davidg

TThis This photo of the reconstructed top part of a Woolwich stem post shows what a complicated and magnificent bit of kit the complete stem post is on these boats. The side plates/top bends are rivetted through the holes. On a Northwich these aren't present and the plates are rivetted through the centre bit of the stem. Being built at Brinklow Boat Services for Star.

Back in the murky recesses towards the beginning of this thread there is a post from Nick reporting a communication from Ian Lane which suggests he had been led to believe by the engineers that there was 0.9m of water depth in the pound. This suggests the engineers & Ian thought this would be an acceptable depth. Disregarding the boats on the canal which require more than this to float standing still it displays a woeful understanding of what happens to a boat as it moves through the water and what happens to the water as it tries to move past the boat in a narrow channel. 0.9m was never going to work, boats of less draught than this were always going to be in trouble and that an engineer and a waterways manager didn't understand this calls into question their career choice.

From Brinklow Boat Services: Does anyone have a job lot of white gloss going cheap?

Alan, it has been reported elsewhere that the boat involved was Violet, a converted BCN day boat. That would certainly fit as when I came down on Sunday 13th it was tied in the bottom pound pointing uphill and later that week was round by the winding hole at the bottom pointing the other way. A joey boat getting stuck is no great surprise. Smug mode on: I deliberately came out of lock 9 very slowly to see if I could feel the boat sticking at all. It just drifted out with no hesitation.

Interestingly, mine has a hole in the engine 'ole roof in roughly the position shown on Pete's photo. Since the only engines I know to have been fitted were a National (usual position), PD (usual position), SR3 (National hole), and AS2 (stbd side of pigeon box) I've always referred to it as the Bolinder hole when asked. I wonder whether the photo is Barrow or maybe more than one boat had the National exhaust moved.

Not only do you have to drill the holes (end mill as someone has already said), they have to be countersunk on the outside too. Twice the fun!

No, though I think there have been enquiries. The time involved and therefore cost puts people off strangely enough. Things like plate punches could speed things up but realistically how many would you build to justify tooling up to do it. Simon would be the person to answer the question about the mix on Sextans. There was certainly some riveting.

Should add: it wasn't just knees, it has all the relevant working parts of a riveted little Woolwich in that area, angles, butt straps &c.

The "riveted knees" in the well deck were added after the hull was complete so as not to spoil the illusion of it being a riveted hull. Seems it worked?, they weren't riveted. Steve may have riveted the engine room, I lined the engine room out so should remember but I've been to sleep since then...

Quite right, first line in the fault fixing flow chart. Bottom of Napton looks warm from my front window, but I do have the fire lit

If it is the fuses probably won't have blown. The pointed ends of the continental fuses fur up and no longer make good contact. Twiddling them round between your thumb and forefinger without removing them gets rid of the oxidisation and they work again....for a while. As already said, it's a common fault. They are best replaced with blade fuses when you get the chance. The fuseholder should be black with one wire going in one end and three(? might be four, it is Friday night) coming out of the other with a knurled thumbscrew holding the lid on

While you're in there open the black fuse fox and twiddle the three continental fuses round, then when you have time replace them with a blade fuse holder & fuses. It sounds like the glow plug is coming on and dipping the voltage at the unit.

Cable laid if you can get it. Good luck with that, if you find some do tell. And long strand cotton helps as the short strand stuff falls apart if you scrub it. The Rope Services cotton line is hawser laid

If it has the original M45G starter motor change it for a CA45, if it still won't start when cold it's knackered. If it doesn't have electric start get down on your knees & pray. I normally just bleed mine by bleeding as far as the fuel pump inlet by wiggling the priming lever on the lift pump; don't bother with the injectors, the fuel will come through. Gravity feed saves the wiggling. Compared to working on the fuel equipment on a Lister, Armstrongs are a dream; probably a consequence of being designed/assembled by aircraft engineers rather than cider crazed loons.

Ahem. Beaulieu would be my informed guess knowing the people involved.

I was going to flag this one as being missed of your original list, I'm tied up/working alongside it at the moment. Keswick I believe but I'll ask Greg what he thinks it is on Monday.

Alan & Vivienne Johnson

Ahem, I beg to differ Pete. 2 pairs & 2 single motors though the single motors swapped around a bit. I should know as I steered one of them.

Good luck with turning up a luby pin, I'd stick with plan a and ring Simon on Monday. There certainly were some, they may have all gone by now until the next batch of castings

It should have a secondary coolant pump running to a skin tank to dump the excess heat when you only want battery charging. There are two sets of water in & out on the back for this.

Hadn't spotted the date. The thought of an Epping ashpan door with a rope seal round it rather than a gap you could drive a number 7 bus through was quite amusing. Mine has a rope seal but it's one I fitted.

You've never had an Epping/Classic have you.

Correct. Eny fule kno a kipper is a smoked herring.

Much earlier than that Pete: 1997 didn't sound right to me so I looked out an old diary, I was working on the fit out in January 1991 (and earlier); looks like it was in Braunston for painting in June 1991. I remember Robert, the then owner asking me at the time if I thought the red & green chosen for the FMC colours looked correct. I pointed out I wasn't born until 1957 and the last genuine FMC paint job was done 10 years prior to that and that anyone who claims to be able to remember an exact shade of red/green from 50 years ago is probably lying. The boat is, of course, recorded in my diary by it's working name "Haddock", to go with the butty which was to be named (inevitably)...go on, you can guess it.

It's called a deckcloth. It covers the deckboard and the shape is more complicated than triangular as it is secured by strings back to the false cratch.