pete.i

Having done a small bit of painting on my boat, because the roof was covered in EERRMM car filler, I would say leave it well alone until you can afford to get someone professional to paint it for you. I think the amount of work involved in sanding what you have back and then bringing it back up to a shine will be huge. The other advantage to waiting is that if it isn't done right by a professional painter then it's his responsibility to put it right, I would have thought. having said that there are a couple of boat painting videos on You Tube that might help. Pete

You are probably right. Canal & River Trust do advertise their volunteering opportunities quite extensively on their website but, obviously, you have to have an interest in canals (not neccessarily boating) to know that. I also do volunteer work for the RNIB and I had to go and find that by looking at a "giving my time" website. Googling volunteering opportunities is a good way to see what is available although I admit that I haven't seen much, if anything, about C&RT other than on their website. I do think a volunteering section on here would be good to try to see how it goes initially. But I still stand my fear that it will open up potential volunteers and present volunteers to some form of "volunteer bashing." We shall see. Pete

HHMM as a volunteer for one of the Canal & River Trust Explorers educational teams I do think it could be a good idea but some using this forum would, possibly, use it to bash volunteering and Canal & River volunteers in particular because that already happens occasionally in other threads. But no harm in giving it a go to see how it progresses. Pete

Update.. Just thought I would put a video of this engine that I bought for £250. It's a bit noisy because there is no silencer fitted. It is a bit smokey but then all the BMC 1.5s smoke to an extent and mine did not reach anything like operating temperature, which is when they tend to stop smoking, because I haven't attached any way of cooling the engine nor have I put any coolant in it. There isn't a lot of point in doing all that just yet. If I use it I will use the bits off my old engine. The engine in my boat is running just fine at the moment so I have no plans to change them over. Consequently the video only runs for about 30 seconds before I drop the camera and stop the engine. View My Video Tis on Tinypic because Photobucket is a load of junk and wont play the video. Pete

Yep I'm with the air leak brigade on this one. I have a BMC 1.5 and I was having exactly the problems that you are talking about. I eventually changed all the compression fittings in the fuel line and that cured it. I do not know which one it was and I had four but one of them was leaking air in. It seems it doesn't need much of an air leak to stop these BMC engines. Pete

I was talking generally and the absolute bottom line is that is my money or whoever is buying the boat's money and if the boatbuilder is not willing to take my ideas on board and discuss them with me or the proposed client then my or the proposed client's money should be taken somewhere else and mine most certainly would. I wasn't talking about generall inquiries either as I am pretty sure you knew and I am pretty sure that the OP wasn't talking about general inquiries either. There is competition out there so if you want the work compete. Now I am not going to visit his thread again as it is starting to turn into an argument, (discussion??) and I have an engine to rebuild. Pete

Okay got the pre-combustion chamber from Calcutt first post this morning. I have to say that is fantastic service from them. Whenever I have ordered something from Calcutt Boats it has always arrived the following day. I wish my EBay purchases were as prompt. Do not tell me that a lot of Ebay purchases are free post. Check it out, if it's free postage on Ebay invariably the price of the item is a couple of quid more so it aint free Anyway well done calcutt boats. I spoke to them Thursday late afternoon and the item arrived first post Friday. Excellent service. Fitted the chamber and it's nice and loose in the hole (not too loose but certainly not jammed in like the old one was.) it stood slighly proud from the block at the front by about a mm so I sanded that down and it's perfect. So time to reassemble the head and get on with the block. . Pete

Hello A "good" boatbuilder will take your ideas on board. They will talk to you about your ideas. They will point out the pitfalls and advantages with you about your ideas, whether that is by email, the phone or face to face. Obviously face to face meetings are far better for both of you. A good boatbuilder will make the compromises you want if they are practical and you both have come an agreement on those compromises. A good boat builder should be very aware that what finally comes out from his hands will decide his reputation so he isn't going to incorporate all your "crazy" ideas Bottom line is that it is going to be your boat and your home and, absolutely most importantly, it is your money that is paying for the project. I'm afraid that if any "good" boatbuilder is not prepared to do those things then, if it was my money, I would be going to find another "good" boatbuilder. Pete

Okay Richard I will do that. To be honest that hadn't crossed my mind till you just mentioned it. Cheers Pete Okay checked that with piston 1 and 4 at the top of the cylinder and there is no measureable distance from the top of the piston to the top of the block. There is no difference between piston 1 and piston 4. I think that whatever it was that went into the cylinder just gnarled up the top of the piston and the undersdide of the head, to an extent, rather than bending the con rod thankfully. I will admit that the compression is down on cylinder 1 which is the one that has got damaged but I am hoping that when I have ground the valves in and put a new cylinder head gasket on and done the tappets that will improve. If not a rethink will be in order but I will cross that bridge as and when.

