Old School "Made in the USA" Ford 427

The Crew Cruise was not without failure. The starboard engine stalled and refused to start again. Captain Doug brought her back to the dock on one again. Enough said.

Dr D was on the scene the next morning diagnosing an over heating coil. It was a new coil and research is continuing after replacement. Mallory old school tach drive distributors with new electronic ignition, new coil with internal ballast or should we be back to old school external resistor with points?

The question has been posted to Mallory to get new original distributors or have these factory rebuilt.

These engines ran fine for 40 years with points, sure the points are a little more maintenance, the set-up for the ceramic ballast seemed beautifully engineered. Have we adopted new technology needlessly?

Below are two videos featuring the 427 engine - as Paul in the boat yard said when he heard of the failure - "That's what you get with hot-rods."

The engines are the finest hour for American automotive design. Having a pair in a beautiful Chris Craft from the same period of prosperity in North America has to make you stop and wonder how we ever lost the edge and became consumers of foreign made cheap imitations.

The Crew Cruise - a salute to those still standing

At the end of the long, expensive (as in - beyond your worse nightmare expensive) and at times very trying (to put it politely) restoration of Paramount, Doug and Mrs T invited those not directly responsible for the torture for a "Crew Cruise".

Mrs T - Mrs Terrible - Doug's nick name for his bride of 20 years, Nicole - pictured here with Rockin' Robbie's gal Cindy on the left.

Dr Doug, resplendent in his polyester sky blue shirt matching the Vancouver evenings sky to perfection, was the principle architect and the critical eye. Doug only does what Doug does well. A one-man-band in a very quiet way. His experience and knowledge base are second to none.

Below are a couple of comments posted on the Chris Craft Commander Forum by fellow Commander owners:

That is just AWESOME May 26 2009

That is without a doubt the finest 47 I've ever seen, and there are a lot of very nice ones. Really sorry the engine setback had to happen, but, well.... been there. Sounds like you're in good hands though.

Eric

Very excellent job on everything including the detail down to the red safety tips on the hose clamps. Beautiful boat and workmanship on everything. Motor issues aside, you should be good and ready for summer Pac Northwest style as we say here in the lower 48. I don't think I ever saw any better wiring job under the hood of a BMW.

JB

Paramount is off the dock with her incredible Ford Cobra engines thanks to one man. Jimmy Richmond.

Jimmy (left) and his race ready assistant Aaron (missing for a wedding rehearsal) dyno tested the rebuilt, rebuild engines. After the first over-compressed pair of 427's melted down 20 minutes into Miss P's first sea trial, Jimmy was brought in to oversee the rebuilding and dyno testing of the replacement engines.

Jimmy tested and rejected the starboard engine twice before it was cleared on the third run. Problems identified in the starboard engine were double checked on the port engine, any similar problems were corrected before the port was given room on the bench.

Without his expertise, we would have been back at square one (stuck on the dock) for the second time. He picked up incorrect sized valve springs, reverted the side oiler back to a side oiler after the shop "modified" it and found a leak in the exhaust manifold that was letting water into the block.

That's Robert from Granville Island Boat Yard in the grey shirt with the red band. Rob with his "can do" attitude stayed late to help lift Paramount for the engines to go back in. Rob is a true boater, always smiling when shit happens - "that's boats for you", he knows patience will be rewarded.

Gord (right) - the man with the long reach - he changed his schedule dozens of times to accommodate the engines being returned and lifted back into the boat. The man that makes a very difficult operation go smooth as silk. Gord's dexterity with his crane boom is surreal.

He's chatting to Andrew, the Lambert's houseman, seconded to the boat to help with the installing and trimming of the headliner and a multitude of other finishing touches to complete the interior.

Left to Right

Sue, girlfriend of Robert (GIBY) a nurse and go with the flow gal. She's always smiling and knows Rob is a perfectionist around the boat yard. He doesn't rush and Sue is always happy to help or get out of his way. He's like a kid in a toy store.

Captain Scotty - wearing the Pirates T-shirt. That's a hint. Scotty scrubbed and scoured the bilges for weeks. He erased 40 years of wear and tear preparing the engine room for the return of the "big dogs". Scotty jumped to do whatever was asked. The swim grid sanded and oiled to a fine finish, the decks routinely cleaned during the restoration, every screw in the trim along the hull he removed and replaced, fresh sealant added for a water-tight Miss P.

Rockin' Robbie and his gal Cindy. Rob scraped, sanded, and faired the bottom of Miss P. Taking off the years of paint to the fresh bottom factory gel. He painted the coats of epoxy protectant to a smooth perfection, adding two coats of anti-fouling to her for the season ahead.

