Andiamo - Let's Go!

[petem]

I thought I'd give you a quick update on our plans for the next few weeks. Andiamo is undergoing a mini re-fit with the following works planned over the next fornight:

Full engine service (incl valve clearances and injector testing)
Engine repairs (leaking oil cooler, replacement pulley, power trim, throttle calibration, paint touch-ups)
New teak for bathing platform
16k BTU A/C unit being fitted
Replacement TV
New tender and o/b (hopefully)
Soundproofing improvement (hatch seal)
Miscellaneous gelcoat repairs
Outboard bracket refurb
New fender socks
New boat name

Once all that's done we'll give it a sea trial then we'll take it across the Channel to Le Havre where it will be trucked down to Marseilles. Jez, myself and one of my partners will pick the boat up from Marseilles and take it across to Palma where it will spend the winter.

Exciting!

 

[rafiki_]

Sounds good Pete. Best of luck with this.

 

[petem]

Sounds good Pete. Best of luck with this.

It should be good, your guy Ade is doing some of it!

Pete

 

[rafiki_]

Great. He did some excellent work on Rafiki..

 

[rubberduck]

Good luck Pete, hope all goes well.

 

[petem]

The nice people at Fairline sent me samples of ALL the legacy fabrics that they have in their warehouse.

Hopefully this will assist other owners trying to match the fabrics on their boats.

Just hope I can get a match!

Pete

 

[stelican]

It would be wise to add a set of props to your spares list even a refurbish set to get you out of trouble( and the tools to change them)

 

[petem]

Your problem is those holes in the vinyl wall panel

IF you can match the vinyl, then that curved panel can be removed and re-covered. You need to remove the cherry cupboard unit, and to do that you pull off the two thin cherry facia pieces at the two ends of the cupboard unit - they are located by wood dowels and are glued on with black polyurethane, so can be pulled/prised off. Then you can remove the whole cupboard. The door trim is still tricky, but do-able.

But that is pointless if you can't match the vinyl, so the vinyl is your #1 task. Someone at Fairline or ex-Fairline must know, but I would expect it is no longer made anyway, so perhaps the job is to find a very close match. There are zillions of vinyls available today and surely one must match. I'll try to lake a look at JtB's targa 40 (I presume same) and perhaps then send you some samples of stocks that I have

Well, I've some success to report. Firstly, Fairline have a fabric ("Allegro White") which is close enough to the original to be an acceptable solution. So my partner and I spent a few hours at the weekend trying to remove the panel. We were able to remove the wooden trim around the edges and also the filler at the end of the cabinets. By flexing the panel we can see where it's still attached. We could also get an arm far enough up the back to unbolt and remove the the old digibox.

Unfortunately the the top of the panel is joined with a baton and sika to the adjacent roof panel and just wont shift. It's also held in place by the moulding with the two down lighters, and again we can see no way of removing this. Previously I thought that the panel had been removed by PO's but I can now see that they could have attached all the old crap on top of it with it still in situ.

So we're left with two options:

1) Carefully run a jig saw in a horizontal line to split the panel in two (in-situ), allowing us to remove and recover the bottom section. We'd need a trim strip to join the panels, either fabric or cherry. The former might be the easiest, perhaps attached with some velcro. This is where we'd make the cut:

2) Cut a 1mm stainless panel to fit over the offending holes. There's stainless below and on the wall of the opposite corner so this might not be as ghastly as it sounds. Besides, the TV will cover most of it.

Any thoughts?

 

[jimmy_the_builder]

Don't use a jigsaw, that will never end well. If you're going to cut the panel in half (and to be clear, I wouldn't do this regardless) then you need to use a fine (aka an oscillating multi cutter).

As a reminder, what's going in place off the existing fittings? ie what exactly will still be on view once the new telly is nailed to the wall?

 

[petem]

Don't use a jigsaw, that will never end well. If you're going to cut the panel in half (and to be clear, I wouldn't do this regardless) then you need to use a fine (aka an oscillating multi cutter).

As a reminder, what's going in place off the existing fittings? ie what exactly will still be on view once the new telly is nailed to the wall?

Digibox has been removed leaving a 1 inch circular hole where the cables came through and more screw small holes. That will be replaced with a triple gang matching Gewiss socket holding a 240v socket and coax socket.

Existing TV bracket will be replaced with a smaller locking and part removable TV bracket (http://www.avtex.co.uk/accessories/brackets/ak86tm). Old 32 inch TV to be replaced with a 22 inch Samsung.

The two screw holes adjacent to the TV bracket will stay as they bolt onto the baton behind the panel to take the strain of the TV bracket.

The absolute zero option is to cover the old screw / holes with cream screw caps.

 

[jimmy_the_builder]

Digibox has been removed leaving a 1 inch circular hole where the cables came through and more screw small holes. That will be replaced with a triple gang matching Gewiss socket holding a 240v socket and coax socket.

Existing TV bracket will be replaced with a smaller locking and part removable TV bracket (http://www.avtex.co.uk/accessories/brackets/ak86tm). Old 32 inch TV to be replaced with a 22 inch Samsung.

The absolute zero option is to cover the old screw / holes with cream screw caps.

So with the new tv in place, which of the various holes will you still see?

