Stolen head

[The Crusty Crow]

There's a bloke stuck moored on the towpath near Lyons boatyard on the Stratford cut a few miles out of Brum. last year while he was down the pub some scumbags nicked the head off his engine. Apparently they are boaters too. He told the police but didn't go down the station to get a crime number so his insurance wont pay out. He's now also got a patrol notice on his boat. Anyone out there know of a head for sale for a BMC 1.5. If you can help him out i'll let him know.

[Nightwatch]

There's a bloke stuck moored on the towpath near Lyons boatyard on the Stratford cut a few miles out of Brum. last year while he was down the pub some scumbags nicked the head off his engine. Apparently they are boaters too. He told the police but didn't go down the station to get a crime number so his insurance wont pay out. He's now also got a patrol notice on his boat. Anyone out there know of a head for sale for a BMC 1.5. If you can help him out i'll let him know.

I 'could' post something really un-tasteful about the Regents Canal but I won't.

 

Must have been quick with the spanners or the chap was down the pub a long time.....

[Proper Job]

If he's been there since last year, he's done well if he's only just got a patrol notice

[matty40s]

 

saw the title and got completely the wrong end of the stick.....as usual

Edited March 9, 2012 by matty40s

[MtB]

What's stopping him going to the police station now and getting a crime number?

 

Best thing to do would be to put a sign up and hitch a tow to the next 'neighbourood'. Buy some time at least. But He's gonna have to do something about it. Donning my stern hat, I can't say I have a lot of sympathy. He's known about this impending problem for three months at least and done nothing about it. Or are there extenuating circumstances?

[Boatless]

So you get a head .......... next he'll want you to fit the thing.

 

Sorry but if he can get to a pub he can surley get a crime number and complete a claim for the repairs . Same with BW, all he needed to do was call them and tell them he has a problem.

 

Why has he done nothing for over 3 months?

 

 

[koukouvagia]

Completely off topic, I know. When Willow Wren imported four 25hp semi diesel Seffle engines in 1956 the one put in Avocet became damaged and the cylinder head needed replacing. A very well-known working boatman "borrowed" (allegedly) a head from one of the other engines and that is why only three out of the four Willow Wren Seffles can be accounted for.

Even more off topic, I'm delighted that my old Seffle from Owl is going into Walton.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Graham Davis]

Yeah, right!!

 

Why does this strike me as a load of tosh?

 

If Frank was still alive he would probably found a suitable head amongst all the "useful stuff" he kept in the big shed at the end of the yard!!

[Theo]

 

saw the title and got completely the wrong end of the stick.....as usual

 

Can you see the ghost in the bow?

 

N

[Nightwatch]

Can you see the ghost in the bow?

 

N

Is it a Cat or maybe a Fox Cub.

 

Flippin ek, I'm getting too old for this malarky.

[bigcol]

forget the the ghost on the bow ?

 

another head gone missing

 

good pic

[Bimbly1]

Is it a Cat or maybe a Fox Cub.

 

Flippin ek, I'm getting too old for this malarky.

 

Nah, it's a bow sprite

[Arthur Brown]

Can I guess that the BMC engine though old, wasn't exactly scarce at the time and a major trawl of scrapyards should reveal something, -what vehicles was the land version fitted to? Can anyone locate one of those and raid the head?

Edited March 9, 2012 by Arthur Brown

[madcat]

ask about a bit,you never know who has what till you ask.I will have a little ask about but cannot promise result.Will pm you if I find anything but can't promise a result.

[alan_fincher]

Can I guess that the BMC engine though old, wasn't exactly scarce at the time and a major trawl of scrapyards should reveal something, -what vehicles was the land version fitted to? Can anyone locate one of those and raid the head?

Possibly optimistic in any conventional vehicle scrapyard - the engines are at least 50 years old, so a vehicle it was fitted to would need to be the same.

 

You would be looking for something like this.....

 

 

Calcutt Boats, I believe, have a huge number of engines in various states, and might be able to supply something?

[RLWP]

When we had some work done at Calcutt, someone warned us - they are good, and they charge like the Light Brigade

 

They were right

 

Richard

[Hairy-Neil]

Possibly optimistic in any conventional vehicle scrapyard - the engines are at least 50 years old, so a vehicle it was fitted to would need to be the same.

 

You would be looking for something like this.....

 

 

I believe the 1.5 was used till the end of J4 van production 1n 1974, so you could hunt down one of these...

 

 

However, I'm sure it wouldn't end there as the thieves are likely to have taken the manifolds/heat exchanger too.

 

Of course, the majority of these vans were delivered with 1622cc petrol engines fitted, rather than the diesel.

