LEO

Hi, Drill the hearth and use 'Rawbolt' fixings, as they are tightened a collar expands and grips on the hole sides. Come in various sizes. Albi

Hi, It does sound like a 2.5 BMC a big engine for a narrowboat, even a 70 footer, you will have problems, as an engine this size does not work hard enough and this will damage the unit. A unit this size will not be very economical to run. Many people 'over engine' new boats, a pal who used to work for Barrus could never believe the size of engine people specified in their narrowboats and got fed up with complaints over poor running etc. I would proceed with caution in this instance and arrange to tow a loaded buttty round to make the engine work hard (which is what diesels are designed to do). Best of luck. Albi

Hi, There is (looking at the picture) an engine number plate below one of the injectors, perhaps this could be taken and someone like AMC could help with details, or look for the engine size moulded into the block above the lift pump. If it is 2.2 or 2.5 engine it will be much too big for canal use and will suffer badly unless it has a miniscule propellor. ATB ALBI

Alan Experience Dear Boy!, no seriously this looked like a chronic rust stain caused by leaking water, if it contained water and or anti-freeze any other additive I would have expected a different style and colour of staining. The type/colour of staining shown in the picture was prevalent in domestic cold water tanks before the advent of polypropelene, I learnt quickly never to touch the rust as if you did the tank pin-pricked and leaked and then house owners quickly asked for a new or a large contribution to a new tank and if left for the cost re-plasterering and redecorating ceilings. Albi

Hi, One more question, looks a though this could be raw water cooled - is this the case? Albi

Hi, Running it for 4 hours is a pretty good test. I had a coreplug rust through on my 1500, replaced it and I have heard of small holes in BMC blocks having been satisfactorily repaired using 'plastic metal' compounds. Any oil leaks? did it start easily?. Albi

Hi, Only an out of water survey will tell you. A friend was hit head-on by a hireboat last week (the Hb was going at what I suspect was 'warp' speed) and it badly damaged the cant on my pals boat. Repairable, but expensive and inconvenient. If you are in doubt and it was a big bang get a survey and charge him, although you will probably have to go through your insurance company (take care with your NCB). Did the accident leave your boat with a dent?. Albi.

Hi, Still no further forward. Although the engine has 'only' done 1500 hrs since 1975 there is every chance that it dates from the early 1960's and was taken from a scrapped vehicle about 1975. The degree of overhaul and marinisation was probably minimal. So one could be talking about a fairly old engine here. A friend did this with a boat he had built by Charlie Fox in 1975. It probably needs the injectors to be removed and serviced, something which may not have been done over the years and which is not a big or expensive job. Be careful removing the glow plugs as it is easy to snap these off and then it's c/head removal for sure and carefully tighten up the one you removed. Initially 'my' 1.5 was very temperamental and work on the c/head including servicing the injectors made it much more reliable. If you are getting fuel up to the union with the injectors by bleeding, it would suggest a problem with them. Best of luck, sorry to hear of the attitude of the mechanics, it's not doubting their ability but seeking alternatives before parting with the 'boodle' Mike

Hi, Thanks for the info. Mine had done about 800 hours before I had to do the work on it. A good, well charged battery turns the engine over more quickly and seems to help it fire up and gets the glow plugs really hot. Exhaust sounds like the system I modified mine to. Gardners do a 'headnut wrench' at £55.10, but I suspect it would be a WW thread and too big overall for your engine. (Gardner-Enthusiast.com /shop) I could give you the address of the guy in Spain to see if he wants to sell it on (he paid 30Eu for it). But do try the fuel system and battery avenue first - it's a shame these engines do not have a de-compression lever. Also make sure your fuel shut off lever and spring are working well. The part number for the spanner is correct, try Calcutt to see if they have one for sale. Best of luck. Albi

Hi, Yes I would carefully check the fuel system and bleed through plenty of diesel ( I note that you left it 1/4 full over the winter). The trial with clean fuel is also a good idea. And also try and get any 'gunge' out of the bottom of the tank (pipe in to bottom of tank, pump out agallon or so). Overhaul of the cylinder head is a possible and easy way of improving the compression. I purchased a special spanner from 'Snap On' and had to adjust it to fit. I had one until a few months ago but a guy from Spain contacted me and purchased it. It may be possible to change the C/head without it but there's no way the nuts can be correctly re-tightened without using one. ( I know because a cylinder head leaked after renewal when I tried). How many hours has the engine run and how old is it? teh engine may be getting to the stage when a c/head overhaul is needed, including servicing of the injectors. As has been said, a good battery is needed, as using the glow plugs takes a lot out of a battery and reduces the cranking power considerably. What cooling system do you have, for several years mine had a raw water system and cranking without starting caused water to back up in the exhaust system and a small amount got into the engine. I was lucky no serious damage was done but the Specialist engineers indicated the pitting in the head and valve seats suggested a water leak. Best of luck, it does not sound too serious.. Albi

