GA Hallett PC26

Hi all, long time researcher first time to post. 1997 Hallett party cat deck boat, 850 original hours, head refresh around 400HR, briefly in brackish water, but in fresh water for 4 years i owned it.

Over the holiday i noticed milkshaked oil coming out of my dipstick. I sucked the oil out, replaced oil and ran for a minute before starting disassembly. I found the left intake gasket was out of position and someone just made new holes. There is pretty heavy corrosion at this area. I noticed the epoxy coating on underside of the intake was missing in area of the water passage. Should i assume the water made its way there and blew it off? Is it possible to get the intake weld repaired and machined?

I got the left head off before having to go back to work out of town. I will complete disassembly next week. The head gasket did look like it was starting to leak. The head looked good, no corrosion, minimal carbon. Due to the age of my motor, should i look at new heads, or can you recommend a shop in the Atlanta area to go to?

Do you have any suggestions past getting the heads off for a look and fixing or replacing the intake?

GLENAMY 242SS

iTrader: (1)

You may look at Ron Sporel in Birmingham, AL for the heads and head work. He had some new Merlin bare heads for $500 each, as I remember
He is a member here on OSO

GA Hallett PC26

Thanks, I will give Ron a call

TomZ

iTrader: (2)

Make sure to not alter too much on that engine. You'll need to remap the ECM if it goes too far out of specs. Might be better to have the existing heads checked for cracks, replace the seats, and do a rebuild. Less complicated. Just a thought.

GA Hallett PC26

Thanks TomZ. Taking the right head off was a challenge. one of the bolts had head corrosion and took a bit to extract. Both heads are now off. The cylinders look good and i sprayed a gallon of mystery oil in cylinders and lifters.

I'm back working out of town, so will have time to call Ron and do more research on heads and what pushes you into remapping..... And find a 454/502 MPI intake.

Cap'm Kurt

Sounds like your heads were good so re-use them. Have a valve job done though. Usually valves are most often the issue with compression on I/O motors.

On the intake, if not too wide spread corrosion, say just around the water port, do a good job of cleaning the area and use JB Weld. Level it good though.

TomZ

iTrader: (2)

What generation? I have an intake that might need a little love but is workable. MEFI 3 (short injectors). I also have a like-new set of injectors, maybe 20 hours of run time if that.

GA Hallett PC26

Its a Gen VI. 1996 or 1997. I would post a picture, but i haven't made my 10th post yet.The intake is corroded worse on the left water passage. I could easy go deeper in the removal, but i already removed some of the edge of the base flange.

I could also use injectors, i have no idea how old mine are.

TomZ

iTrader: (2)

You'll need to verify the ECM generation. MEFI-3 has the connection points on the face of the unit and is more square looking than the MEFI-1 (connection point are forward and aft). The MEFI-3 wasn't used until 1998 but anything is possible. The injectors and intake are different between the two (MEFI-1 uses a long injector and the manifold is drilled accordingly).

You may be able to have the manifold repaired. It shouldn't be too difficult unless the aluminum has become porous.

GA Hallett PC26

I measured the grommets where the injectors go in the manifold and they are 22mm, so i now know i have the early manifold