A Blast From The Past

It is 30 years since I last adjusted tappets and that was on a motorcycle.  So I had to buy a set of feeler gauges, something I never thought I'd be buying again.

Look proper tappets

The inlet ones needed closing up a bit and the exhaust ones opening a bit, but in all cases it was only fractional.  However its amazing how much quieter it is after.  In fact I think the engine is running in a bit now and is getting quieter anyway.

I also checked the gearbox oil which was clean as a whistle and still at the correct level.

I had an annoying bit of water coming in on the floor of the port engine room bilge.  I was convinced it was rain coming in through the engine air vents but it was curious that it's only one side.  I had to modify the intake vents.

However, while running the engine after the tappets I noticed a trickle of water from the normal spot where it runs down off the counter. There was only one place it was possible for water to come from and that was the exhaust outlet.  I tightened up the exhaust clamps but that didn't work so I repositioned them and re-tightened which cured it. So now I have a dry bilge at last.

 

Time for a repaint I think

Another annoying problem I've been having is with the generator start up.  The power on relay was not always latching on, but a wiggle on the remote plug would normally get it going until the next time.  All indications were a dry joint on the circuit board so I removed it from the genny to expose the board and a bit of wiggling produced the fault which turned out to be a bad connection on the fuse.  So that's another one sorted.

I've also re-routed the water inlet so the generator gets its water from the secondary strainer as well now. 

All I need now is some reliable periods of dry weather to do some painting outside.

50 Hour Service & I got Gongoozled

I did the first 50 hour service today at 54.7 hours.  This required engine oil and filter change and three diesel filters. I haven't needed to top up the engine oil in the first 50 hours so it seems its not using any. :-)

This was the water and gunk collected from the 2 pre-filters.

Not actually a great amount so that's pleasing.  The service book says to do it at 125 hours then every 125 hours but I think I will stick with doing it ever 50 hours.  Its easy to do anyway

The alternator belts needed adjusting the lower one more than the upper one.  I run out of time today and have still to do the tappets but the engine sounds pretty quiet, indeed more so after the oil and filter change. The oil was in very good condition just a very light charcol colour.

Engine mountings we checked and found to be tight and a general check of the engine found nothing loose.

I checked and toped up the oil in the generator.   This is using a bit of oil, but it runs a lot more than the engine and a lot faster, 3000rpm where as the engine seldom goes over 1200rpm.

All that done I needed to empty the toilet tank and fill with water so it was time to take the boat out solo.  A quick blast up the river to turn around and then off to the services area.

Avalon on the service point

Mission accomplished!  It takes a little over 2 hours to fill the tank, so I set it filling after doing the pump out which takes 10 minutes. 

I decided to moor on the town moorings instead of going back to the home mooring.  Inspired by my new found confidence I  decided to see if I could moor in between a NB and plastic cruiser a gap of about 70'.  As usual this sort of manoeuvre attracts an audience.  A very slow and careful approach saw me in to a round of applause from the on lookers.  So now I have officially been Gongoozled.

Down To The Finishing Off Jobs

Forgive me readers for I have sinned. Its been nearly a month since my last blog.  I am now just doing the last few little jobs that have been hanging around.

I had the final bit of skirting board made by DW Wood Mouldings and fitted them along with the final bits of plinth.

Same both sides

I have fitted the rear door vents.

 16g SS special order, nice and thick

Still need varnishing

I have fitted the front button.

Ready for some bumping now ;-)

And finally I've fitted a warning LED to the dash to confirm the alternator parallelling is locked in.

A horrible job which I didn't photograph was the removal of a spill of 2.5L of tar paint in the chain locker.  I decided it would be better to let it dry then use a hot air gun to melt it into manageable slices.  It worked but took about an hour and the last bits in the corners was a real job.

I have decided to move the inverter inside under the rear stairs.  I have had a couple of comments about it and I was a little unsure if it was a good idea when I decided to put it in the engine room  I will probably do this next week.