Let the games commence

Still checking off the "small" jobs. Finished the impeller, gaskets, seals etc. Took a look see at the gimbal bellows and the shifter bellows and all is good. No cracks or splits and plenty of flex in them still. I still have to look at the exhaust bellows and flaps, as per fergals suggestion.

Ran a test on all my electrics and all is good, everything is working as it should. I also got my trim sender gauge calibrated and working. I put an extra eye on the front as the existing one, which has the winch strap attached, is very low. Right down at the waterline in fact. I thought something higher up would make more sense for mooring, being accessible from the deck. I may just leave my mooring line attached to this eye in the future.

I also decided to tidy up the boss on the steering wheel. It's aluminium, painted black and had become a bit bubbly and crusty. It took a bit of undoing to finally get it off, but it's now cleaned down, etch primed and awaiting it's new finish. Why not!!

Did some caulking/filling here and there and maybe next time home, it will finally get a proper wash and polish, then the graphics go on. Does it ever end?

I'm still seriously considering pulling the fuel tank to give it a proper clean. Even though I drained out all the old fuel, I'm still concerned about the "varnish" residue left behind. Watch this space...................

So, the new exhaust flaps are fitted, but I couldn't refit the exhaust elbows as I got the wrong gaskets. In the meantime I fitted my manual bilge pump, with just the hose from the bilge left to clip in place. It was fun routing the hose down to the bilge, having to pass through a 12" wall of buoyancy foam on route! I got around this by cutting a section of 40mm waste water pipe and then cut "teeth" into one end, just by cutting out small pieces at an angle.

This pipe then became my drill bit, which cut a perfect channel through the foam, and removed the waste material at the same time. It was like digging a mini "Port Tunnel" as the section of buoyancy was under the deck and totally inaccessible except from the bilge cavity. but it worked out fine.

As I had the exhaust elbows off, I thought I'd remove the rocker covers and paint them properly. Previously, they couldn't be removed and were painted in place, with some surface rust left unattended, due to lack of access.

So, off they came, cleaned down, sanded smooth, rust removed and treated, etch primed and sprayed. They're back on now and looking much better.

My replacement gaskets came today, so tomorrow, the elbows go back on, along with the gearshift assembly that bolts onto them. Then I can tweak and adjust the shift mechanism.

When I finally (soon) get to run the engine, I'll do so from a remote tank. I want to drop some new petrol into the tank, let it sit for a day or two and then pump it out, via a pair of filters and see if it shifts anything from inside the tank. I will also take a swab, via the sender access, to see if there's anything coming away from the tank walls. If all checks out, then I'll run the engine from the tank, with the option of plenty of frequent filter and water separator changes.

Thanks to fergal pointing me towards sealsdirect, I hope to shortly retrim all the windows and fit the replacement glass to the deck window.

I'd like to be further along as the summer seems to be drifting away, but hey, what can you do? I also put a new roof on my big shed this week, so at least I'll be watertight on one front for the winter!

Knitting? Maybe a nice Aran sweater to go with the boat?

Too many distractions to get much done, but I did manage to free the stuck throttle! Woo hoo! I dismantled the carb further to get at the flaps, which I removed. Then after more spraying and soaking, I put a large block of wood in my bench vice, with a long hole drilled down into it.
The I sat the section of carb on the block, with the protruding section of throttle shaft, sitting down into the hole.

This helped to keep the carb steady and cushioned it, and with the other end of the shaft (sitting upright) duly protected, I began tapping, solidly, little by little, and the shaft finally began to move. Still not turning, but moving. Using a drive, I eventually managed to push the shaft free. Thought it might have been bent or distorted in some way, causing it to stick, but its dead straight all round, according to my steel rule.

So, using cotton buds, I cleaned out the bores that the shaft passes through, inspected the brass bushes for any damage, all good, and cleaned up the shaft itself, although there was nothing obviously amiss.

End result, the shaft is back in and turns freely, with no flat spots or hesitation.
Now I can go to work happy and will rebuild the carb next week when my kit arrives. That's good enough for me! Thanks for the input.

So, yesterday was a bit hit and miss at the boat, with the weather being very unsettled, so not a lot done. Today however, I tweaked and lubed the gear shift/throttle controller and happy with it's operation.

I also replaced the old fuel fill hose, which was a bit crusty and brittle looking, with lots of small surface cracks. Getting the new one in was a bit of a pain, as the hose is quite rigid with a steel wire reinforcing, so not very pliable. I fixed a line to the old one when I pulled it out and this helped a lot in pulling the new one back in, although the tight spaces and corners didn't help.

I also tidied up the bilge hose on the new manual bilge pump. I clipped it in place and sealed up the base where it runs through the deck. There's a ton of foam beneath the deck where the hose passes through, so I didn't want it constantly soaking up water. I used a plastic cap from a spray can, with a hole in it that the hose passes through, very snugly. Then I set the cap down into the hole in the deck and sealed up all around it.

Next on the to do list is to spray some fogging oil into the cylinders and turn the engine. Then fit the plugs, hook up the muffs and fire her up (hopefully) using a remote fuel tank. All fluids are done and I keep mentally re-checking that all is good to go. Getting paranoid!

Still doing my homework on the replacement window seals, but I think I have it sorted, so that will be the last significant job. Fingers crossed!

Didn't get back to the boat until this afternoon, about 3 hours and in that time, I managed to get ONE of the bolts out of the starter motor! It was obviously fitted before the engine was fitted into the boat. What a major pain.

