A4 issues

I'm unsure if it was mentioned but my biggest fear with on the brink is the motor. She has the original atomic 4 engine which have a mixed reputation. It seems that with regular care they are incredibly reliable. However, I have no idea if line is well cared for, and after using her for awhile I'm leaning towards poor care in the last few years. 

The motor has always had a hard time staying running and didn't really respond to throttle. Additionally I've yet to see exhaust water come out which is worrisome as the motor is likely overheating. I've only ever run it for maybe 15 minutes so little risk there I hope. 

Over the last weekend I did some research on Moyer marine and decided to check out the carburator for the running issue and the impeller for the cooling. It turns out I have the older style carb with only an idle adjustment. I tweaked the adjuster as recommended and figured I would run it a bit before going further. In the process I broke the choke line and had to reset it, oops! More on this later. 

Next I opened up the thermostat to have a look and boy wax I surprised. The whole jacket was bone dry, not a drop of water in awhile. In the process of opening the thermostat I ripped the gasket which was later replaced. After replacing the thermostat I opened up the raw water pump and found that the impeller was not attached to the shaft. I replaced the impeller and gave the engine a turn. Success, I could see water weeping from around the thermostat (hadn't replaced the gasket yet). 

The success was shirt lived as I saw bubbles around the spark plugs where water had settled. No wonder the engine ran like crap, the plugs were loose. I didn't have the right wrench so I called it a day. More later on my continued struggle. Is it really too much to ask to be able to actually sail my sailboat?