rob96

Thanks for the advice on the skin tank and exhaust. I think I will have a go at doing it myself, hopefully take some expense out of the new engine and fitting prices. everything is identical in terms of placement so my current setup will be fine with the exception of new cooling pipes and welding in some angle iron to support them neatly around the bilge. I am unable to tell if the existing skin tank (about 0.45m^2) has any baffles in it, not sure if there is a way of checking that without cutting it open? Will try and get by using up my check plate then to make it and hopefully get by without making any slits. How many baffles should i be trying to put in? seems to be mixed results when googling. Also will take the advice on cleaning up the current silencer unless it is no longer any good. How would i judge if it warrants a replacement? Thanks

Thanks for the replies everyone. I think I am going to go for the replacement for peace of mind, simplicity and a desire to have a nice tidy engine bay to maintain, although I am still coming to terms with what it will cost me (honestly been fretting about this since the first littlle engine issue). I have heard great things about beta marine but one of their engines with adjusted feet to fit my bearers would be more in the 10k region and the stress of trying to sell the current engine. If the current engine is a vetus that has survived 14k hours and could do more, then vetus will do for me, looking online the spares all seem roughly the same for engine manufacturers give or take 15%. I have already replaced and rerun the whole electrical system, new batteries, charger, solar, inverter etc and got a small generator to keep the batteries topped up instead of idling the engine so would be great to have a tidy engine bay Would appreciate some advice on a few bits that I want to look at in the engine bay in the cleansing. I think i might try and make the skin tank myself to save a bit of money but have a few questions about its design. I have some 5mm check plate, would this be adequate with the rough surface on the inside of the tank? I think i will have to put some slits into the check plate to about half its thickness every say 50mm so that i can bend it to fit the curve of the hull, would i then need to weld these slits up? How many baffles should i put in the tank and what sort of space should i leave at the end of the baffle for coolant to travel through? I also have a very large silencer on my current exhaust (engine is insanely noisy anyway so not sure what the point was) but i figure it is worth keeping if i can? It is covered in surface rust and welded to the hull on a welded in bracket. I would like to remove it so that i can rust treat and paint the corner of bilge it is hiding. Can i just clean up the exhaust aswell, paint it with something and weld it back in? Thanks

I have been considering a replacement engine for my 57foot narrowboat. It currently has a vetus 42 installed with 14,000hours clocked and has required a gearbox refurb and new mounts in the year I have had it, along with a new leak on the coolant pump that I haven't fixed yet (new pump is 300) and an overheating issue I need to investigate. The skin tank welded to the boat appears to be built correctly, about an inch thick and following the line of the hull but has about half the surface area that the engine manufacturer would recommend. I work full time with a part time job on the side and am trying to refit the boat whenever I get a chance whilst constant cruising 🤦‍♂️. Wouldn't do it again but gone too far to turn back. I was looking at a new vetus engine as it would fit my bearers without modification and is a relatively decent price if I trade in my existing engine and go with the supplied tmc60 gearbox. vetus m4.35 = £5569.00 vetus m4.45 = £6507.00 the boat yard i have taken it to suggested a rebuild to save money but i figure if i am going for all the stress of week in a boat yard, lifting the engine, adding a skin tank, derusting and redoing the coolant hoses (very messy at the moment) then the extra cost for a brand new engine with a guarentee would be worth it? Any advice would be greatly appreciated. I know i should probably just be mending bits on the engine as the faults occur but the stress of having to repair things i depend upon at inopportune moments and the fear of river cruising past weirs is getting to me. Thanks