Andydent2000
Well-Known Member
Volvo Paul - Testimonial - Bringing an old boat back to life
Dream Finder is a Powles 46 Express Cruiser. Only 14 of this craft were ever made between 1978 and 1983 and all were for export.
Built to Lloyds list standards these boats appear to have a good reputation and I fell in love with her pretty much at first sight back in the summer of 2007.
Dream Finder was one of the first Powels 46’s built. Launched in 1978, her original manual makes interesting reading, particularly as she has had more than one name change in the past.
Originally called ‘Lady Roxanne’, past bills of sale from the UK Ship Register and Customs paperwork show her arriving in the UK in 1989 under the name ‘Special Reserve’ which appears to have been changed to ‘Dream Finder’ in 1994.
Dream Finder is my first boat. It has been an extremely steep learning curve and the first two years she was used quite extensively. The original Volvo Penta 270HP TAMD-70C engines gave a lovely low throbbing noise at tick over but unfortunately also obscured the view with clouds of smoke even when at running temperature. Clearly they were well worn – and consequently the furthest we ever ventured from our home port of Portishead other than a trip round Lundy was Swansea.
Not knowing anything about boats or engines I was somewhat reliant on local experts, all of whom were telling me it was time to re-engine.
The wheels started to wobble on a fast trip back from Swansea. Just passing St Marys Well Bay we lost power to both engines and a huge cloud of black smoke began billowing out of the port exhaust.
It turned out we had sheered the exhaust elbow just above the turbo outlet on the starboard engine. On a falling tide we managed to limp into Penarth on one engine just about making the last lock.
Needless to say SWMBO was not impressed. Running repairs and we limped back into Portishead that evening.
The local mechanic took the offending elbow, cleaned it and welded back together. All fitted and right as a bobbin – or so we thought.
Next trip – a lovely weekend in Watchet. We joined Mike and Ashley with their boat Sweet Sensation and were about 1/3 of the way back when power went on the starboard engine. Turned out the damage from the previous trip was more extensive than first thought. A hole had developed in the exhaust pipe. Hot exhaust was jetting out and hitting the hydraulics eventually melting through.
We managed to get both engines in gear and running at about 7 knots headed for home. Thankfully Mike had radioed ahead and like the champion he is had waited for us outside the lock as we once more struggled to make the last lock in. This time with no throttle or gear control.
SWMBO – stood at the bow ready to throw the rope had no idea that the only way I had to slow the boat down was to turn the engines off so as we hit the sea lock at 7 knots got the shock of her life.
Needless to say she was not a happy bunny and the ultimatum was delivered. She was not venturing out the lock gates again until all the problems had been sorted once and for all.
The advice from the local engineer was new engines. The engineer knew where a Volvo D6-370 was available virtually brand new and in the heat of the moment had very little trouble persuading me to purchase this alongside ordering one for delivery by Christmas.
Little did I know however that the recession was to hit my business in spades the following month. Overnight work dried up and any spare cash was diverted to keeping the business afloat. Being forced to reduce my workforce by 50% I had no choice but to cancel the order for the second engine and batten down the hatches until things righted themselves. That was in November 2009.
Poor old Dream Finder sat at her mooring going nowhere until February this year. I had several attempts at repairing the old engines. Reasoning that in actual fact the engines themselves had not broken (, the underlying cause of all the problems turned out to be a cooling pipe that had kinked closed).
Subsequent trips lead to belts shredding (due to a damaged woodruff key on an alternator pulley) and finally to a cam follower snapping presumably due to the valve clearances being too loose. (This was despite having the engines serviced and tappets set). SWMBO seriously underwhelmed and I resigned to having to replace the engines after all.
In February this year I decided enough was enough. Older, wiser and somewhat poorer something had to happen.
But what to do for the best? Volvo had changed the series of D6 and put their prices up significantly. Purchasing a new engine would mean having to downgrade the electronic bits (I’m not an expert in the terminology here but it sounded expensive) Marina fees were going up (again) and Dream Finder was taking on an atmosphere of neglect though lack of use.
I quickly determined that new engines were out of the question – I simply could not afford them. Not knowing anything about marine engines however I needed advice on where to turn.
That was when I turned to the forum – probably the best thing I could have done.
Posts on here lead very quickly to several recommendations for Volvo Paul.
A quick PM and a couple of telephone conversations later and Paul agreed to come down to Portishead to take a look.
The minute I met Paul I knew this was the right decision. A thorough inspection of the existing engines and a couple of phone calls to various suppliers determined that – yes on balance these engines needed to be replaced. Mainly because the rebuild kits were no longer available but also because he was able to demonstrate to me how he diagnosed things like piston wear and oil pressure.
Paul knew of a pair of TAMD-61A engines someone was selling but although he was reasonably certain they were in good condition – less than 1000 hours. Quite rightly however he recommended I speak to the owner and view them before purchase telling me what to look for and offering to come with me.
