headlining and brakes

Material arrived safely... very happy with the colour we've chosen. Its Ivory, and is still very light, but with enough colour that it will contrast nicely with the varnished wood, yet not look too 'white'.

So, this evening, I've started the first panel to see how I get on.

The material is cut slightly larger than the wooden panel, and then (the tricky bit), the foam that isn't to be under the wood is carefully cut off. This is easier said than done, as you need to cut the foam, but not the material its fixed to.

You'll notice the odd patterns cut at the corners. This is the advised way of doing the corners by the company I got the headlining from, and I have to say, seems to work very well.

The glue has been applied and the panel laid down for the glue to set. Its a specialist glue for this specific task, that is waterproof once dry, so won't be softened by any dampness on board. It does however look a lot like PVA!

Once the glue is dry, then I'll start sticking the overlaps down, and then, the magic reveal!

I do have the luxury that the edges and corners of the panels are hidden beneath the wooden trim strips, so a little untidiness won't hurt. But that's not an excuse, so I'll still aim for a great finish!

On a separate note, I've been thinking for some time that I might fit a boom brake at some point, and just by luck, I found someone selling one cheap, so that's also on its way to me.... bonus!

scraping foam instead!

Bored of scraping paint, I thought i'd find something else to do instead.... so I have spent the morning scraping foam instead!

Its a mark that I am getting towards the end of this project, that I have just ordered the new headlining material. 10m of ivory, foam backed headlining material to stick onto the wooden panels that I removed as one of my first jobs upon buying Phoenix all that time ago. 

The panels are covered with foam backed plastic, which needed removing. Oh what a fun job.... sore fingers from peeling the bits turned over to the back, and then scraping with a plasterers trowel to remove the foam.

I must love scraping.

My plan is to get the forpeak panels done.... Just a final sand of the floor in their before putting the panels up, get the floor oiled, and I am done in there. With the handles on the way, I can fit the door, so that I can safely sand the floor in the main saloon without covering my lovely new headlining with dust.

The only thing I still need to work out is how to drill out the 12mm holes in the trim pieces that fit between the panels. The wood is soft, so needs careful drilling to avoid damaging it... I may have to un-bury my press drill from the garage, and buy a boring bit!

Engine still in the boat....

Despite my best efforts, the engine remains in the boat!

It's not however the end of the world, and it should be out on Monday.

Upin trying to lift the engine, it soon became very obvious that with the long Borg Warner gearbox, the engine would need to be tilted nearly on end to get it out of the engine compartment, let alone through the hole in the cockpit floor.

The yard, understandably weren't happy lifting such a heavy engine that way without a frame, as one bolt shearing on the engine mounts as they were used in an unintended direction and the engine would go straight through the bottom of the boat!

So, I spent until mid afternoon trying to separate the gearbox.... in the end I had to undo the bolts holding the bellhousing onto the block, as the gearbox mounting bolts themselves had rusted to unidentifiable blobs.... the bellhousing bolts were in pretty poor nick too, so it took me a long while to tease them all undone.... especially the ones under the gearbox, which were, frankly, nearly impossible to get at.... skin lost, and covered from head to foot in 38 years worth of accumlated engine grease and dirt...

Once the bolts were undone, it should have been easy.... should.

The splines on the output shaft had welded themselves to the drive plate....

So, two hours with a large screwdriver and a hammer, and I'd shifted the gearbox an eight of an inch back from the engine.

In frustration, I went to the yard to ask advice. They handed me two VERY large crowbars, and sent me packing!

As ever, ask a pro when you need advice.... half a dozen good aggressive pushes with a 3' long, one inch diameter crowbar, and pop... off it came!

Unfortunately, this success was too late for the yard, and the crane driver had departed for the weekend.... so the yard promised to pull the engine out on monday morning.

Instead, I started a new task, one i'd been putting off. The cockpit sole has been painted with a horrible blue rubberised paint... This  was not only nasty, but also, needed removing so that I can seal the access hatch back up properly... so it needed to come off. Easier said than done. So I have spent 3 hours with a chisel scraping. In 3 hours, I have probably removed 40% of the paint.... so a bit more to do yet.

I want to get it done before the new engine goes in, and ideally before the engine compartment is cleaned, as the scraping is messy, and I certainly don't want that muck all over the engine let alone the clean space!

Back next weekend with a huge pile of kitchen roll, washing up liquid, gunk de-greaser and scrubbing brushes to get that space cleaned.... its disgusting!

engine jig

This evening, following a good idea stolen from Myron and his own Explorer 45 rebuild (http://svdiscovery.blogspot.co.uk), I've started making up a jig for the engine, so that I can measure up the new engine mounts accurately.... Myron used plastic tubing, but I've gone with wooden dowel and plumbing fittings.... once its assembled, I'll brace it to make it secure.

measuring was challenging, as I needed to allow for the bits of dowel going into the fittings, but we got there!

The T fitting at the far end will eventually be fitted with appropriately sized bits to emulate the gearbox output plate, so that I can line the jig up with the propshaft. I may yet fit a false prop coupling on the end to ensure its 100% in the right place.

When its fitted in place, I can measure the gap between the bottom of the dowel legs (which are where the engine mounts finish)... I may make up some fittings to get an accurate measurement on the drop, spread and angles.... probably more accurate that way.

I can see myself with bits of rope and string holding the jig in the right place to make the measurements!

engine lift and shiny things

Engine lift confirmed for 08:30 Friday morning.... gulp!

Also, have ordered a full set of new door handles and catches.... 4 lots of them, for the two heads, the forepeak door and the door for the aft cabin.

I've ordered them from the USA, as that was the only place I could find that did the right sort.