Hi, Sorry to hear you continuing tale of woe. I had a 1.5 diesel, it was a problem to start when I first got the boat in 1988. I had to use easy start sometimes, it did not kill the engine. You need about 60 secs min on the glow plugs and a good battery to turn the engine over quickly to start it, especially in cold weather I broke a glow plug and had to remove the cylinder head, the valves were badly worn, especially the exhaust valves. I took it to a specialist (Green & Weatherall in Watford) had some new valves, all valves re -ground, new valve guides and the head skimmed for about £120 (a few years ago). Re-assembled it started well. It's not difficult to remove and re-assemble the cylinder head, but you need new gaskets, a torque wrench and a special spanner to get at the C/head nuts under the rocker shaft (don't try to do it without this spanner as you cannot torque the C/head nuts up properly). Bingo! she ran well. BMC's are prone to low compression, and I always found mine started easily when warm or in the summer. A friend has been known to use a blow torch up the air inlet to start a reluctant engine. I have little faith in some mechanics after one ruined an outboard by overtightening the flywheel nut on an outboard engine many years ago (Ladyline at Braunston). Diesel cylinder heads are much easier to service than petrol engines. The outlay if you do it this way will not be great. ALBI

Hi, I fitted a CTEK Multi XS 25000, it copes with a big battery bank, ( 5 x 110amps) fit it and forget it. About £200 off the internet. Check electorolyte levels regularly, be careful using lead acid and gel batteries, the former seem better for my usage on boats. Some suggest cheaper one's to do the same job but I can only comment on the unit I have. ALBI

Hi, Seems a good price, but guarantee, cash or VAT, covered dock, sign writing, proper disposal of waste materials, colour schemes and 3rd party insurance to cover accidents to your or other's property?. Albi

True, but the guy had to travel to the job, providing and paying for transport, purchase the tools and (all forgotten too often in these 'cowboy 'days) if he is a decent professional have 3rd party insurance. Also, people are entitled to earn a reasonable living from their honest toil. You get what you pay for and £8000 to get a 60/70ft boat painted, bearing in mind the overheads, seems reasonable to me. The finished job, if looked after carefully and it's not a 'fading' colour, should have a service life of 15 years. If someone has a long waiting list of clients wanting work it suggests that their work is good and prices are about right. Albi

The big problem is that purchasers develop a close relationship with the builder of a house/boat or extension and then liberties are all to often taken. People also do not cost into their purchases the expense of taking good professional advice - in the case of houses, architects/surveyors to check and certify work and in the case of boat building a well qualified marine surveyor to similarly certify work. Small housebuilders,like large developers will rarely ask for 'stage' payments as funding normally comes from Banks (discussions normally used to involve large lunches), stage payments are normally for 'self build' projects. Everything is cyclic, we are seeing a repeat of events of the late 80's / early 90's, especially with regards to the 'mushroom' boatbuilders, remember when parting up with the boodle for a pile of rusting steel (whether or not it is arranged in orderly pieces) make sure ownership is transferred to you, suitably certified and documented. I agree with the comments about buying second hand - there are some tremendously good buys around. ALBI

Sorry Alan, he's away at the moment!. You had an easy day yesterday, my pal and his wife did from Cosgrove to Marsworth in a day recently. Welcome home!. ALBI

Hi, Hard work, No Children, buying cheap houses and doing them up and selling them on, second hand furniture and only borrowing money on a mortgage to buy a house, no HP. Wasted a bit on sports cars and too much 'stagger syrup' but can't be good all the time - redundancy payments helped. - That enabled purchase the first narrowboat in 1989, more hard work funded the second in 2005. ALBI

Carlt Seems fair enough to me, an interesting story that generated a lot of comment and which was settled in a reasonably satistactory manner, with everybody getting a better idea of the reasons for the boats condition. Good Luck in the future. Albi.

Tony, I have read the thread and commented upon it (and expalined the rreason why I did not see it initially), but it's a news worthy story which all would have been interesting to all, (vandals setting fire to a a boat is dreadful news), let's read the story behind the picture on NBW's website'. Mr Fox actually asked a question, why not answer it?. CWF carried a post about poor work by a Surveyor recently, NBW carried a story about poor work by a Surveyor last week - investigation by me showed that the two incidents were not related but had common link. Perhaps a follow up on these stories would produce something useful and beneficial for boaters - it just goes to show that there is room for 2 or more opinions on the waterways - use them all and a bigotted opinion about any of them does no good at all. I am sorry that Carlt's email was posted after my comment about 'reasonable' letters, I quickly learnt in dealings with others (for what ever reason) that personal insults rarely got results. ALBI

Hi, Has anybody tried writing a reasonable letter to NBW explaining all the facts about the boats and the salvaged goods on the bank?, all I see on this post are 'rumblings', every picture tells a story, lets hear that story or as much as you want to tell. There is a 'letters to the Editor' column, send a letter and copy it here. BW made a great play in it's annual report about the number of visitors to the waterways (of which licensed boaters and anglers are the only one's to pay for their visit), copy it to them as well. There are 2 sides to every story, lets hear them both, (or as much of your side as you wish to tell). ALBI.

Hi Carlt, Thanks for the information, a sorry tale, I missed these posts because I was out of the country in May and June. So does one salvage or 'bite the bullett'? difficult choice. Best of luck, but I would stress if you post something on an 'open' forum all questions are reasonable. NBW - not all bad - CWF not all good, both contain useful information. Albi.

Hi. Is it a BW linear mooring or a private mooring?. Albi

Hi, I'm interested and it's a reasonable question. Albi

Hi, Just as a matter of interest, how long have the boats been moored up and the salvaged goods on the bank? Albi