1969 San Juan has a new home

I like the prop shaft length after the strut I think you are the winner of who owns the most San Juan's!

So what's better (or worse...) than a free San Juan? How about 2 free San Juans? That may be what I'm getting myself into. There was a 1974 posted in the CL thread a few months ago and I wanted to get it. After going back and forth with the owner a few times I ended up driving to CT last night to check it out.
It's rough and pretty much in the same condition as my 69, but it does have a trailer. Not a factory trailer, but it's pretty good and designed to fit the hull and underwater gear. I may be picking it up next weekend before or after the CT mini.
It doesn't have an engine, but it does have a transmission, engine mounts, strut, prop, and most hardware. The floor is ripped out of this one and you can see in the pics below that the SJs have 2 fuel tanks under the floor in addition to the one in the transom. This is how they get the 60 gal capacity.

Actually I probably don't need it. Assuming you're talking about the lifting rings. Looking more at mine, the actual rings are fine, although covered in paint. Only the rods below are bad and I can replace them with threaded rod.

You got some work there Jeff....like you didn't know that :-)

Look forward to coming over.

It's been a while but over the last few weeks I've remove the SJ off my brother-in-law's trailer and have it blocked up on a concrete pad.
I just got a chance to explore a bit yesterday and wow is it mushy.
Check out this video. Don't forget to select HD.

Gary S wrote: Pressure test or not Pete,saltwater manifolds don't last long and to go with a rebuilt engine,he should just get new ones.Once the salt gets in the castings you can never get it out, it keeps leaching.He might be best to cut them off. Jeff it seems you Easterners prefer the two tree method of engine removal as opposed to the Midwest's one tree. Yours will be archived

I think it's a north south thing.

Pine trees vs Oak trees. :)

When I built my house 20 years ago I had 2 of the garage roof trusses engineered to each support 1500 lbs. in addition to the regular snow load. I then installed an eyebolt through the ceiling to attach to each of the 2 special trusses located over the front lift ring and rear lift ring of a boat onto which I can hang a chain hoist. To pull an engine, I position the engine under the front chain hoist, lift the engine, and roll the boat out from under the suspended engine. This has worked out for me many times over the years with never a problem.

Sam

Can I simplify this engine and make it fresh water cooling now?

Gary - I wish I could have found one tree that worked well. One branch would have been much easier than running the span with chains across the trees.

I should have just put an ad in Craigslist looking for someone with a bucket loader or lift. I probably could have gotten it done in 1/3 the time.

I could tell the threads were bad on the rear mounts. The fronts look salvageable.

Forgot to mention that it does look better cleaned up. You might also be on the lookout for new or used freshwater motor mounts,those will be tough to repair,the actual threads will most likely be rusted away

Haven't checked them yet Pete but huge chunks were just flaking off everywhere.

Curious to see the pics. If you need heads, manifolds, etc. but the block, crank, cam are ok plus the EFI system is workable, seems like it might be worth a rebuild. 350 parts are certainly easy enough to source.

OK I was at it again today. I finally have 99% of the mussels and junk off the hull. I used an ice scraper today and it worked well. After my third trip to the power washer in the last 10 days, it no longer smells like the Atlantic Ocean.

The bottom paint was actually coming off fairly easy with the power washer. There are so many layers... the current black, which has several coats, and below that is a white and a blue layer. In some very small spots, all that came down right to the gelcoat.

I also came up with a few plans for lifting the engine. That is planned for Friday or Saturday.

So the weekend ended better than it started and the weather finally cooperated today. Also, the 3-car garage that I was planning on renting looks like it might work out. Unfortunately it's too low to lift the engine in there, but I can get it lifted at home or my parents house and bring it there.

A few other things I noticed:

• There is exposed foam in the stern below the fuel tank. Obviously it is soaked.
• The engine air intake comes from the scoops midship on the gunwale, and directs down the wall and into the engine box. Those hoses need to be replaced.
• The 3-inch blower above the fuel tank wasn't attached to anything. The blower lines were all broken apart and crumbling, just like in my 84 SN.
• We drained most of the fuel, there was some sludge at the bottom of the tank
• The exhaust manifolds are toast... big chunks of rust were just falling off. I'm going to at least have to replace them. The risers seemed fine. It will NOT be fun getting those manifolds off.
• I did find the drain plug and it was mostly water that drained... very little oil. Joe said most of it went overboard from the automatic bilge.

Thanks Brian. That helps. It does look like the freshwater cools the exhaust manifolds. I still can't find the through-hull drain.

Hey guys... questions. I'm trying to figure out how to winterize. I've never seen this kind of cooling. There is one through hull intake that goes to the rear, into a U, and then back forward under the port side of the engine. I can't tell what it is doing after that.

This coolant reservoir on the stbd side... what is it? How does this system work?

Going to crawl around a bit more to see what's what right now.

My twin 302 SJ came from Sandusky which is not too far from Avon Lake. It was the Sportsman model (no cuddy) in white with red upholstery. It may have been the same boat.

Sam