Mrs Terrible, terrible in the best way. She always loved the boat, but the smell of emulsified oil in the bilges, permeating the cabin combined with the dampness and mold spores in the headliner were just too much for her to really enjoy being onboard.

Nicole rolled up the sleeves of Doug's coveralls and hi-ho it was off to work she'd go. In with Scotty scraping and sanding the bilges, pulling out the fridge, getting into every nook and cranny. Out with the old and smelly, in with the new and extremely tasty.

Down came the headliner that was heading that way on it's own, off came the wall paper that was so ready to go. Every detail scrutinized and refined, the new gold flecked curtains, faux lizard skin wall paper and the leopard carpet breathing new life into their ship of dreams.

Nicole and her designer friend Liz nominated Norm pictured below in the "wive's club" for his skill in getting Doug to keep opening his wallet and paying for more. It was fine for Doug to escape to his Paramount, but dear Nicole just though old old old. For the safety of the family and the sense of her nose she knew the money had to go.

Norm did what he could, taking to heart Doug's words; Treat her as if she were your own.

The first week aboard the "New Paramount"

Left Vancouver Harbour 0700 hrs arrived RVYC Scott Point at 1300 hrs - transiting through Gabriola Passage into the nice calm waters of Trincomali channel .


Departed Scott Point Aug 6 at 1700hrs through Navy Channel and Plomper Sound arriving Lyall Harbour Saturna island at 1800 hrs.


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Had a great dinner and overnight ashore with our friends Al and Lianne Peretz, and departed the next day Aug 7 at 1200hrs , but not before draining the local fuel dock dry of gasoline ( at $1.38 @ L !!! ) - for our journey home through Trincomali Channel, Poirier Pass ( with a 6 knot flow speeding us along ) - arriving False Creek Yacht Club, 1730 hrs with a 10 knot winds and following seas.


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With the weather getting much cooler we were all ready to get back to the house after a wonderfull first week aboard the new Paramount !

Estimate fuel consumption closer to 50 percent better ...
rodl (rolling on dock laughing) over zach and the pee still ....

Pictures to come...

Paramount's first trip with the Precious cargo

Saturday 1st August 2009

Miss P leaves the dock at 14:00 hours with Mrs T, Ali, Gab and Zach onboard for the long awaited summer holiday cruise to the Gulf Islands. Arriving at 0000.

Engine Hours:

Flawless cruise to salt spring - amazing !!!
Except for zach getting stung by man-o-war and our whole crew having to pee on him .....too funny ....


2800 rpm - was good speed ...

10 knots with whaler in tow - fuel consumption wayyyyyy down - at least 30 percent better ....

Tides:
09:29 1.1 3.6
17:22 4.2 13.8


Salt Spring Island


One of the most beautiful islands in the Southern Gulf. The Saturday Market is an amazing collection of local organic growers, bakers, cheese makers and other towns folks who sell handmade furniture, and other artistic wears. The colours and displays are beautiful. The quality and the taste - gourmet by any standards. It is a place that reminds us of simpler times, when the market wasn't global.


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Engines Rebuilt (again)

So far - so good.

What went wrong with the first pair;

11-1 compression Keith Black Hypereutectic Pistons, a side-oiler "converted" to a top oiler, shabby rebuilt Holley carburetors, shabby rebuilt distributors, wrong sized valve springs. What am I forgetting?

The pistons were shipped as part of a "Deluxe Rebuild Kit" from Performance Suspension Technology. They sent pistons that would be right for a hot-rod racing machine, but totally wrong for a marine installation. It wasn't picked up by the machinist.

The carbs and distributors went out to local shops for rebuilds. The carbs looked like they hadn't be touched. The distributors couldn't have been.

For round two, the pistons were changed to forged KB dished with a compression rating of 9.1-1, a thicker gasket was used for the heads reducing compression further. The carbs went to a shop in Southern California and came back looking like they were new out of the box. The distributors have been sent to another So-Cal outfit and a spare pair are being used in the short term.

The proper bearings and cam were flown in for the side-oiler. Which was purchased for parts and rebuilt first as the machine shop waited for the engines out of the boat. The engines in Paramount were top-oilers and this was also missed until the spare engine was rebuilt. When they started on the other engine they realized there were two different engine builds.



Jimmy Richmond, Richmond Engines and his right-hand Aaron were responsible for the dyno testing this round. There help was invaluable. They found the springs to be incorrect on the valves. They picked up condensation "like H2O" said Aaron in the oil filter after running the engine they cut the filter in half to check it. Thorough to say the least!

By the time they signed off one engine had to be dyno tested three times, whilst the other was run twice. Their diligent efforts saved us from another catastrophe.


Here is some film looking over the transom at the wake and exhaust of Paramount.