970 Newport 30 with an Atomic 4. Not my first boat but my first sailboat. She is a Hurricane Katrina salvage. I have just finished assembly on a total overhaul and am in the process of building a stand to do the initial break-in before putting it back in. Myself, I am a union Ironworker in East TN and will sail on Cherokee Lake.

[ndutton]

How did you get the engine out of it's hole?

I worked at Capital Yachts from 1971 to 1973 primarily on the Newport 30 line. As I recall, the underside of the cockpit sole rested on the #1 spark plug. I couldn't see any way of changing the plug let alone removing the engine. I'd be real interested in how you did it.

Also, do you still have the iron riser type exhaust that bolted inside the port seat locker? This was before the day of the waterlifts.

[Ironworker]

The engine was not real sure it wanted to venture out into the outside world. It was tight like you mentioned but with the help of a come-a-long, some finesse, and a few "choice" words it was out in about 15 minutes. (That is after about an hour crawling around trying to get everything loose and trying to get a photo record of how everything was.) Keep in mind that as an Ironworker I rig for a living so it wasn't too difficult. I got it off the boat with the help of a friend that had just bought an 18 ton boom truck and wanted to pick something.

As for the exhaust, I think I have what you described. I have almost everything I need lying around to make a stainless steel water lift muffler.


Do you have any idea where I might find the hull #?

[ndutton]

That was before the time when hull numbers were required to be molded into the transom so you can stop looking, nuthin' there. The first molded in hull numbers I saw were in '71 during my employment, at least for Capital. Other builders may have been doing it earlier but I kinda doubt it. As you continue your refit, keep an eye out for a 3 digit number on the underside of cabinetry components, you might get lucky. BTW, all the woodwork was provided by H&L Marine Woodwork in Southern Cal and they're still in operation.

The fuel tank I.D. label might have a hull number too. You might check with Boatswain's locker in Costa Mesa, CA, the supplier of the A4's for the area, and see if they can cross reference the engine I.D. number to a particular hull.

You can approximate a hull # if you can find a later boat and count backwards. We produced approximately 50 N30's annually (it was a really small operation). A hull I.D. number has the month and year of manufacture encoded.

[Ironworker]

Thank you for the valuable information. One more quick Newport question and I'll leave you alone, at least till another post. I am curious as to how the bilge is constructed. I can access 1 cavity completely and enough of the ones fore and aft to get in with my hands and scrape some oily, nasty stuff out. There seems to be a small (1/2") weep hole between cavities but I can't see any farther to tell if there is more junk in there that may require some inventive ways to get a vacuum there.

Thanks,
Taver

[ndutton]

Sent you a PM since we were straying from Atomic 4 stuff.