Back to the UK for a winter refit

[jimmy_the_builder]

Always worth tuning in for your posts M .

Actually Jimmy is on first name recent terms with A+E from another bit of diy-age

Yep I think i'd use that foam board that you can cut with a knife. Wattsons actually have a CNC templater, where they come around the deck with a wand that is attached to a computer and they wave it around the deck and it creates a CNC file of the shape of the deck, but (a) might be overkill for this and I wouldn't want to deprive Jimmy of a meet-up with his A+E mates, and (b) they wont reply to Jimmy's emails!

Actually in defence of Wattsons on point (b), they have been in a lot of contact this week, I'm guessing they were just closed on Friday last or something. I've had a bunch of emails with them over the past couple of days though and we are all lined up. Pleased.

 

[jfm]

Goodo. I've bought loads from them (tables and custom teak joinery) and find them excellent too

 

[rafiki_]

In fact the very first thing the fabricator said when presented with the riser was 'I'll make a jig'. We're not going to do the bridge-weld thing you've mentioned here because it will be helpful to allow the turbo flange to rotate (it is perfectly circular) to meet the revised angle caused by chopping out some of that angled pipe. Bit hard to explain but I imagine you know what I mean.

Sounds good progress Jimmy. Do they make the Macca manifolds?

 

[Nick_H]

So the next job is to template the platform for teak. This is something I've never done before - any advice from anyone who has done it? What should I use - hardboard? Thin ply? Cardboard? Something else?

I wouldn't use ply or hardboard, it's harder to cut and just makes more work. I used some 3mm rigid foam boards from B& Q that's meant as underlay for wooden flooring. It's very easy to keep taking thin slivers off to fine tune the shape, and once you've made the template you just slash it to bits with a Stanley knife, throw it in the car (or hold luggage in my case), and put it back together as a jigsaw at the teak place.

 

[jfm]

Bit hard to explain but I imagine you know what I mean.

Yep, gotcha. Jig is good!
Nick-h, how long are you in Antibes for? I'm on a 5pm LHR tmrw and on the boat saturday

 

[Nick_H]

Nick-h, how long are you in Antibes for? I'm on a 5pm LHR tmrw and on the boat saturday

Here till Monday, been a nice week with a short cruise but forecast not looking so good for the weekend so will probably take the kids out by car on Sat. See you later on though.

 

[jimmy_the_builder]

Sounds good progress Jimmy. Do they make the Macca manifolds?

Yep, it's been a useful day today, it's just a shame that a week was lost between the problem with the riser being identified, and some action being taken to actually work the problem.

Anyway. We are where we are.

Ref your question, the answer is - I don't know, sorry!

 

[rafiki_]

Yep, it's been a useful day today, it's just a shame that a week was lost between the problem with the riser being identified, and some action being taken to actually work the problem.

Anyway. We are where we are.

Ref your question, the answer is - I don't know, sorry!

No worries, but they are real artwork

 

[jimmy_the_builder]

No worries, but they are real artwork

So I was back at Pipecraft today, and I asked your question - and the answer is yes, they did it.

In fact the guy that made that is called Nigel, and guess what, he's the same chap who has worked a bit of magic on this riser.

First thing he did was make a jig:

Here's the modified riser, still in the jig:

And here it is, polished up and ready to fit.

Hugely impressed with Pipecraft, this was my first experience of dealing with them, and they couldn't have been more helpful. Recommended.

 

[Aardee]

Wow, that looks like a great job - Fingers crossed it all goes together easily enough.

 

[Deleted User YDKXO]

Work of art by Pipecraft, Jimmy! I love to see that kind of craftsmanship. I guess next on the list will be some custom exhaust pipes for the GS?

 

[jimmy_the_builder]

Work of art by Pipecraft, Jimmy! I love to see that kind of craftsmanship. I guess next on the list will be some custom exhaust pipes for the GS?

I feel like I've been forced to take the long way round on this one, if you know what I mean. If I'd known this kind of skill existed on my doorstep, I would have just had the old risers modded for the higher horns, and be done with it.

The guys at Pipecraft were amazed when I told them how much Volvo charge for the risers, they pointed out that they could have fabricated them from scratch for much less.

So my suggestion to anyone else staring down the barrel of a £3.5k bill to replace risers and associated pipework on D6's is - go to Pipecraft and get something lovely made bespoke, and still have enough cash left over for a decent birthday dinner at Benares in Mayfair [/injoke].

In fact Nigel has kept that jig that he made - so it should even easier for anyone else going down this path in future.

 

[Jurgen]

Just fantastic to still see craftsman producing a high quality product at a sensible price, appreciate that Volvo have to make a living but would choose custom over stock anytime

 

[BartW]

So I've just been off to see them this afternoon, very nice setup about 15 mins from here. If you know about engine development then you'll know that the fact these guys make exhausts for Ricardo is quite an endoresement.

The company is owned by a chap who keeps an S42 in Shamrock Quay, and he completely and immediately understood the problem and constraints. So, very kindly, they've agreed to jump straight on this and work has already started to cut and shut the riser.

good going Jimmy,
a new problem that appeared like a nightmare, is now cured in a very effecient and professional way,
the picture above say's it all, these are the Guy's you need for such a job
and most probably (hopefully) not too expensive either

 

[vas]

well done J,

that's the approach I took when I had to redo the exhaust elbows on MiToS. Only I had badly (as in low!) elbows with some water coming back in and rusting the turbo so I redesigned the lot from scratch and went to a racing car exhaust manufacturer (that did my 76mm fiat coupe downpipe a few years back). Also started with a jig from the old cast iron elbow and everything now fits nicely in place!

in the water by the w/e then?

cheers

V.

 

[jfm]

Wow that is fantastic stuff from pipe craft. When I said jig I was thinking plywood. Their jig could be used to make 1000 off. Lovely work

Btw, let it be known to Deleted User that if the heat jacket is now a loose fit I'll happily lend you my sailrite sewing machine to mod it :encouragement:

 

[Deleted User YDKXO]

Btw, let it be known to Deleted User that if the heat jacket is now a loose fit I'll happily lend you my sailrite sewing machine to mod it :encouragement:

Yeah, yeah, good point

 

[wakeup]

Wow that is fantastic stuff from pipe craft. When I said jig I was thinking plywood. Their jig could be used to make 1000 off. Lovely work

Btw, let it be known to Deleted User that if the heat jacket is now a loose fit I'll happily lend you my sailrite sewing machine to mod it :encouragement:

Just stuff a scatter cushion around the pipe.

 

[jimmy_the_builder]

good going Jimmy,
a new problem that appeared like a nightmare, is now cured in a very effecient and professional way,
the picture above say's it all, these are the Guy's you need for such a job
and most probably (hopefully) not too expensive either

Thanks Bart. Cost was £300+vat. Not cheap in absolute terms - but imho still great value. And the fact that they were willing to jump straight on the problem really helped - no more lost time.

 

[jimmy_the_builder]

in the water by the w/e then?

No, not quite. It would have been a push to get the riser from here to the boat (100km away) in time for fit and launch this afternoon - and after doing so much work below the waterline, I don't want to be the last lift in before the weekend, just in case of problems. I will deliver the new riser to the boat tomorrow morning, and they are fitting it on Monday morning. I'm hoping we'll launch very soon after that - more on this next week.