new member

[johndb102]

hello my name is john and i am from the netherlands. i have a boat with an atomic four engine. i have taken it out because it needs fixing. the big-end bearings are worn. i think it is a really nice engine, very compact and well thougt about. also i want to try to make electronic ignition on it.
the type is : uj-vd and the serial nr. is 73810
can anyone say in what year this engine is built? i think it is before 1969.
in a service manual i have it says it has a prestolite starter but i have a auto-lite starter. any tips and info are welcome
greetings

[ArtJ]

Welcome to the sight. I think you will find the people here most pleasant,
helpful and knowledgable. There are a number of people here who have
or are in the process of rebuilding their engines.
Do not be too concerned about the age of your engine, other than
identifying whether it is a late model or early model engine.
The blocks are nearly indestructible regardless of age.

The early model engine does not have the by pass t fitting in the cover
near the alternator which the late model does have.

Peruse the site search for similar issues and enjoy. One other thing
that would be extremely use would be to purchase the Moyer marine
overhaul manual.

[msauntry]

Hello John,
It's a surprisingly good engine for something so old. You'll have fun working on it I hope. Electronic ignition is a great addition to it. There seem to be two options available to north american markets. You may be able to get them in Europe as well. Pertronix Ignitor is the first unit (sold on this site by Moyer Marine), and a slightly different unit sold by Indigo Electronics (www.atomic4.com). The first is a magnetic trigger, the second is an optical trigger.

[Dave Neptune]

John, welcome to the MM Forum! I'am sure that any questions that you may be able to ask about the A-4 can be answered by someone on this site. And if it stumps our contributors the great guru "Don" himself willl offer up some very good advise.
I was contacted a few years ago by a "John" in the Netherlands, was that you? I lived in Zandam just outside Amsterdam for a year about the time your engine and mine were built.
My engine is still ticking and it was built in 69, the head has been off once and the valves were ground. Other than regular maintenance it has been running for the 26 years I have owned the boat. Oh yes go for the electronic ignition it is well worth the money and so is the PCV kit, which will keep the engine much cleaner on the inside.

Du Dave Neptune

[Kelly]

Hello John,

Welcome to the site. I'm in Brest, France, and have recently gone through in-depth engine maintenance. I did not do a full-blown rebuild but did have the head off to check things out and pretty much cleaned everything up on my way through.

The electronic ignition upgrade is definitely desirable and easy to accomplish. Also, if you have a salt-water cooling system, the fresh water cooling upgrade will give you peace of mind as to the internal condition of the cooling circuits. The only drawback in my mind is the addition of a second water pump.

Good luck with your work and enjoy the learning process.

Kelly

[lat 64]

Hello John,
Have you taken your engine apart yet?
You said the big ends are worn; these are the connecting rods right? Did you have poor oil pressure when it was running?

Please post pictures. We love pictures. We are cold and bored with winter, and want some new mystery to work on.
Also, Photos will be a great help when you reassemble your engine.

There is much discussion on this forum about bearings; don't forget to use the search feature. It helped me.

Can you tell us about the boat it is installed in?

ciao,
Russ

[johndb102]

hello all, thanks for all the replies, i did not expect so many enthousiast. I have posted some pictures of the engine. i have made an album in my public profile. the boat is a 9 metre long flat open steel boat, they used it in the old days to transport fruit and flowers to the auctions though the canals. the engine was not originally in this boat, if there even was an engine in this boat. the atomic four engine is the engine we put in 2 years ago to replace the aircooled diesel that was in there. the diesel was too noisy and slow. we use the boat in summer to make trips through the cities in the area and across the lakes and canals. there can go about 20 people in the boat. there is only a fridge, a radio and the engine. we did not know the history of the engine so we decided to put oil in and use it as long as it runs, so last summer it started to make boinking noises when changing rpms so it was quite obvious what had happened. now i am searching for some company that can grind our crankshaft an our rods so maybe we can install oversize bearings. also thinking of reboring the cilinders and put new pistons in. they look like they have missed some lubrication haha. i think this is going to be expensive haha. is it worth it?? well i like to do it good since we have taken it apart anyway. instead of have it breaking down in 2 years again. greetings john

[ArtJ]

Hi John

Did you know that Don Moyer can set you up with a exchange engine that
has been thoroughly rebuilt to original factory standards at a reasonable
price. In the event that you wish to go that way.