Um do you mean did I make sure that the new top hat fits on the injector before I installed it then yes I did. Or do you mean did I check that it wasn't one of the injectors that I have that broke the old top hat then yes I have checked the injectors length that I have and they are all okay. The broken top hat must have happened previously and then the injector was changed for a right one but the top hat was never replaced. Do you remember the original pictures of the pistons that I put up at the beginningish of this thread. Well the gnarled up one is the same cylinder. I think what has happened is that the bottom of the top hat was broken and that found it's way into the cylinder and that is what has caused the damage to the top of the piston and the head. The debris then got shot out of the exhaust. Luckily it hasn't damaged the valve seat that I can see but I am going to grind the valves in anyway.

I wish. I know they should come out quite easily as should the heat shield but these, I can assure you, weren't going to go anywhere with "taps". The combustion chamber broke into 3 pieces before it came out and the heat shield came out in 4 pieces. Apparently the man at Calcutt said that they must have been stuck in with some form of adhesive. He did mention a name but I can't remember what it was. Either way there was no way in the world they were going to shift just by knocking them out. I was going to replace all the heat shields but but I don't think I'll bother now the others are not going anywhere. I had to replace that one because the bottom had been knocked out. Anyway it's sorted now, i have the new heat shield in and I should get the combustion chamber tomorrow then I can start putting the head back together, Pete

Okay forget that question it has been answered by the man at Calcutt. The BMC 1.8 and the BMC 1.5 pre-combustion chambers are different but the man from calcutt has found a 1.5 one for me. Pete

Hi again all. Okay next question. I have had to smash the precombustion chamber out of the head of this engine by drilling holes in it to weaken it and then, basically, break it up to remove it. That allowed me to tackle the stuck heat shield from the underneath and I was able to break that up to remove it. I had made up a puller that I had attached to an extractor that I had managed to screw in quite tightly to the heat shield and using the injector studs and nuts I tried pulling the heat shield out. This heat shield (for those of you that have not been following this saga) had to come out because the bottom of the shield had been broken off, apparently, because someone in the dim and distant past had tried to fit a Land Rover type injector which are very similar to the BMC ones but they are longer this results in the bottom of the heat shield being broken off. Anyway, back to the puller, it didn't even slightly move the stuck heat shield. All the happened was that the bar that I was using as the lever part of the puller bent. I actually bent two makeshift pullers trying to extract the heat shield. Anyway upshot is that I have now got the old heat shield out and put the new one in ( no I didn't forget the copper washer underneath the heat shield Tony) but at the expense of the pre-combustion chamber. The question. Calcutt only list a BMC 1.8 pre-combustion chamber but I cannot see why a BMC 1.8 chanber should be any different from a 1.5 chamber. I have rung Calcutt but apparently their chief engineer isn't there today so they don't know so I am asking the gurus on here. will a BMC 1.8 pre-combustion chanmber fit in the hole that a BMC 1.5 pre-combustion chamber came out and is the 1.8 one the same beasty as the 1.5 one. Hope I made that clear. thanks for any advice Pete

Okay Tony thanks for that. I must have the original seals then. I assume that I can fit the newer type, though, if that is what comes with the head gasket kit?

Thanks for that Richard. I haven't actually got round to buying a head gasket kit yet I shall do that tomorrow. Pete

Okay Tony I will, carefully persevere. All the injectors that came out are all the same length but that does not mean that someone hasn't fitted a long one previously. I have seen a long injector. A mate does Land Rover engines and the injectors that were in those engines look exactly the same as the BMC ones but they are significantly longer and yes if they had been fitted at any time I would expect them to break out the bottom of the heat shield. Crimp washers aint none in this engine. I do know there should be some because it says there should be some in the manual but whoever had this apart the last time any work was done on the head either scimped on fitting the proper stuff or just didn't have a clue what they were doing. On that score another question. I have completely stripped that head apart from the valve guides. When I took the valve springs off there was a rubber O ring for the valve stem oil seal where I expected to see rubber cap type oil seal. There is a groove on the top of the valve guide which I assume to to accommodate the oil seal so retaining it's position at the top of the guide. The manual shows a cap type seal so I think that is what should be on my engine. Is that a correct assumption on my part? Pete