They are just like ordinary door handles, but the catches themselves are much smaller, as the doors aren't as thick as the ones you'd find in your house

They fit in a door that is just 1" thick.... and I've chosen these ones particularly, as they are the exact model I've removed (rusty and corroded after years of neglect), so no redrilling, cutting etc.

The only downside of them, is that they all have locks.... which is fine for the heads, but I don't really want locks on the other doors (I don't think), so may well disable them on the two doors into the cabins.

I will have two more sets to sort out at some point, for the two doors into the boat from the cockpit, but will sort those as I get that far... I may well be able to keep the mechanisms there, as they've been used much more, and therefore ironically, have suffered from neglect far less.

you win some, you lose some

Prop shaft now suitably disconnected from the gearbox.

The shaft has a flexible coupling, and I ended up undoing the gearbox end.... so will have fun once I can get in the engine compartment undoing the other side..... it was a tough nut to crack... and ended up with a large adjustable on one side to wedge against the hull, and a spanner on the other side with 'substantial' application of a hammer... but undone they came!

I had a few other things to deal with along the way. I wanted to drain the engine oil in order to remove the filter (which is remotely located, so needed removing to get the engine out), but cold engine oil vs hand pump left the oil the winner... so in the end I just gave up and cut the flexible pipes to the oil filter and caught any leaking oil as best I could in a saucepan!

I also disconnected the gearbox cable, which was easy, and the earth strap, which was also easy... and finally, the engine oil pressure guage, which was an old fashioned tube type, rather than electrical sender, so that also got the hacksaw treatment!

So, now engine is absolutely ready to remove.... I keep looking at the gap its got to come out of and gulping.... but the measurements say it'll fit..... It will need tilting in order to get the gearbox through, but it went in, so must come out!

Next job, was to remove the prop. This needs doing, so that I can slide the shaft past the rudder.... on this I failed. My hub puller just wasn't man enough for the job.... the  nut came off easily enough with the big adjustable and a hammer, but the prop refused to budge. I will ask the yard, as they'll have a more robust puller. I even tried putting it under loads of tension with the puller and using the hamer trick to shock it off... but clearly the keyway has welded itself solid.

I need to work out what my strategy is for the shaft.... The prop won't easily go on the shaft unless its pushed right forward, and I may not have room to do that with the new engine in.... equally, I may well (read, its a racing certainty) need work on the prop shaft to fit the new engine... it'll either need shortening, or replacing with a longer one, so need to work out how to do all of this without having to lift the rudder off, which would be a big job.... the fittings holding it on are enormous and won't come off easily, and the rudder itself is VERY heavy, so will need lifting gear.

Finally, I removed the remains of the old shaft seal. Under the previous one, the stern tube hab been fitted with a length of old exhaust hose, obviously to increase the diameter for the bellows... and this needed cutting off... easier said than done. The hose is pretty tough stuff, and I was working with my arms two feet below me in a narrow slot by the keel.... but off it came. I was finally able to measure everything so that I can order a new shaft seal... the shaft is 1 1/4" and the stern tube is 2". The cutlass bearing looks good and there is no play, so that's one less job to worry about.

A riveting read

I was getting on with my jobs by 08:30... serves me right for going to bed the night before at 21:00!

I had been pleased to see the night before, as I drove into the marina, that my mast had been moved as requested, so I would be able to get on with the work.

It however, proved easier to think about doing the work, than actually doing it!

The rivets were bastards to remove.... most had still got the mandrel  in them (that's the bit in the middle that is supposed to snap off and be removed... but sometimes they just break level with the rivet head)... the mandrel is slightly proud, so hard to get the drill in the right place, and secondly, is quite hard material, so not easy to drill to start with.... so it took 'some' time to remove the previous rivets. They had been in pretty poor condition...

I don't know what material they were, but they're not supposed to rust like that!

However, once removed, the second challenge was getting the new rivets in.

I have a scissor style rivet gun, thanks to my mate Jim... not only did he buy me one a few weekends ago, but upon discovering that it wasn't big enough for the rivets, posted me his own.

Imagine my horror then, as I pumped the first rivet tight, to see the handle snap in two!

And then a bit of luck. I discovered that the bolt mounting patterns on my new, too small one, were exactly the same size.... so out of two bad, I got one good.... Jim... the handle on the one you bought me is much better quality, so you've had an upgrade!

Each rivet needed the centre punching out, for which I used an old screwdriver bit... and then, the hassle of trying to get the new rivets installed.. some just wouldn't be 'grabbed' by the rivet gun, so it took me almost as long to fit the new ones as it did to remove the old ones!

I did have to take a short trip out to ScrewFix along the way, as sharp drill bits proved neccessary, and mine weren't!

By 15:00, the job was done, and each spreader is now located firmly with fresh, good quality rivets.

The yellow gunk is Duralac paste, which is a corrosion inhibitor, to stop the aluminium mast reacting with the Monel rivets and the stainless steel brackets.

Next job was the steaming/deck light.... I had to pull through a length of 3 core cable, as the old bit was not in good nick, and then locate the fitting, wire it up, and rivet it to the mast, followed by a protector guard, to stop the foresail or halyard wiping the light off the mast... job done by 16:30.

Last, but not least, I had finally brought the repaired hatch back down, and set too in refitting it.... it was easy to mount the hatch... less easy to mount the hatch struts in the right place.... a fair bit of head scratching and contemplating, and finally, the job was done... looks great!

I'm rather pleased that I decided to keep the old hatch struts and restore them, as they are such good quality... really heavy duty stainless steel construction, and have come up nicely.

So, tomorrow, I'll set too on the engine again... remove the prop shaft, remove the prop, and detach the final few bits, ready for an engine lift out next week.