Hannah and Jay

I can't believe I have been using this forum for this long and still can't figure out how to multi-quote!! Julynian - that's just the sort of stuff we're looking for, shame their range of colours is so limited Bobbybass - excellent tip, might be a bit of a chore but I can see why it would achieve a better result Blackrose - Your right. Previous damp damage on the T&G was from leaking windows which we have replaced. We're trying to get plenty of ventilation going on so our boat shouldn't be damp....

I'd really like to get some colour in our toatally T&G boat as it looks like the inside of a coffin at the minute, but would also still like to be able to see the wood and the patterns on the grain with some kind of "wash". A friendly boaty informed me recently to only ever use oil based paint in the boat because of damp, etc, Is there a way I can create a wash effect with oil based paint and will this be enough to protect the wood from damp and mould in the colder months? Thanks Hannah

I've seen a really good thread on this ages ago but I'll be dammned if I can find it now! We've just finished laying the real wood floor in the boat, half oak (sadly couldn't afford to finish it off with that) and half pine, all 22mm thick t&g. Now how to treat it? Hmmm... I've heard of wax and laquer and varnish but the main thing we're looking to do is protect it and prevent it staining. What have others done? Thanks

We're going to ask our wonderful welder to make us a diesel tank next week and was wondering if anyone else has done this recently? What does it need apart from an inlet and outlet? possibly a breather? and do the inlets and outlets need to come out at specific heights? and does the steel on the inside of the tank need prepping/painting with anything? as i guess condensation will get in there but I also suppose that any product applied to the steel has to be diesel proof... Any advice welcome as always!

Isn't it odd that these safety standards are so trixy to get hold of! The Soliftec guide is useful, thanks The guide is realy quite helpful. I'll have to check out ours to see if has a "data sheet" on the back of it. Cheers

Sounds like a good option for us as three times the diameter of our flu would mean 15 odd inches away from the wall.. And as for the BSS info, well there's buggar all on there about how far away a stove should be from a wall. I've heard the figure of 4" touted about as as e have no manufacturers instructions to go on I'm still a bit unsure

Right! Lots of stuff to check out, I'll have a look at the BSS stuff first and go from there. We currently have a single skinned flu so we've got some measuring to do...

Hi We've reached the point of installing our morso solid fuel burner (plus back boiler) in our fit out. We need to know how far the burner should be placed from the stud wall (its going to be facing down the boat). i've tried searching the forum but my choice of search words is probably poor! a friends boat was badly damaged by fire last year due to a poor instalation and we really want to make it safe. Also what are peopke's opinions on what to protect the walls with? I've heard of master board and cement board, is one superior? And what is the availability of these materials? Many thanks for any advice Hannah

Nice one, thanks for advice, I was worried about it. We will only be punting it across the cut to continue working on it, engine not ready fire up as we haven't got a diesel tank yet! We've put some ballast in today at the bow, just to put my mind at rest Uxter plate? which bit is this? flat plate above the swim? I'm enjoying learning all the terms!

After a year of work our boat is going in the water this week. We've yet to prep and paint the inner bilge pre floorboads... Question is we now have a super heavy engine i the stern and the rest of the boat is pretty much empty, should we be thinking of ballasting the bow? will it sit REALLY stern heavy in the water without it? If we do chuck our ballast in, it'll be a bit in the way in terms of having to shift it about as we prep and paint the floor, but will be worth the bother if it means stability.....

That's very kind of you! But I think we may go for the camping mat idea below, everythings been so darn expensive why not time for a bit of cheapo improvising

lokking for some rubber matting to cut to size for the weedhatch seal, I've looked on chandlers sites/ebay but can't find the right thing, any ideas? Thanks

Excellent. Thanks, will try chandlers/ASAP for some. Good to hear good reports of Diperk too, I anticipate using them soon...

I've been advised to replace the hosing on our Perkins as externally it looks a bit perished. There's 6 bits that need replacing, all attaching to metal parts 35mm ish in diameter. I've tried our local autofactors for hosing but they don't go that chunky and my local boatyard has recommended taking them off to make sure that they're ok on the inside, i.e. not collapsing, and then wrap some "self amalgamating tape" around the outside, never heard of the stuff myself, but apparently you can get easily in diy stores. Think I'd like to replace the pipe, but not sure where to get the right stuff, any ideas? Cheers

Eek! We're currently blacking our boat with International Intertuff and its primed underneath with Johnstone's zinc phosphate primer, it better not bloody fall off!!!

Very nice! So where did u get the picture of the p4 from?

Yes thats it! Pretty much identical! Is that in your boat?

Thanks- the HP and RPM info is very useful as I need to know these in order to get the correct flexible coupling. Asap supplies have asked me who made our gear box and all it says is "self changing gears ltd"!!

Our second hand reconed engine is a perkins but I have no idea what model! Its a four cylinder, a "p4", and I have the model number which is 2074174 P4 (m) 2/1 does any one know which model this is? Many thanks for any help or advice

Thanks... I like the look of the Python Drive, don't like websites that don't list prices though! I'll have to measure up to see if there's enough room between engine and coupling to fit one in, although I'm likely to defer to my egine experts desire to cut out the prop.. which all seems a little harsh but there we go

ok be warned for improper use of technical terms... We've taken old engine out of the boat and have bought the reconned Perkins to put in. Now, looking at the angle that the prop shaft goes through the boat, its not vertical as it looks on other boats but on a slight incline towards the hull. My engine guy says that he plans to cut this prop out, build the engine mounts, get the engine in and then reweld the prop shaft perfectly flat, no angle. Fine I thought. Then my oh so wise father intervened (a sea dog, NOT a canal wanderer..) and pointed out that the engine mounts on the Perkins are at slightly different levels front and back any way, meaning that if the engine were mounted on mounts of exactly the same height, the engine would be tilting at a funny angle towards bow direction. He thinks the engine is actually meant to sit so that it tilts towards the stern a little and that this would also suit the current angle of the prop shaft. And reckons that the angled prop would give for better power in the steering. As this is my first rebuild adventure I don't know who to believe! any thoughts welcome and apologies for poor explanation Hannah

Some great advise on there, we're not far off painting ours... But what purpose does the brush serve after rollering, what's all this "feathering" business?!

I'm liking your thinking Daniel!

Foam? Never! I need hardcore rock solid long lasting rust preventing wonderstuff!

I like the idea of heating it especially with burners underneath boat, thanks!