davidg

I'd better declare an interest first... I work at Brinklow Boat Services. You could do what we have done on the boat we are completing at the moment (and on a couple of previous examples) and have an outer set of plain steel doors and an inner set of wooden glazed ones with hinged door posts allowing them to fold flat against the bulkhead. Fiddly to make but it gives you the option of high security steel/nice to look at and you can see out of the front wood. David

Here is a photo of the tank breathers on Sculptor's tanks: you will notice they are much clunkier those produced by Harland & Wolff who are obviously the superior boatbuilders. I would assume the flame arrestors are a later addition. The vertical tube is about 12" high on these, certainly higher than on a Woolwich.(Sorry, I forgot to pull my tape out to measure accurately.) David

As Tim says, 1"bsp standpipe, about 6" long, screwed into a boss welded into the top of the tank, followed by a 180deg bend. You probably can't screw this on with the tanks in situ as it fouls the bulkhead (and I know this how?) though if your tanks are a bit further back than mine you might. And that was it until the BSS came along, when my surveyor (Trevor Whitling who is quite sensible about these things) said screw a brass bush up the end of the pipe with a gauze of the relevant mesh soldered over the end. Job done and you wouldn't know it was there. I can take a photo of the pipes tomorrow if you like and Sculptor's tanks are being painted* out of the boat so you can have a photo of the Yarwood's version too if you like. David * Remembering Laurence's comment some time ago about two people being able to paint an engine hole in a weekend I would suggest talking to Andy Cox about this: unless you are prepared to paint over years of accumulated grease, oil and general engine 'ole filth Andy will bring his deckchair along to see how it can be done.

Thornton's in Shrewsbury sometimes have pistons & shells. Availability can be hit & miss but I had some mains & big ends from them last year & they had oversize pistons (for the spare engine) a couple of years ago. Compared to working on a Lister or a Petter they are brilliant engines maintenance wise as everything is so accessible, a 1/4" whit/5/16" whit spanner does just about everything you need to do until you get to the serious stuff inside. Tim said just about everything regarding marinising - the gearbox bell housing (F-type is best), marine feet and flywheel shroud with starter motor hole are as the poo is to the rocking horse; you also need to alter the speed control to variable speed. David

Try these people perhaps: http://www.vintagecarparts.co.uk David

I believe the tight ones at Napton are the second lock up, the fifth (the one with the road bridge below it) and the top of Marston Doles. Barrow (big Woolwich) goes through without any problems in both directions and I guess any large Grand Union boat should go through unless someone has been careless in replacing platework. I have had problems with Kildare (back in the day, when it was a camping boat) going into the second which was soon sorted out with a tirfor. The problem with the fifth is usually little Woolwiches getting stuck on the bow knuckle across the front bulkhead on the wing walls entering the lock; I have heard of people attacking the brickwork at the appropriate height with hammers and chisels but wouldn't indulge in such behaviour myself, no sireee.... Used to have great fun coming down the top of Marston Doles with a motorised joey (Andrew N); Esme Dowling (lock keeper of old) had the knack of knowing when to appear to help set up a wave down the pound by lifting the top paddles for 20seconds or so, dropping them and waiting for the wave to come back, lifting the paddles for 20 seconds again and waiting for the wave to come back up the pound again; third time I'd wind the JP up and go surfing out of the lock past the bemused hirers desperately clnging onto ropes trying to hold their boats still. The boat would get hung between the walls going down so you could see the boss of the blade with the lock empty. I thought the off side of Marston Doles had been rebuilt 15 years ago or thereabouts; you could see where the off side narrowed at the top end when the lock was empty. I would think you should be ok up to 7ft but might have problems over this width. David

Unfortunately Davey & Co retooled their jellymould roof light about eighteen months ago and produced an "improved" (more expensive) version with a heavy cast brass base, a crying shame as the previous version was the dogs. I have spoken to them about it but unless there is loads of demand the new version is here to stay. David

Yes, I forgot Joe can't hold the steering stick over far enough when the engine is wound on a bit, hence the late decision to hold back. And the dislodged brick. See post #319 and look left.

Yes

Tim, 1936. Were you aware of a book called "A Sideways Look" (think that's what Rex said today), which is a history of Pollocks with details of all the boats they built and all the engines they supplied. Rex picked his up on Amazon, give him a call if you want to check details of the book. David Edit: Just reread the earlier posts, you know already

"might just be dirty brass" Oooo! I'll pass that on!

