Front Decks

Been busy on the boat, front deck has been completed. I made the cants and decks out of steel, wood on steel is what they were originally made from, it's a sure sign of rust. The hatch is the original and I had to remove 70 years of paint prior to fixing. The floor has been put in the gas locker which was a horrible job, welding through paint in a tight space means alot of fumes.

I have also fixed the framing for the well deck at the front of the boat, fitted the bottom guards on and I am now waitng for the cabin steel to arrive on Monday.

Engine PaintIng and Back Deck

After getting the engine steam cleaned I sanded any rough bits of paint. Removed or masked off any bits I didn't want spraying. I then sprayed it with a zinc phosphate primer, it is now ready for it's first coat of Brunswick green.

I have also completed the back deck

Uxter Plates and Engine Clean

This week I've completed welding up the base of the back cabin. I have also replaced the uxter plates with 6mm steel on both sides, these were thin especially where the stove used to be in the original cabin.

I have also had the engine steam washed which has brought most of the paint and grime off, I've also taken the plates off the sump, drained all the oil out and cleaned all the internals out as much as I could reach. Also started the process of sanding the engine ready for its new paint job.

All going well, The fuel tanks are completed, these were built into the hull using 12mm plate for the sides and 5mm cheuquer plate for the lids. I have pressure tested and made sure there are no leaks (diesel has a tendancy to get through the smallest of holes). Once I was happy with the tanks i made some mounting plates which i bolted to the engine, placed the engine in the right place and welded them to the tops of the tanks. Now I have moved the engine back out to paint the bilge and am also in the process of cleaning the engine down so i can respray it.

So far I have removed all the electrical parts and made blanking plates for the exhaust/air intake. I intend to borrow the use of a steam cleaner so that I can get all the grease and oil removed before respraying in lister green.

Progress is going well During the week off for christmas I have managed to get all but two of the knees completed and I have also welded up the majority of the hull on the inside. I am now in the process of building integral fuel tanks either side of the engine which the engine will sit on creating a sump in the middle. Once the fuel tanks have been pressure tested i shall clean my engine, a lister HA2, respray it in lister green and mount it in its home. Then I can do the final two knees.

knees

Bit behind with the blog, back at work now so too tired in the evening to go on the computer. I have managed now to get all the knees out on one side cleaned and painted on the backside, replaced all the plate behind them and welded them back in. Also in the process of doing this i have managed to get the hull sides pretty flat and the top gaurd is now straight.
I have also posted every photo taken so far on the webshots website (http://community.webshots.com/user/nboakley) so please take a look.

Well, the bottom and footings are very nearly done. Once I had all the base plates in position I concentrated on pulling the front sides in just back of the front bulkhead. It was 7' 1" wide on the knuckle. By slitting it just above the top guard I have managed to pull each side in 1", it will now go almost anywhere on the system.

Now all I have to do is 9' of footings, then I can start doing the knees. I hope each one doesn't take too long as I have 16 to take out, replace the bad plate and weld the knees back in.