Boater Sam

Happy smiley Bruce has taken advantage of your Naivety, taken you for a sucker and fleeced you. Face it, accept it and learn that there are bastards out there that will do you over in a wink . Based on a lifetime of dealing with firms, follow this.----- You have to be FIRM and determined, demand and get a WRITTEN QUOTATION or walk away. NO EXTRAS! NEVER take another firm's recommendation especially from RCR. ALWAYS get more than 2 quotes. Never do things at a RUSH, sit, consider, seek advice, ask around. Search the internet. Had this been me someone would have a broken arm at least...............................

From your reference to ignition switch I assume you are talking about an electric fuel lift pump. They have a filter in the bayonet end cap.

I can't find that model, after I think 1951/2 they were 2000cc, and I don't know of a 1500cc at all. The 80" officially finished in 1953. And the freewheel gearbox went at the same time. Mine was a 1949 but not the early chain pull 4 wheel drive.

And that would be one of the later better models! To slide back on topic a bit, are there any shell builders known for excessive corrosion of narrowboat hulls? Obviously there are many factors but is there one known for premature scrapping? I did have a 1600 cc landy for a long while, OISE petrol of course, which ran on 3 cylinders until well warmed up due to a wiped exhaust cam lobe.

All depends on whether the engine can get enough fuel by gravity which depends on physical layout and tank levels. You ask - Why? Do you have a fuel problem? Check all the fuel filters including the one in the pump.

Au contraire, the engines were the best part of most '60s cars, it was everything else that fell apart. Once Ford stopped trying to sell sidevalve motors, they made pretty damn good engines, Lotus and Cosworth knew that. Highly tuned Minis won rallys for fun, even a Hillman Hunter won a long distance endurance event. The small 4 cylinder BMC diesels were hopeless in road vehicles, that's why they are so good in boats! Old, slow, and simple rules on the canal. Even the Land Rover units were not up to the job. The British manufacturers deserved to be knocked, that's why Datsun and Co found it so easy to destroy our car markets and become the world leaders. History tells no lies.

Because they made some absolute shockers. BMC 1100/1300 rust box, Vauxhall Victor F & HA Viva , Hillman Avenger, to name a few. We had them queuing up to be scrapped. Yes , there were some terrible continentals, Renault Dauphine, Simca chatterboxes, but a lot of good ones we rarely saw in the shop.

In this day and age we really should only use thermostatic shower mixing valves for safety reasons. The young and the old are particularly at risk of scalding. All instantaneous water heater have the same drawback in that there must always be sufficient flow to maintain heating but not so much that the temperature drops appreciably. The amount of heat is finite, not so the water delivery.

I'm no longer surprised when I hear tales off folk being ripped off by so called experts, it happens in all manner of businesses unfortunately. There is a simple answer, just refuse to pay, invite the firm to sue for the money and let them take you to county court. Almost always these sort of cowboys won't because they know that they cannot pull the wool over a registrar's eyes. Were gold plated filters used? Never seen any filters at that sort of price, the makers would never get any sales. Always demand a "Quotation" not an estimate. The whole episode was uncalled for anyway, if the fuel is so contaminated simply suck it out and dump it, your tank if full to the brim holds around 200 litres. All I have ever done is use a vac and a length of copper pipe to suck the bottom of the tank in the lowest corner via the fill access. Never used a fuel additive. In the old days the boater would dump his sump oil into the fuel tank and burn it, its only these fussy new engine fuel pumps that don't like a bit of dark in the fuel. Water in diesel will settle out if left long enough.

Auto electrician will rebuild an alternator for a lot less than £150.

Up to now you are in for a new alternator, 2 headlamp bulbs and whatever else that is duff, If its taken the bulbs out, I would be concerned for the electronics, ECU for one. I would find out exactly what has failed , cost it all and then consider whether it is worth spending possibly a few hundred pounds at least on a 15 year old car. When is the MOT due? will it pass? May be worth finding out now. What else is wrong with the motor?