Tim, I was half right in that the plate says "Installed by.." rather than "Built by.." but as Pollocks built Ruislip as well as doing the engine installation maybe this was their usual practice. The plate is about nine inches across (sorry, didn't have a tape on me). Rex says there isn't a builders plate anywhere else. It looks as though the plate was previously mounted on the side of the wheelhouse just below the port side window (on the inside). Ruislip is coming to Brinklow next week for some work, as the plate is only pop riveted on, Rex would be happy to take it off and lend it to you to copy it. That's the wheel you can see in the bottom left of the photo. David

Tim, I'm pretty sure Rex Wain's tug "Ruislip" has a Pollock's plate on it. Rex wasn't at work today but I'll see if I can get a photo for you over the weekend. David Gunby

ISO 10133 Extra low votage dc installations Section 2.5 Batteries 2.5.1 Batteries shall be permanently installed in a dry, ventilated location above anticipated bilge water leve. (See guidance notes:- Section 2.5 iv. & v.) Guidance notes: 2.5.iv Batteries connected to a charging device with a power output of more than 2kW (Steve - x=2) should be installed in a compartment assigned to batteries only and should be ventilated by mechanical exhuast (i.e fan assisted) 2.5.v Bateries should not be installed in accomodation areas unless the battery box is sealed and fitted with ventilating trunking to outside the craft..... Not required for BSS compliance but if you are building to the RCD. Is an engine room in a traditional arrangement (back cabin/engine room/rest of cabin) with doors either end part of the accomodation areas? Discuss....or preferably not as it's late and I'm going for a beer. David

Seem to remember it was at WFBCo in the mid 80s. Bits of ironwork were (are?) still around. Steve shoud be able to confirm this. David

I thought the done thing was to polish both sides.

On Berkhamsted gas works: If you can lay hands of a opy of "Railway Bylines" Vol. 10 Issue 5, April 2005 there are four pages of photographs and maps, the photos showing the almost the whole length of the gasworks railway and featuring horse drawn operation. And no water in the pound between Gas Two, nothing changes... Worth tracking down if you are interested.

ha, ha very funny. Who needs grease when you have an on board engine room lubrication system. Only joking, it doesn't really. Not very much. Well hardly at all.

Chris, The repositioned bevel gear bracket bolted to the engine room roof, note the old National hole through the bulkhead, below/to the right of the copper(must polish the paint off it) pipe to the oil clock. From here on it gets very agricultural... The vertical shaft support bracket, arm clamped (keyed? I've never looked) to the vertical shaft and track rod end. On mine the shaft you see dangling from the second ball joint is a sliding fit in a length of 1/2"bsp tube which serves as the gearbox operating lever Finally with the gearbox operating lever in place. Can't show the final link to the gearbox at the moment as the box is sitting on the engine room floor being swapped for a spare after the oil thrower decided it didn't want to be part of the gearbox any more. Hope this makes things clearer, David

Chris, I'll take some photos of mine tomorrow and post them. It is blindingly simple and, as Steve says, has worked on former GUCCCo boats for many a long year. In my case on a Petter, an SR3(!), and two different Armstrongs with two different gearboxes (D type & F type) for the last 25 years. David

Ding didn't recognise the painting, but Rex came out with Judy Vedmore too. We have an idea there is a Judy Vedmore can lurking somewhere in the Brinklow mix, I might try and track that down for a photo. David

Dave, I'll show the photo to Ding tomorrow to see if he can shed any light on it. He was at UCC in the 70s. Rex will doubtless throw in his two pen'orth. David

Rod at the top of the smokebox is the flue damper, turning it will reduce the flue pull and make the fire burn less hot/run for longer. Watch out though as having the flue damper shut down can lead to smoke/flue gases escaping into the cabin which can be dangerous. Another thing to look out for is that the ashpan door is sealing well; sometimes they are not very flat and need dressing with a linishing disk/emery on a flat surface to form a reasonable seal with the front of the range. Check the damper is fitting ok too. My record is 24 hours plus burning verrrrry sloooowwwwly with the grate well clinkered up. David

Interesting. I recall a conversation with Graham Wigley during which he told me they (B&M) had bought Barrow for Alan Ledbury; it was a long time ago and we were probably in the pub, which may explain the hazy memory.

Barrow was bought on behalf of Alan Ledbury who, if scurrillous rumour is to be believed, proceeded to put a conversion made of Ausin Rover body panel steel, one piece at a time. I removed some of the remains in 1982.