[alan_fincher]

When we had some work done at Calcutt, someone warned us - they are good, and they charge like the Light Brigade

 

They were right

 

Richard

I got very lucky when our 1.8 was found to have cracking and loose core plugs in the head. My engineer, Ed Boden, happened to have a none cracked example buried away somewhere, and got it re-skimmed and fitted for me at very reasonable money.

 

But I suspect had I not had that good fortune getting a serviceable one somewhere else could have cost a heap more.

 

 

In all fairness to Ed, he could have said it would have cost me a lot more, and I would still have had it, because I couldn't exactly not buy one. Good business sense for him though, because although he could have made a few extra bucks out of me, I would perhaps not quite so readily commending him to others.

 

Ed is a good bloke for anybody on his patch that wants help with BMCs, (and I'm guessing things like old Listers), and, as others will attest, has quickly solved things that other engineers have charged a lot to not solve!

[Chris Pink]

So you get a head .......... next he'll want you to fit the thing.

 

Sorry but if he can get to a pub he can surley get a crime number and complete a claim for the repairs . Same with BW, all he needed to do was call them and tell them he has a problem.

 

Why has he done nothing for over 3 months?

 

And maybe someone will spit on you when you are down too.

 

Such nastiness to someone about whom you know nothing is uncalled for.

[Arthur Brown]

With this;

 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/bmc-1-8-marine-diesel-engine-runner-/290679260301?pt=UK_CarsParts_Vehicles_Boat_Engines_EngineParts_SM&hash=item43add5848d

 

and this;

 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/BMC-1-8-MARINE-DIESEL-ENGINE-PRM-260-GEARBOX-/120872134611?pt=UK_CarsParts_Vehicles_Boat_Engines_EngineParts_SM&hash=item1c248a67d3

 

currently on ebay with a couple of days to run each I'd probably look at getting a whole running engine rather than try to fit an unspecified head to a block that has been open to the weather for three plus months. Lets face it, an in sutu bore lapping and a head skim done properly will cost real money and all the pistons and rings will be scruffy with risk/certainty of rust the existing engine is probably destined for breaking for spares.

[Chris Pink]

If they don't get out of control could be a couple of good deals there

[alan_fincher]

If they don't get out of control could be a couple of good deals there

Agreed,

 

Particularly the second one with a PRM260, if that is itself in reasonable order - a very heavy duty box - more robust than usually fitted to a BMC.

 

Now where could I store a spare engine, (other than as "Sickle" ballast!).

 

My guess is that one will take off at the last minute, though.......

[Arthur Brown]

I'm not an expert in old engines, but I simply put BMC Diesel into ebay this morning, These two lots will likely run away in the last hour (maybe last minute) BUT the listing included lots of people offering top and bottom gasket sets, and various books and manuals, so realistically this may be a regular find on ebay. I'd also suspect that someone has an "old engine" taking up space in some shed and that it's waiting to be found, but quite simply these engines still exist and the person originally losing the cylinder head may find that a reconditioned head costs £250 and a spare engine costs £250, the use of an engine that has been open to the elements for three plus months may be fraught.

[alan_fincher]

I don't often look at these in a lot of detail, but if it is one likely to be a reasonable runner, with all the bits for skin tank cooling, and it is mated to a box that is well regarded, the going rate is typically at least £500, I think, and very often up to double that, or even higher.

 

Even if you could see one started up, I think you would need to know a fair bit to guess whether you are looking at one that would just drop straight in, or one that actually needs considerable cash spent on it.

 

I tend to think people don't remove a narrow boat engine and replace with something else at considerable cost, if the existing item is in tip top condition, so being an old cynic, I guess, I would tend to think that while many on eBay will start and run "off load" fairly reasonably, many would probably need considerable money spent on them.

 

Calcutt tend to want around £4K for a reconditioned engine with PRM box. If you are expecting to buy a fully OK runner for say a 10th of that price, I think you would probably have to get quite lucky.

 

Not to say there are no bargains out there, of course......

[alan_fincher]

With this;

 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/bmc-1-8-marine-diesel-engine-runner-/290679260301?pt=UK_CarsParts_Vehicles_Boat_Engines_EngineParts_SM&hash=item43add5848d

 

and this;

 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/BMC-1-8-MARINE-DIESEL-ENGINE-PRM-260-GEARBOX-/120872134611?pt=UK_CarsParts_Vehicles_Boat_Engines_EngineParts_SM&hash=item1c248a67d3

 

currently on ebay with a couple of days to run each I'd probably look at getting a whole running engine rather than try to fit an unspecified head to a block that has been open to the weather for three plus months. Lets face it, an in sutu bore lapping and a head skim done properly will cost real money and all the pistons and rings will be scruffy with risk/certainty of rust the existing engine is probably destined for breaking for spares.

The more promising of these engines made just over £1K eventually, in line with what I thought might happen.

 

Ebay linky

 

As I suggested, the ones with more promise never tend to go for peanuts, unfortunately......