And it is a source of wonder to some folk as to why the British sports car business went through the floor as fast as it did. We really made some totally crap vehicles, not surprising with cowboy outfits like BMC, BL, Rover, Standard Triumph, Rootes, Lucas. Ford produced antique cars into the '60s then tinworm specials. Only the diesel boys got it nearly right, CAV made good injector gear, loads still working. Thankfully the boat builders of the day produced some lovely craft, most of which continue to give pleasure and a home to people now.

Scrap it, its worth £200. Not worth repairing.

Well its fairly obvious on the map, A B & C are complete no go over 7 foot wide and the other block is called Birmingham, all the BCN. You cannot get anything over 7 feet wide from London any further north than Brum. Except on a truck. Doing a river Nene into the Wash then into Witham and Trent is only for the brave or foolish.

Why Alec I thought a half steel and half brass screw thread was a suitable swivel for a car's front suspension is beyond me. His effort later with adjustable ball joints was better but no one greased them or adjusted them. Everything fails on a Minor eventually, try main and only brake hydraulic pipe and master cylinder inside the driver's side chassis leg under the floor, Just where all the water and grit finishes up. Alegro aggravation on 4 wheels, most of the time. Shame they didn't tell the mechanics that the rear wheel bearings were now taper roller not ball races and don't tighten them up! My boat was bought after seeing 20 to 25, twenty years later we still love it and wish we could buy a new one just the same. We did alter a few things though, cross bed out, rebuilt the engine space and rear steps, more wardrobe, galley refit, more cupboards in saloon, new folding table, different paint scheme. Not a lot really! Oh, and made the rear hatch a slide on a slide, bit novel that one. Would like 8 feet more length but that's too much work.

AYE! But proper fishermen throw the catch back. I've had them jump in just to avoid me.

Diaphragm pump? Is it really a fresh water pump? Make model? Could just be the non return valve/s stuck open with something.

Better to leave them floating face down in the cut and blame the Pusher.

They were never all paired, Rode Heath of course had the iron lock that was demolished and several of the off pairs were cascaded. One in the Malkins Bank flight has become very tight due to the walls leaning, suppose it will stay that way till it becomes unusable altogether. There was an attempt a few years ago to get some more of the remaining pairs back in working order. Due to maintenance cuts though if one goes out, they tend to fix it with "Aware" tape for several months or more. Locally called Heartbreak Hill, unfairly in my opinion, due to the distances between lock being too long to quickly walk and not long enough to ride.

Read it well Julian but if you are trotting up Cheshire locks and I was one lock behind you, you would not see me and I would be cussing you. Doesn't alter the fact that the powers that be dictate we close up before leaving and practically all of us have done so for years, you just had to be bolshy didn't you?

Far too contentious a topic. Cheap boats like Springers are thought by some to be beneath contempt but there are hundreds of them keeping folk happy on the canal. Hire boats have to find a new home after the fleets have done with them, again loads of them have satisfied owners. The ones I don't like are the once beautiful individual boats built by very skilled and desirable builders that are left to rot by uncaring owners.

So its you that selfishly leaves gates open despite the requests of BW and now CRT for the last 40+ years that we close them all when leaving a lock? I do hope that I am never following you through a flight, I would be in your face before you went in the cut. How can you be so proud of the fact that you are an inconsiderate boater? With all your years you do know better, please wise up and follow the code.

That is how I have always looked at it but the way the form is worded the boat is my sole address in the UK and it is the same address as the mooring so they consider I have no other home! My address in winter changes all the time as we move around and I don't think they would like an address in the Philippines either! They are quite correct really, we live on the boat, just not all the time.

The difference between engines as regards flow to a calorifier seems to be where the hot water take off the engine is located with respect to the thermostat. The engines where the take off is on the rear of the cylinder head seem to do better, as far away from the thermostat as possible. Its vital to get all the air out of the flow and return pipes, an air bubble will reduce or stop the flow instantly. The current use of plastic pipes which sag between clips causes air locks, its better if they are clipped on the top of a rigid batten with a constant rise to the air discharge point, preferably an open header tank.