Okay back to this engine. I have got the new top hat heat shield but it wont fit down the ole. Looking down that hole with a powerful pin beam torch it looks like the old top hat heat shield is still there but the bottom part, that's the bit with the hole in it to accommodate the injector nozzle, isn't there so the hole looks a lot bigger than it should be. That would explain why the new top hat wont fit in the hole. I am trying to get the other three top hat heat shields out but they seem to very stuck in. I have tried a small pick that I made and I read on another forum that someone had put grooves into the outside edge of a pair of long nosed pliers and then opened the plies after inserting them into the hole and pulling the shields out that way. Someone else said to tap the top of the shield to break the carbon build up (?) that might be holding them in. So far nothing that I have tried has shifted these heat shields. I then thought that I should concentrate on the broken (?) heat shield. That has even less area to get a grip of so that hasn't shifted yet either. My next thought was to go in from the bottom ie removing the pre-combustion chamber and then knocking the shield up the other way. I have read about that other people's pre-combustion chambers have just fallen out it would seem but not mine. obviously I have quite a large hole on that cylinder so I can use quite a large drift down that hole but nothing has shifted the chamber either. both the top hat heat shield and the pre-combustion chamber must be removable because I can buy new ones from Calcutt but so far the method of removing these has eluded me. So if anyone has any ideas on how to remove these items they would most gratefully received. Oh I did try a little heat but I am a bit wary about heating the head up too much for, what I think, are obvious reasons. But I might just be being a bit overcautious with that. Pete

It probably applies more to a short boat like mine. I have a 30 foot boat and if I had had a cruiser type stern I would be pretty much pushed to have a shower room and "seperate" galley. I wilkl admit though that there is little difference with extra room between a trad and semi trad stern. I will also admit that my shower room and my galley are still pretty small compared to a bigger boat. Pete

Hi Tony Yep Calcutt have them. I have ordered one as I have the other three. I couldn't find the one I thought I may have had. I have also ordered the washers up as well from Calcutt. I think I will paying a bit of money over the next few months to them. I'm going to overhaul the head first then concentrate on the block and it's bits. I intend to get the injectors overhauled by a diesel specialist and possibly the injector pump although that seems to be okay now I have sorted that little leak out. Thanks for the advice Tony I'm sure I will have more questions in the coming months and TB Training is very useful as well. Pete

Okay thanks for that Tony. I did know about the copper washers I have actually taken those out as they will need replacing when it all goes back together. I did look at the injectors to see if anything had come out with them but I didn't really have a good look as I didn't know what I was looking for. I have stopped for the night now so I will have anther good look tomorrow. If those "top hat" things come out then I would expect them to be available. If it's not stuck on the injector I will have a word with Calcutt or ASAP. Cheers Pete ps Actually this jogged whats left of my memory. Now you have mentioned "top hat" I seem to remember something that was/is (hopefully) in the box where I put all the bits when I first took the engine apart which did look like a top hat. I did wonder (I think) at the time what it was for and where it had come from. A good dig around tomorrow is in order. pps I haven't got rid of the gearbox Richard (RLWP) and Oldbulldog didn't get back to me.

