Mike Adams

I don't think that is correct but you need to demonstrate that you are moored local to the Wey, such as on the Basingstoke Canal or the Thames and would make regular use of the Waterway and of course have a home mooring.

I think it might get you out of trouble in the short term but a better solution is needed. I guess when the rubber fails and you get metal to metal contact the alloy quickly fails. You need to avoid any oil getting onto the rubber.

There are various threads on here about the Isuzu 55 engine and head gaskets blowing. It seems to only occur on engines that have skin tank cooling and not on those fitted with a marine mannicooler/heat exchanger. I suspect that your underlying problem is down to overheating of the engine. These engines are not normally fitted with a temperature gauge so your running temperature could be too high without the alarm going off. As you said there is poor circulation to the calorifier I would suspect overheating to be the cause due to poor or restricted circulation.. Possibly check the water circulation pump first as you are taking the head off anyway. It could be a build up of scale/rust in the engine and skin tank on its own or in combination with a blockage of the water passages in the block or head. Skin tanks performance degrades over time with internal corrosion and build up on the external surfaces. Wash out the skin tank and engine and add corrosion inhibitor/antifreeze when you refill. air collecting in the head depending on the cooling arrangement could also be causing the issue.

Can you not use the original drive plate as a spacer ring? I would not use the spacers unless you have no other option.

It is better to take the downward force on the top bearing which is accessible for greasing and just let the bottom bearing act as a sleeve. I have seen ball, taper roller and plain bearings work well.

I think an R and D plate will be fine. I doubt if they have one to fit your pump on the shelf but they may be able to make one. They are usually designed for marine gearboxes all of which tend to have different splines. A spine adapter will work fine if you can get one to suit your pump and one of the standard drive plates from R and D. I doubt this but you might fit something like a borg warner or something that uses an SAE standard spline. You need to trawl through all the data sets and work out what size SAE drive plate your engine can take and if it has an SAE standard flywheel. The SAE drive plate may be bigger than your current one. Goggle SAE flywheel and that will give you the data such as diameter and number of bolts for the drive plate. If you find one that fits the flywheel with a larger spline try and get a spline adapter to suit or you could possibly bore out the r and D spline and weld/press in a plane spline sleeve to suit your pump.

I think there are only three tangs judging by the sections broken off the plate. Clean them up and reposition on the plate and see what it looks like. You might get away with welding it.

I am sure the engine drive plate is Aluminum. A decent welder should be able to weld the broken off parts back on if you can find them all. It looks like you could build up the thickness of the original tangs while not affecting its operation. Then all you need is a new rubber coupling. Or as a temp fix you may find an HRC rubber insert of about the right size.

Those splines don't look too bad to me. of you clean them up and there is not too much slack I think it willlast a long time. You can get splined sleeves to fit hydraulic pumps from an agricultural supplier to get to a parallel shaft. Then you have more options. When I had a similar problem I used a sleeve into a taper lock Hrc coupling and machined the other half of the coupling to fit to a steel plate bolted to the flywheel. There are commercial parts out there but they do take a bit of finding!

I suggest you do what Alan has said and slightly loosen the two larger pipes startthe engine in neutral and if you go into forward or reverse you should see oil leaking out. If you don't just whip the 3 pipes off, unbolt the cooler from the back of the unit, undo the 4 bolts securing the pump to the engine and lift it out. I suspect the drive is broken. I think the drive is broken. splines are gone or flex coupling if it has one.

I use 37 grade which you can get on ebay. looks like your unit has the control valve, prv all within the same housing ie the tank. Are there any indications of the manufacturer? Try ARS but I suspect it is quite old. Was it original to the boat and how old? If you are not getting any oil flow when filled up I think you need to take the unit off. Shouldn't be that difficult but remember with hydraulic systems absolute cleanliness it essential.

