Dorman

We went about 5 years ago and didnt find much as it was smallish but may have improved--entry to museum nice and dont forget to vist the new antique centre and the arts centre by the lock---and Regimental museum--actually a good day o ut Simon

In the case of our supplier the metal cost is only a percentage of the manufacturing cost--as it is in making a narrowboat but a quote l had this week for a project is £6200 for steel and £7496 in 304 and £8396 for 316 stainless and they weigh in at 3 tons so some what lighter than a shell --hence my original post. I think the general concensus is that ss not worth it for many reasons. Simon Bloody big dip tank for a shell!

Agreed! What a horrific accident l really feel for them I for one will be checking fuel and solvent containers when next on the boat and double safety measures when dealing with them l hope nobody goes through what that poor family did, really horrendous

Certainly a lot for thought here thanks everybody for input. I would prefer to use mild steel to alum for strength during lock bashing etc. Going to get some prices for plate from my fabricator in Bham to see what there material costs are for an average size cooling tower about 3-5 meter box.That should be interesting they use 304 and 316.

In my industry (Cooling systems)Stainlesss steel is now used in preference to steel for cooling towers etc as only has a 20% cost premium for 3 fold+ life expectancy. It started me thinking about future self build project for my DM2. Could it be possible to build a NB shell or maybe just hull in stainless steel? The material cost of plus 20% wouldnt make a massive price increase overall and maybe use thinner plate? With modern paints l would think getting it to stick would be ok. Sure stop the rusting/maint issue. I know they use aluminium so could you find a builder for that rather than just off the usual source? Running for cover Simon

Had the same experience in September 2011 saturday lunch time--shame

I removed steel and concrete because of dragging the bottom and putting in tool boxes and batteries etc. I first filled the water tank at the front and made sure there was still about 1-1 1/2 inch above the counter just below the bottom red painted band rubbing band to stop cavitation and the boat handles great--much better to swing out the back when steering. The swim is long on our boat however. Occasionally on the river if someone passes at speed it might slurp but the engine doesnt rev up. The prop to counter is about 3" so probably about 4" min below the water line. Simon

Hi We have a Dorman 3AL 3.5 litre Ricardo type combustion design and no heaters just an excess fuel button on the side of the CAV fuel pump which needs pushing in if its v cold. It can be smokey then!! I can confirm they can be a bit lazy if not in top tune and occasionally when freezing conditions l advance the engine slightly (maybe twice in 2 years) and it fires pretty well straight away. Always set it back again for normal conditions. It uses no oil in between changes to speak of so has good compression.If you keep cranking it seems to make no difference it has to fire quite readily. We have a 2 part coupling between the engine gear/camshaft drive and fuel pump with a scale from TDC and retarded or advanced arrows. There are 2 10mm bolts you have to slack and then twist by hand to advance 1/2 1 division is normally enough. We are unfortunately having to source a new starter so maybe it was a bad starter once Also turning a few times with the decompression lever set on decompression helps get the oil moving. Good luck Simon

The Starter is a cav BS512M14 and all connections seem good so starter off-where do l go from there? The starter is aligned ok but noisey and slow is it likely it needs refurbishment and any body got a likely refurber?? Thanks Simon

Yes 4.5litre about 2-3 years old and 2x640 which is still 640 so lm told

Checked my batteries and all seem in order after charging up so suspect charging/starter/voltage drop problem on the boat. A question that has been in my mind however is for my engine what would the preferred CCA rating be in a starting battery. My engine is a Dorman 3AL 48 hp about 1.5 litre a pot 3 cylinder with a huge flywheel and loads of resistant oil in the sump --is the current 640 CCA sufficient (current batteries 24V 2 12v batteries) Similiar to a JP3 l suppose Anyone know? Simon

Ok that clear l understand deep cycle batteries cannot be dropped tested for longevity and safety reasons --mine are all cranking type but l have 4 of vinces batteries--can anybody tell me if their suitable for starting and what there CCA is?? Thanks a lot all simon

Hi All Happy New Year to you all Had some starting issues over Christmas so thought l would leave batteries on charge for a few days with Mastervolt 24 charger and popped back yesterday> Then left for 4 hours isolated each battery and tested. Now a bit confused. All 6 showed respectable volts corresponding to volt meters on boat and the fact the charger had gone on float for the last 24 hours. Engine still refused to turnover well checked all connections and no voltage drop. Tested and recorded 12.5-12.9 volts min on all. 2 Starter Batteries CCA dump test showed fault failed test and battery bad even when volts still above 12 and sg of each cell was below .05 so why would it fail to pull enough amps. One of the doms failed dump test and even with good volt the SG between cells was way out--bad battery and l understand that. 2 of the doms good volts even with slightly variable SG and achieved 800 CCA without dropping below 10.3 volts so OK?? Other 2 checked out with SG, volts and CCA test so good : My main query is how can a battery with good volts good SG still be bad on CCA??--can it just be old age? and a good battery with slightly variable SG still pass with flying colours on CCA test---should l chuck it anyway when SGs vary by .03-4max my instinct is to keep using it. All answers gratefully recieved Simon Also if l am using 24 volt starting setup with 2x 12v batteries does that double the CCA eg 640 at 12 volt is 1280 at 24v or does the CCA remain the same? edited for this addition

Yup thats it l buy loads for work from Practical Compounds and urethane 2 pack called "Versapox" lovely name and when l phone in the order the office always say "pardon what was that"

Thats interesting as our boats well deck was treated with similiar product and indeed the two pack urethane has lifted in places--will sort out in the spring probably chip back to bare surface rust and repaint with 2 pack on its own. Using 2pack bituman based epoxy in the gas locker resulted in no such problems. Simon

Could be a CD

We had a perkins 4108 engine in our first narrowboat which had done 1200 hours and produced a lot of blue smoke which seemed odd as that is such a low number of hours for a 16 year old. I asked about and the boat didnt go very far apparently and found out it had a belt driven 240v gen on it (the mounting frame was still visible) and hence low load and stationary use had resulted in bore glazing. I was much more concerned after that seeing low hours on an engine in any boat. Compression test should indicate a problem in that area. Simon

Will do thanks--you learn something everyday

Showing my ignorance--where is there oil and how do you change it? Simon

I dont know if l would have the heart to break it up for a narrowboat once l saw the photos I have some old Lister CE generator engines but there already bare so not so guilty. Have a soft spot for engine/gen combos seen at steam fairs and vintage rallies and would like them to keep rumming. Anyway other half keener on old tractor project--stange but true Simon

Very tempting pm me a price if you want been looking for one when the Dorman needs replacing as spares are v hard to come by has it got water cooling pump? Simon

Hi Steve Good to see Siskin on the water looks great a real credit to you and the builder. Simon