When I returned to the boat in the New Year, it dawned on mt that I had just over two months to get the boat into a sailable condition! The grit blaster and paint tunnel were booked for the beginning of April, so I had to be able to set off for Nottingham around 15th March.
This had the effect of focusing me onto 'Jobs That Really Must Be Done To Be Able To Move The Boat', instead of the jobs that I was most interested in!
I started writing a list and was surprised at how basic some of the essential jobs were, e.g.
- Fit tiller
- Get engine running: cooling system, starter motor, gearbox cooling, fuel supply, etc
- Flooring over propshaft
- Something to stand on whilst steering
- Steps to stern
- Water pump
- Install toilet (thankfully simple)
- Buy and fit fenders
- Ideally, get the cooker installed and working: two 11-day trips on 'ping' meals???
I picked the water pump as the first task, as I wanted it out of the way and thought it would be a quick win. It should have been simple: screw pump assembly to a piece of plywood and connect up. Until I realised that all the holes were covered by the pump itself, so I ended up having to fix captive bolts into the wood, fit the pump over, then fiddle and faff to get washers and nuts on. Four hours later...
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| Twin pump assembly, ready for in/out connections |
Who designs this stuff? Don't they give any thought to the poor *** who's got to install it??
Having run the DC supply down the boat, I was able to test the pumps by pumping the tank contents overboard. The twin pump setup worked impressively, delivering through a 22mm pipe at full bore. They emptied the 900 litre tank in under 30 minutes.
The next key job was 'Get The Engine Running'! As with so many things on this build, one task is dependant on two or three others. The engine needs a cooling system; the cooling system needs a header tank; the header tank needs to go on s bulkhead; before the bulkhead goes in, the ceiling insulation needs finishing... and so it goes.
So it was out with the Celotex and spray glue, then off to the builders merchant to get T&G boarding, ready for the bulkhead. Happily, I'd pre-made the ash framework in the workshop weeks previously, so it was a fairly straightforward job to fit it.
Fitting the T&G boarding was a nice easy job, then I was able to fit the lovely brass header tank (supplied by Tony Redshaw Vintage Diesels) and connect up the feed hose.
The PRM 500 gearbox needs an oil cooler. This is not normally an issue on modern engines, because they arrange somewhere convenient to fit it. The problem with fitting a vintage engine is that... nothing fits!! The cold side of the cooling system is at one end, the gearbox is at the other, so the compromise was to fix the cooler to the engine bearer. This was another case in point - all the blasted screw holes covered by the unit itself!! I think these designers think we have flexible, right-angled screwdrivers!
Added to that, the PRM 500 manual states that the system needs to be rated at 20Bar. That's 300psi in old money. A lot of searching on eBay produced some rubber hose, sheathed in stainless steel. Hopefully it will be OK!
Next, the starter motor. I had tried spinning the engine, but the starter failed to engage. The pinion just kept hitting the flywheel, making a terrible din and was starting to damage the flywheel rack.
A phone call to the most knowledgeable Iain Parker of ICS Online solved the problem. He supplied a rebuilt replacement starter motor, which took a few minutes to fit. The new motor worked perfectly and turned the engine over without a problem. Progress!
Having fitted the oil cooler, the next challenge was to route all the cooling water pipes around everything else. This involved ordering a bunch of various bends, but at least it will fit and work.
More on the engine next time!
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