Best wishes

[Baltimore Sailor]

Originally Posted by johndb102

... last summer it started to make boinking noises when changing rpms

Oh yeah, we've all been there with those boinking noises...

Welcome aboard, and you certainly have found a bunch of A4 enthusiasts here. So keep feeding us the info and we'll have that engine purring instead of boinking.

It's a simple engine to work on, and if you or your friends have any mechanical expertise at all you can do all the maintenance you'll ever need by yourself -- or if you prefer, you can box it up and send it to Don and he'll send you back a shiny rebuilt one good for another half-century of cruising the canals in the Netherlands.

Good luck!

[johndb102]

today we have had our first test after restoring the engine. we have found a second engine that we have taken apart and with that two engines we have put back together one good engine. because the crankshaft of our first engine was just too far gone. we installed electronic breaker points that we have ordered from moyer. also we used a gasket kit we ordered on this site. we painted a lot of parts with hammerite green paint. we have good expereince with hammerite on engines. we fired it up and it runs great, the sound is really good. like an old tractor.now it is time to go and put it back in the boat. thank you all for posting messages on the forum, i have used it a lot if i wanted to get information about all sorts of things so keep on posting. bye

[johndb102]

here is a picture of the first test, for more pictures i made an album. bye

[sastanley]

Great work John, thank you for following up.

Here in the U.S.A. it is starting to warm up on the East Coast near Washington D.C. - I am eagerly awaiting spring and have been working on the boat.

Glad to see your engine is running!

[ndutton]

John,

Nice dry stack! Where's the oil fill?

[67c&ccorv]

Originally Posted by ndutton

John,

Nice dry stack! Where's the oil fill?

Behind the dipstick - the hinged cover with the spring lock on it. It is an early model A-4...nice!

[ndutton]

Originally Posted by 67c&ccorv

Behind the dipstick - the hinged cover with the spring lock on it. It is an early model A-4...nice!

Cool. Heard about it but hadn't seen one before.

[keelcooler]

That has got to be one of the last, still operating a4 brass gear pumps on earth. What's that brass item just forward of the oil fill plate? Watch your fingers on the exposed alternator blades.

[keelcooler]

I have serial no. 74347 in my 1962 Pearson. Nice job!

[67c&ccorv]

Originally Posted by keelcooler

That has got to be one of the last, still operating a4 brass gear pumps on earth. What's that brass item just forward of the oil fill plate? Watch your fingers on the exposed alternator blades.

That should be the tachometer drive takeoff - early A-4's used a cable driven tachometer. (What I would give to have one of those in that condition!)

[67c&ccorv]

Originally Posted by johndb102

hello my name is john and i am from the netherlands. i have a boat with an atomic four engine. i have taken it out because it needs fixing. the big-end bearings are worn. i think it is a really nice engine, very compact and well thougt about. also i want to try to make electronic ignition on it.
the type is : uj-vd and the serial nr. is 73810
can anyone say in what year this engine is built? i think it is before 1969.
in a service manual i have it says it has a prestolite starter but i have a auto-lite starter. any tips and info are welcome
greetings

John, your UJ-VD is an early model Vee-drive A4. (Where is the vee-drive?)Based on what I can see your motor was built before 1967 - the "tombstone" cover plate for the reversing gear and the mechanical drive tachometer takeoff are dead giveaways for the pre-1967 A-4's. BTW, Autolight starters were used on early A-4's - I think the company then was taken over by or became Prestolite in the mid-1960's.

That is a beautiful motor you have there and best of all it is painted Kawasaki green!

[johndb102]

thanks! the little brass item you see in front of the oil filling point is indeed the tachometer drive. since i don't use a tachometer i put a brass cap on it, it is just a 22 mm blind soldering cap that you can use while plumming. fits perfectly. and i have never had a vee drive on this engine. our boat does not need more electrical or hydraulic power since there is nothing on the boat but a big eski for the beers. the starter motor that we put on the engine is a prestolite one, we keep the other one for spares. bye

[hanleyclifford]

I would sure like to know where I might get some that "hammerite" paint on this side of the pond!