He spent a good deal of time measuring up the engine room, checking things like sump clearance and mounting positions as well as discussing gearboxes. The current gearboxes were straight through and the engines mounted at an angle. He determined the gearboxes were in good condition and confirmed through his contacts in the trade that they would fit straight on the replacement engines and would handle the increased HP – a bonus as the alternative would mean extensive changes to the engine bay.
He went away to crunch numbers – I spent some time looking at my options and researching alternative engines as well as arranging a viewing on the TAMD-60A’s.
On balance I came to the conclusion that the TAMD-60A did seem to be the best option around at this time.
These TAMD-60A engines were first put into service in 1995 but were taken out and mothballed in 2005. Subsequently I viewed them in the vendor’s garage and spent a couple of hours with him going through their history, the reason for replacement (which seemed genuine) and a good old visual inspection.
The only thing I was not happy about was not being able to see them up and running so after a long discussion with Paul we came to an arrangement where I held back a sum in the event of any problems.
Deal done I set about stripping Dream Finder for transport to Newark on Trent for the refit; removing the Radar Arch and as much as the fly bridge as possible to lower her height.
Prior to her going I also spent a couple of weekends preparing for lifting the old engines and fitting the new. Dream Finder has a teak deck on her fly bridge which covers a fiberglass hatch. It took me three days and the near loss of a little finger to remove the teak and sealant from the hatch to a point where it could be lifted. I also had to dismantle the ceiling in the saloon and remove all of the benching to expose the floor panels over the starboard engine.
She was lifted on the 31st March and arrived in Newark the following day. Having not experienced transporting a boat before I have to say this was quite an anxious time. I had no idea just how little road clearance these trailers have and at 19 tonnes the transport company had one or two stressful moments. Not least of which was grounding out and blocking the A46 at Newark whilst trying to enter the Marina.
Safely delivered and chocked on hard standing I set about undoing the two years of neglect whilst Paul got on with the business of removing and replacing the engines.
The old engines were out in short order and I spent a couple of weekends decontaminating the engine room - cleaning up all the mess left by the sheered exhaust elbow, scrubbing every surface prior to repainting with grey garage paint. I must say it came up really well after two bottles of Cillit Bang, several packs of nappies to soak up the oily bilge water and a couple of hundred disposable cloths.
Engine room ready I left Paul to his work whilst I scraped away at the anti-foul, primed and painted, scrubbed and polished the hull and generally did all the jobs you expect on an annual lift out.
I always get a kick out of watching a master craftsman at work and to my mind that is exactly what Paul is. Preparation is the key and everything was measured to the millimetre. The front mounting points needed moving some 10mm and new mounting brackets were required.
Dream Finder is a Powles 46 Express Cruiser. Only 14 of this craft were ever made between 1978 and 1983 and all were for export.
Built to Lloyds list standards these boats appear to have a good reputation and I fell in love with her pretty much at first sight back in the summer of 2007.
Dream Finder was one of the first Powels 46’s built. Launched in 1978, her original manual makes interesting reading, particularly as she has had more than one name change in the past.
Originally called ‘Lady Roxanne’, past bills of sale from the UK Ship Register and Customs paperwork show her arriving in the UK in 1989 under the name ‘Special Reserve’ which appears to have been changed to ‘Dream Finder’ in 1994.
Dream Finder is my first boat. It has been an extremely steep learning curve and the first two years she was used quite extensively. The original Volvo Penta 270HP TAMD-70C engines gave a lovely low throbbing noise at tick over but unfortunately also obscured the view with clouds of smoke even when at running temperature. Clearly they were well worn – and consequently the furthest we ever ventured from our home port of Portishead other than a trip round Lundy was Swansea.
Not knowing anything about boats or engines I was somewhat reliant on local experts, all of whom were telling me it was time to re-engine.
The wheels started to wobble on a fast trip back from Swansea. Just passing St Marys Well Bay we lost power to both engines and a huge cloud of black smoke began billowing out of the port exhaust.
It turned out we had sheered the exhaust elbow just above the turbo outlet on the starboard engine. On a falling tide we managed to limp into Penarth on one engine just about making the last lock.
Needless to say SWMBO was not impressed. Running repairs and we limped back into Portishead that evening.
The local mechanic took the offending elbow, cleaned it and welded back together. All fitted and right as a bobbin – or so we thought.
Next trip – a lovely weekend in Watchet. We joined Mike and Ashley with their boat Sweet Sensation and were about 1/3 of the way back when power went on the starboard engine. Turned out the damage from the previous trip was more extensive than first thought. A hole had developed in the exhaust pipe. Hot exhaust was jetting out and hitting the hydraulics eventually melting through.
We managed to get both engines in gear and running at about 7 knots headed for home. Thankfully Mike had radioed ahead and like the champion he is had waited for us outside the lock as we once more struggled to make the last lock in. This time with no throttle or gear control.
SWMBO – stood at the bow ready to throw the rope had no idea that the only way I had to slow the boat down was to turn the engines off so as we hit the sea lock at 7 knots got the shock of her life.
Needless to say she was not a happy bunny and the ultimatum was delivered. She was not venturing out the lock gates again until all the problems had been sorted once and for all.
