A Boat in the Woodsvideo
Shelter Upgrades, Pulling the VW Diesel Out of My Wooden Boat | No. 31
February 28, 2026 · 34 min · 153K views · Eastern Canada
Two men load red diesel engine into truck in snow
What this video covers
Joshua upgrades the winter shelter for his 32-foot wooden sailboat by installing a non-stretching ridgeline and adding birch-pole supports at midship to increase deck headroom.3:31 He constructs a temporary companionway ladder using dividers to measure step height and securing treads with blocking and screws.7:33 To prepare for a potential rebuild, he removes the boat's VW diesel engine.9:47 He disassembles the intake manifold, heat exchanger, timing belt, injection pump, and valve cover, using an oversized Torx bit to extract a stripped manifold bolt.17:07 He removes the cylinder head bolts in reverse order to prevent warping.21:41 After grinding down engine mount studs to clear the outdrive bolts, he manually lifts the engine block out of the boat.30:23 He later transports the engine to a shop, where he fills the cylinders with a mixture of automatic transmission fluid and diesel to loosen internal corrosion.33:01
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