One of the bolts is quite awkward to get at, but it was possible, by lying on my side on the deck, hanging upside down into the bilge up at the front of the engine and stretching down towards the back of the engine, under the sump, between the stringers, past the various hoses, bilge pump etc. etc.

The two bolts are alongside each other, on the underside of the motor, but the second, really difficult one, is seated snug up against a plate on the bell housing, with not enough room to get a socket or ring spanner onto it. An open ended spanner is possible, but with practically no movement possible, with the starter motor itself in the way on one side and a stringer on the other.

Last thing I did this evening was to squirt a load of WD40 down into the top of the open upper end of the bolt hole and ground down a socket, ( courtesy of a youtube video) leaving enough metal on the walls, but thin enough to be able to tap it onto the nut. So, in the morning I'll have a go at it again.

Pulling the motor is the last step in sourcing the slow turning. I started with the battery, fully charged now, cleaned the posts and clamps, all shiny now. Then I took the cables off the battery switch and cleaned them likewise. One of the lugs on the cable broke off in the process and I hoped this was my problem, but a new lug didn't help. I even bypassed the battery switch, just to be sure that it wasn't acting up internally, so that left me with the motor itself.

On a car, removing the starter might take 5 minutes, with proper access from below, but unfortunately, in a boat the hull is in the way!

When it comes to reinstalling the motor ( note my optimism!) I'm going to try and replace the awkward bolt with a hex head bolt, something easier to get a turn on in such limited space.

Anyway, that's it for now, fingers crossed for tomorrow.

Just an update. Rechecking connections today on my starter, I discovered that the terminal on the starter that takes the free from the ignition, goes to ground. Not the wire but the actual terminal on the starter solenoid. Surely that can't be right? Looks like I may be pulling the starter again! Any thoughts welcome.

Long story short. New coil and some tweaking on the carb and she starts and runs on the first turn of the key. Idling a bit fast, around 900 RPM's as opposed to the suggested 750, but I have no adjustment available on the throttle idle screw, as it's not even touching the stop plate. The idle mixture screws have absolutely no effect either.

If I throttle up, the engine dies at about 1500 RPM's so either it's flooding or the timing is out, or possibly both. I'll be looking into it, but any thoughts or input, as usual, is most welcome.

Thanks in advance.

So, time moves on and I'm still not in the water. That's no harm. I was hoping to get her wet through the summer, but time, work and numerous other distractions have conspired against me. It just means that I can relax a little and make sure that everything is done as well as possible, including some extras that were being put on the long finger.

Still pottering away on my "Bimini Top". I used some of the old cover that came with the boat. It was torn in places, badly stained and was never going to be used anyway, so a good supply of water resistant fabric was at my disposal. I already have the cover made up and fitted that covers the seating/ dash/instruments etc. Plus the deck is self draining. So...........

I modified the frame that came with the Microplus that I refurbed, as it was never used on that boat. I used it once on the water with the cover fitted and it was like unfurling a mainsail. Plus it made the small deck space very cramped and claustrophobic. Ok maybe on inland waterways, but not out on the bay.

So, I stretched and reshaped the frame to make it fit the wider beam of the Wellcraft and then set about measuring, cutting, sewing, tucking and trimming and so far, I'm happy with how it's working out. I need to get some more snap fasteners before I can finish it off fully, but so far so good.

The nice thing about it is the fact that it folds down in front of the windscreen, out of the way and can be popped up and fixed in place in less than a minute, so any sudden showers wont spoil an outing. In fact I had a few showers while I was working on it and it performed very well. It doesn't take up any space, is light and airy and I've included windows on either side, just to eliminate any blind spots.

On the mechanical front, I've set the base timing on the engine and she's starting and ticking over really well. I want to replace the choke unit as the current one is a bit sticky and notchy and the oil pressure sender will be replaced also. I have the option to install a high temp/oil pressure alarm which I'm looking into.

I take heart from the fact that last December and January when I was working outdoors on the boat, I enjoyed some wonderful calm clear and exceptionally mild days, so I look forward to getting her in the water, whenever.

Still pottering along, although much of what I'm doing doesn't actually have a lot to show for it. You know, all those little fiddly jobs, tweaking, adjusting, fixing etc.

At the moment I'm awaiting a replacement steering actuator, courtesy of ebay. I had a power steering fluid leak, which wasn't easily accessible with the actuator in situ. It was easy enough to remove it and much easier to work on it on the bench. A closer look revealed a bit of a bodge job by a PO which didn't work very well. So, a rebuild kit/ seals gaskets etc. was called for.

Lots of variations and exorbitant costs was putting me off, so a direct replacement seemed to be the way to go. It won't arrive for a while but will only take 30 minutes to fit.

In the meanwhile, I tidied up the engine bay area by refurbing the hardwood trim and refitting it. It's bedded down and sealed in place, just to discourage any water from getting into the bilge. The deck is self draining and I'd like to let it do its' job as intended. I also "christened" the boat with the addition of the graphics for her name. "Marianne" lives again.

I repaired the swim platform which had a chunk missing from it at one of the corners. Not crucial, more a question of aesthetics, and I'm happier with how it looks now. I riveted a piece of plastic onto the inside of the lip, with a piece of wire mesh, courtesy of an old fire screen (throw nothing away is my mantra) sandwiched between the plastic and the lip. Then the filling started, building it up in layers, followed by the usual rubbing and shaping and it's looking much more respectable.

My bimini top is almost finished too, just waiting on some stud fasteners and I can finish it off.

Still waiting on my window trim too, as it's taking a while to sort it out, with much emailing and some phone calls. Hopefully it will work out in the end.

Damp drizzly day today, so I'm on the computer instead of the boat.