The advice from the local engineer was new engines. The engineer knew where a Volvo D6-370 was available virtually brand new and in the heat of the moment had very little trouble persuading me to purchase this alongside ordering one for delivery by Christmas.
Little did I know however that the recession was to hit my business in spades the following month. Overnight work dried up and any spare cash was diverted to keeping the business afloat. Being forced to reduce my workforce by 50% I had no choice but to cancel the order for the second engine and batten down the hatches until things righted themselves. That was in November 2009.
Poor old Dream Finder sat at her mooring going nowhere until February this year. I had several attempts at repairing the old engines. Reasoning that in actual fact the engines themselves had not broken (, the underlying cause of all the problems turned out to be a cooling pipe that had kinked closed).
Subsequent trips lead to belts shredding (due to a damaged woodruff key on an alternator pulley) and finally to a cam follower snapping presumably due to the valve clearances being too loose. (This was despite having the engines serviced and tappets set). SWMBO seriously underwhelmed and I resigned to having to replace the engines after all.
In February this year I decided enough was enough. Older, wiser and somewhat poorer something had to happen.
But what to do for the best? Volvo had changed the series of D6 and put their prices up significantly. Purchasing a new engine would mean having to downgrade the electronic bits (I’m not an expert in the terminology here but it sounded expensive) Marina fees were going up (again) and Dream Finder was taking on an atmosphere of neglect though lack of use.
I quickly determined that new engines were out of the question – I simply could not afford them. Not knowing anything about marine engines however I needed advice on where to turn.
That was when I turned to the forum – probably the best thing I could have done.
Posts on here lead very quickly to several recommendations for Volvo Paul.
A quick PM and a couple of telephone conversations later and Paul agreed to come down to Portishead to take a look.
The minute I met Paul I knew this was the right decision. A thorough inspection of the existing engines and a couple of phone calls to various suppliers determined that – yes on balance these engines needed to be replaced. Mainly because the rebuild kits were no longer available but also because he was able to demonstrate to me how he diagnosed things like piston wear and oil pressure.
Paul knew of a pair of TAMD-61A engines someone was selling but although he was reasonably certain they were in good condition – less than 1000 hours. Quite rightly however he recommended I speak to the owner and view them before purchase telling me what to look for and offering to come with me.
He spent a good deal of time measuring up the engine room, checking things like sump clearance and mounting positions as well as discussing gearboxes. The current gearboxes were straight through and the engines mounted at an angle. He determined the gearboxes were in good condition and confirmed through his contacts in the trade that they would fit straight on the replacement engines and would handle the increased HP – a bonus as the alternative would mean extensive changes to the engine bay.
He went away to crunch numbers – I spent some time looking at my options and researching alternative engines as well as arranging a viewing on the TAMD-60A’s.
On balance I came to the conclusion that the TAMD-60A did seem to be the best option around at this time.
These TAMD-60A engines were first put into service in 1995 but were taken out and mothballed in 2005. Subsequently I viewed them in the vendor’s garage and spent a couple of hours with him going through their history, the reason for replacement (which seemed genuine) and a good old visual inspection.
The only thing I was not happy about was not being able to see them up and running so after a long discussion with Paul we came to an arrangement where I held back a sum in the event of any problems.
Deal done I set about stripping Dream Finder for transport to Newark on Trent for the refit; removing the Radar Arch and as much as the fly bridge as possible to lower her height.
Prior to her going I also spent a couple of weekends preparing for lifting the old engines and fitting the new. Dream Finder has a teak deck on her fly bridge which covers a fiberglass hatch. It took me three days and the near loss of a little finger to remove the teak and sealant from the hatch to a point where it could be lifted. I also had to dismantle the ceiling in the saloon and remove all of the benching to expose the floor panels over the starboard engine.
She was lifted on the 31st March and arrived in Newark the following day. Having not experienced transporting a boat before I have to say this was quite an anxious time. I had no idea just how little road clearance these trailers have and at 19 tonnes the transport company had one or two stressful moments. Not least of which was grounding out and blocking the A46 at Newark whilst trying to enter the Marina.
Safely delivered and chocked on hard standing I set about undoing the two years of neglect whilst Paul got on with the business of removing and replacing the engines.
The old engines were out in short order and I spent a couple of weekends decontaminating the engine room - cleaning up all the mess left by the sheered exhaust elbow, scrubbing every surface prior to repainting with grey garage paint. I must say it came up really well after two bottles of Cillit Bang, several packs of nappies to soak up the oily bilge water and a couple of hundred disposable cloths.
Engine room ready I left Paul to his work whilst I scraped away at the anti-foul, primed and painted, scrubbed and polished the hull and generally did all the jobs you expect on an annual lift out.
I always get a kick out of watching a master craftsman at work and to my mind that is exactly what Paul is. Preparation is the key and everything was measured to the millimetre. The front mounting points needed moving some 10mm and new mounting brackets were required.
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I too am in the process of major works, one I too shall be looking forward to water trials!