Hello Just updating this post and yet some more questions. THE BEAST LIVES. (Well sort of.) Having taken the engine to bits and making sure that everything was actually there I decided that I had spent enough money for now on it bearing in mind that I didn't know whether it would fire up because if it wouldn't even try to fire then to carry on spending more money on it wasn't worth it. Anyway I put it all back together using the old head gasket and tried to start it. The first half hour or so of turning it over were pretty fruitless. I wasn't using the heaters because I thought it would have been warm enough for it to, at least try to fire. Anyway as I said no go. So I stuck the battery on charge overnight. In the morning I rigged up a connection to the glow plugs and heated them for 30 seconds and it fired. It didn't stay running but I thought that was a start so I persevered. After a few more spins of the engine, with it just catching but dying, it finally fired up and stayed running. I didn't keep it running for more than 30 seconds or so as I hadn't put any coolant in it so I stopped it pretty damn quick. It was also very erratic but I expected that and it was kicking out thick black smoke as well although that might have been my patent emergency stop device, that I fitted over the intake manifold in case of a runaway emergency, being set a bit too close and therefore restricting the air intake. Anyway the point is it did run. There were some diesel leaks from the CAV pump mainly from a part that the manual calls the cap nut. This has a seal which I replaced and that seems to have cured that. The questions I have which is accompanied by a couple of pictures is:- If you look closely at the two pictures, which are of the injector holes down into the pre-combustion chamber, there is a lip that the crinkle washer sits on and below that is another face with a hole in it that the injector face sits on (I assume) and the hole accommodates the nozzle. In the other picture the lip that the crinkle washer sits on is there but there is no lower lip. The hole that you can see at the lower part of the hole is hole that exits from the pre-combustion chamber into the cylinder. The chamber without the lower ledge and hole is number one cylinder the other three cylinders all look like the first picture So to the question. Does anyone think that this is an issue. Can anyone throw any light on why that particular chamber is formed like that or what is missing. I am assuming that these ledges are machined into the head material so I just cannot see how one could be missing part of itself. http://i1070.photobucket.com/albums/u492/pete-i1/20140529_144502.jpg http://i1070.photobucket.com/albums/u492/pete-i1/20140529_144513.jpg Anyway thanks for any light that you can throw on this conundrum. I have decided that it is worth spending money on this engine as it did start so it isn't a lost cause. I have stripped it down again and am now grinding the valves in which is a horrible boring task. There must be a better way to do this in this day and age than with a rubber sucker and grinding paste. I'll keep the post updated as things progress and no doubt I will have plenty more questions. Cheers Pete

Hi The drive plate is attached to the face of the fly wheel. In the same place that the clutch would be attached in a road vehicle. It does a similar job to a clutch in as much that it takes up some of the initial torque when you engage forward or reverse on your boat. because of where it is attached the only way that I know of to inspect it is to separate the gearbox from the engine. I have a BMC 1.5 and Hurth gearbox and I do not have an inspection hole. An "on the way out" drive plate can cause clunking but as Richard (RLWP) says some gearboxes clunk anyway, mine does. Pete

Hi Mike okay. Nobody has said anything about flexible lines back to the tank for the overflow lines nor for the feed to the injector pump. They probably will now it's been mentioned LOL. But the existing pipes are either 8mm or 10mm and them thar yeller things are 6mm so they wouldn't fit with out adapting them and there are five of them. Anyway I'll find a use for them somewhere, possibly, on the second engine. That is coming on okay. The injector pump works but it does have a slight leak from the end cap, whatever that is, it's a bolt fitted at the bottom of the injector pump. I undid it and the seal is all tatty and orrible. But I have a full seal/gasket kit for the injector pump and there is a seal in that. The head is good and the big end bearings look okay. I did have it stripped down because it had been sealed with what looks like silicon sealer around the rocker box cover and the sump which I had to clean off. Also the person I bought it from had managed to break the sump drain plug off so I had to get that welded back on. I have replaced the sump gasket and the rocker cover gasket and a couple or three other gaskets. I want to start it before I throw any more more money at it though so to that end I have put it all back together and spent a couple of hours yesterday trying to start it but it wouldn't even try to start. Busy today and tomorrow with CRT educational thingy so I cannot do anything with it but going to try again on Tuesday providing the sun isn't out cos I'll be cruising if it is . Someone said it could be timing but I haven't altered the timing so I don't think it's that but I will check it. If it's anything like the engine on the boat it doesn't take an awful lot of air in the fuel system to completely make the engine unstartable, as I have found out. So, hopefully, it's something relatively easy like that. I do have plenty of diesel at the injectors and it is going into the cylinders because when I crank it over unburnt diesel is coming out of the exhaust. Also the compressions are good on 3 of the cylinders and little bit down on cylinder 1. This shouldn't make it totally unable to start it should at least be trying. So I am hopeful it will eventually start but even if it doesn't I have a good injector pump (once I replace the seal) a good head, a good starter motor and a good lift pump. The alternator is good but one of the fixing lugs has been broken off but I can get a cover off EBay for around a fiver. So that little lot is worth way more than I paid for the engine. So basically that is where I stand with the second engine atm. Holiday? What holiday LOL. I'm retired us retired peeps don't have time for holidays. In fact I just do not know where I ever found the time to work when I was working. Cheers Pete