 

[petem]

All of them when the TV is pulled out. When the TV is locked in place, probably the top two and possible the outer ones from the four sets of two.

I have managed to remove the rust stains that you can see on the original pic.

 

[jimmy_the_builder]

All of them when the TV is pulled out. When the TV is locked in place, probably the top two and possible the outer ones from the four sets of two.

It's not going to matter when the tv is pulled out, you'll be too busy watching Strictly. If it was me, I'd buy a tv that covers the holes when folded against the wall, and then I'd just cover the holes up with something, like the screw caps that you've already suggested. Cutting panels for recovering is a massive effort and the chances of it looking oe by the time you're done are quite slim. Fabbing a big ss panel over the whole area will look very clunky, and I guess there may be implications for wifi reception on the tv itself if you put a massive metal panel immediately behind it. Simplest solution here is best.

 

[vas]

Digibox has been removed leaving a 1 inch circular hole where the cables came through and more screw small holes. That will be replaced with a triple gang matching Gewiss socket holding a 240v socket and coax socket.

Existing TV bracket will be replaced with a smaller locking and part removable TV bracket (http://www.avtex.co.uk/accessories/brackets/ak86tm). Old 32 inch TV to be replaced with a 22 inch Samsung.

The two screw holes adjacent to the TV bracket will stay as they bolt onto the baton behind the panel to take the strain of the TV bracket.

The absolute zero option is to cover the old screw / holes with cream screw caps.

how are you going to get the right cables/wires to this triple gang gewiss socket then Pete? Easy access through the round hole to get them through?

I agree with JtB, there's no way in hell to get that done with jigsaw. Don't forget that you should cut the vinyl a good inch lower than the ply so that you'll later on find a way to secure it and have some decent finish to it. Either stretch and staple, or turn around and staple, or get a U section to hold it on and get a decent finish on the cut. A SS one would be nice if you can find it at the right thickness.

TBH, I'd spent a day and even more and try to find a way to remove the panel. Since it was put there, there is a way to remove it, simple! Then I'd reupholster, get my cables through properly, find antenna, coax etc, fit them, test them and make sure the TV bracket is going to be man enough and the holes strong enough for the job.

cheers

V.

 

[petem]

Vas, the cables are already hanging out the the hole - 240v and Coax (the digibox is what we used in the UK during the transitional period where we had first started to get Digital TV and could then play it on analogue TV's).

I'm happy that the bracket will be secure as it's placed very close to the baton.

If my life depended on it I'd be able to remove the panel(s) but even the guys that built the boat say it will be a pig of a job to do. And because it's all attached with sika you would literally have to pull them off and risk damaging further material in the process.

I think I like Jimmy's idea better, certainly as a holding position (assuming we can enlarge the hole to take the 240v socket).

Sockets are coming tomorrow so I can check their footprint then.

 

[petem]

I have two windscreen washers on the boat. Does anyone know how they work? I think I read that the water pump needs to be on so I assume they are fed from the pressurized domestic water system. Nothing seems to happen when I press the buttons.

 

[jimmy_the_builder]

I have two windscreen washers on the boat. Does anyone know how they work? I think I read that the water pump needs to be on so I assume they are fed from the pressurized domestic water system. Nothing seems to happen when I press the buttons.

Have you tried following the routing of the pipes to figure out what's going on?

 

[petem]

No. I imagine the pipework is behind the saloon ceiling panels, which are well and truly glued on. If it's fed from the domestic system, there must be a couple of electric valves somewhere. I'll check the siting of the nozzles when I'm next on board and see if I can find a connection the the domestic system in the engine bay. Oddly I think they were an optional extra and I can't recall seeing them on the original invoice. Still, they're right up there with spotlights as useless bits of kit.

 

[jimmy_the_builder]

No. I imagine the pipework is behind the saloon ceiling panels, which are well and truly glued on. If it's fed from the domestic system, there must be a couple of electric valves somewhere. I'll check the siting of the nozzles when I'm next on board and see if I can find a connection the the domestic system in the engine bay. Oddly I think they were an optional extra and I can't recall seeing them on the original invoice. Still, they're right up there with spotlights as useless bits of kit.

On the T40 there is a solenoid valve in the engine room, connected to the pressurised side of the domestic cold water. Pressing the switch on the dash just opens the valve and it is just the domestic water pressure that delivers the water to the wipers. If the solenoid is clicking but no water is getting through then your only option is to trace the route of the water delivery pipe to find the blockage. In my case an over-enthusiastic electronics installer had zip-tied the pipe into the general electrical loom, and the zip tie was tight enough to compress the pipe.

I'd be surprised if your ceiling panels really are glued on, are you sure they aren't just fixed with dual-lock? Have you tried taking a light fitting out and pulling down sharply on the ceiling panel using the light fitting hole as a handhold?

The washer function does have some use, if you've got salt water spray on the screen which has dried, the fresh water will clear it.

 

[benjenbav]

The washer function does have some use, if you've got salt water spray on the screen which has dried, the fresh water will clear it.

Not half. On my AQ there were just wipers which meant that vis was distinctly poor whenever the salt dried. Occasionally needed to forget the wipers and just drive on the radar.