tom_c

The newspaper cutting about the launch of Heyford says that they intended to carry coal in winter and run it as a camping boat in the summer, I'll try to add a photo of it when I get home. Tom

I might even get Heyford to Braunston next year, work permitting. Still has a HR2 but it is a bit noisy. Found the original instructions for hirers in the engine room too. Tom

The early poppet valve engines were offered with lamp starting as an option, I will try this when i get a day off as i now have a running engine to try it on, I'll let you know how the glow plugs go on the F4 Tom

I am now considering an F4 for Heyford when the HR2 has to come out for a rebuild, with a couple of modifications to allow cold starting on paraffin though. Tom

how did you get on with this poppet valve? i seem to be collecting quite a few spares for these engines at the moment Tom

thankyou both for your help, just the little matter of a very stuck cylinder liner now! and a 1917 poppet valve with a split block Tom

thanks Mike, how is the K1?

HI, does anyone have an electric start K that they could count the number of teeth on the starter pinion? Thanks

My question was more one of has anyone done the trip up the coast to get to the lancaster canal recently, it is a trip I would like to do at some point

Yeoford sat on something in that lock in the 90's, put a hole in the bottom if i remember correctly

slightly off topic, but has anyone done the trip to glasson docks recently?

it's probably worth whatever the engine would fetch, it does need quite a lot of work, it needed some work 20 years ago and I would guess not a lot has been done since then! Tom

Potters, the trees and hill below the lock are still recognisable, before BW started putting the anti vandal locks on. Tom

and how many historic boats have a weedhatch? or how many will admit to having fitted one? Tom

40' ish if you want to go through every lock

steering a deep draught boat, historic or not, is very different to steering a shallow draught boat. how many boaters actually know the draught of their boat? and how many of them are actually accurate measurements? modern boats tend to be shallower draught to make navigation easier. It's not really about the type of boat but the actual draught of that boat and the condition of the channel. there are times with a deep draught boat that you cannot move out of the channel as you are already on the bottom. I suppose the word historic could be changed to Hudson in the title, that could start a whole new discussion! Tom

this is copied from the poppet valve service manual, 53. GEAR WHEELS.--If the flywheel is removed, see that it is replaced so that the marked teeth mesh with one another. Should a new (unmarked) gear wheel be fitted, mesh the teeth of it so that the exhaust valve closes and the inlet valve opens with the piston at the top (the inlet valves are those in the centre). When so meshed, mark the teeth of the new wheel with a file. A small piece of chalk dropped in the teeth serves to mark them until the file can be applied. hope this helps Tom

I'll have a look later if i can get to my poppet valve engine, mine is a 6HP twin but still has timing marks intact on the gears. at work at the moment. Tom

I would use a tape called gaf-fire, it's a fire resistant gaffer tape, used in theatres around pyrotechnics, also managed to get a van through an mot after fixing a hole in the exhaust with it. Tom

the Lidan I have is much larger than that, I would have thought somewhere in the region of 25 to 30HP, I'll try to find photos later. Tom

how long are you in langley mill for? I've got to pick up a bike tomorrow from there, might have something that would do the job Tom

Copperhouse canal in Hayle, Cornwall

right number of cylinders but wrong fuel!!! paraffin is better!! Tom

will they make it to fradley for tuesday?

the erewash used to be a bit faster, the quickest we did it in was 4hrs 20min from langley mill to trent lock, before the anti vandal locks were fitted and with 2 people lockwheeling. it takes a bit longer now Tom