Sorry I should have read the post more carefully. It sounds like a mechanical failure rather than anything else. Can you turn the prop when the control lever is in forward or reverse as well as neutral? You should have some resistance in forward or reverse. If you slacken off the feed pipe from the pump attached to the engine (it will be one of the two larger ones) and turn the engine over without starting it you should get oil spilling out of the joint. If you don't get oil either the pump has failed, the drive coupling failed or possibly the prv stuck open if it is within the tank. If you do get pressurised oil I would look at the motor (prop shaft end). Could you post a picture of the spool valve controlled by the cables or is that integrated with the drive motor.

Have you checked that there is nothing jamming the propeller and it rotates freely. I have a similar set up and when my daughter was using the boat she managed to get a fender stuck between the prop and the hull. The symptoms were as you described because the PRV came into operation immediately with no drive in forward or reverse. once the fender was removed back to normal

Apart from being a hideous box destined to ruin the character of the waterways it is fitted with the classic cill removal tool - a drop skeg without any lead into it!

You can just put a flare on the end of the copper pipe, slide the hose on it and use a proper sized hose clip

Good luck with your project - I took on something similar in the 1970's except it had no cabin. The problem is that it will always be a 50 year old boat of very ordinary character and should you wish to sell it that would be the benchmark. I don't think I would take on this now simply because of the cost of parts and materials even if your labour is free. The cost of fitting it out is going to be the same as if you bought a new hull but the value would be far less and limited by the age and hull even if you cut out the sides and fit new plates. I wouldn't recommend overplating given the current state as if there are any holes the plates will rot in between and then separate. The upside is you may not need to worry about the RCD although I think there may still be some implications. You will also find that every that everything that comes with the boat is non functional or worn out and will need replacing.

You can get ones that fit on the transom. Around Falmouth it is pretty easy boating and deep and if you are going up one of the creeks for the first time do it on a rising tide. If you do go aground be careful if you hop over the side as the mud is very deep!

I hate facebook except for marketplace where things are often cheaper than ebay and less hassle. Here is the text Advertising for a friend Albion built in 1988 in a Lincoln tug style by Eddishaw & Jenkins. The fit out was carried out by Messers Lugg & Copp She has a Lister JP3M engine fitted that turns freely by hand & the gearbox operates as it should. Requires the interior stripping out & shot blasting the entire hull inside and out & then refitting. The style of the boat would ideally suit a traditionalist rather than convert to a modern style. The boat has been sat in a field for many years but been off the ground. The wooden interior has stuffed from water ingress through various port holes that have been stolen. We have had the hull surveyed and we have the report that can be view by any interested parties. The survey results were very good and it appears the hull requires no plating. The worst wasting of steelwork is in the super structure around a couple of missing portholes. Please message through Facebook or ring/message 07784568308 for more information Weymouth, England Location is approximate

I believe it is near Weymouth has a JP engine. On Facebook marketplace.

If I still had the Silverlit I would have done it for you. But in those days you could tow a Regent's Lighter around the Paddington arm without worrying about all the junk tied up on the towpath 'cause there wasn't any.

Waiting for the tide or how many oxen do you need to move a narrowboat?

This one on facebook might be worth a punt

Having done two serious restorations on boats since retirement and cruised around most of Western Europe I recommend you find a cheap fixer upper and not sell your house. If you enjoy projects then working on a restoration is good fun and gives you an all year round activity. Enjoyment of the waterways seems to me to be inversely proportional to the cost of the boat and as a leisure boater you can choose when and where and if you want to go boating. It can be fun to source things cheaply and make it just how you like it. Although I could easily afford a new boat part of the fun of boating has always been messing around in boats. So much nicer and less stressful than living on one! Of course choose one that is not a basket case or that could be frustrating.

90K for some old dredging barge. Things really have gone nuts. Never buy anything like that - if you lose the mooring you have a huge liability. Remember small is beautiful. A narrowboat can go anywhere and much easier to find a mooring in the south east. As said previously that money will buy you a very nice motor yacht!

I think they should make all towpath moorings 48hrs only with exceptions for stoppages etc - It seems to work on the Wey and Basingstoke and then give everybody free say 4 scratch cards each year allowing for further stays of up to 14 days with additional cards available at extra cost on a scale. Of course this could all be done electronically as seems to be happening with parking.