wofforduk
Well-Known Member
Well, Yes!
For anyone who has the techie ability to do so, a winter with some time and some good fortune!
First off, I wanted a boat that I could sleep on, with a realistic budget of 5.5k. After some looking around, I found one at a local marina (not bad for the middle of the UK...) at a well overpriced 13k, with the petrol 5l v8, where the owner had left her for some time.
It was a bit of a state, with some 'interesting' vinyl up the side, but it came with a trailer and loads of bits and so was happy to go for it. Unfortunately she was on the hard, and so i couldn't hear the engines run. Bearing this in mind, I thought id have a punt at it, and offered them 5k. They accepted.
Upon bringing her home I was eager to find out what state the v8 was in, not hoping for the best. With some fresh batteries in, I hit the start key.
Nothing. seized rock solid. Okay so, plugs out, oil in - to find one of they cylinders was full of crud.. like, nothing I have seen before.
The Spark plug port on the left was full.
Okay, so I had an issue. Engine out, heads off.
Still not sure what the heck this stuff was, but it had a good go at eating that piston. Great. So, after sourcing some used but good pistons (amazingly hard to do...) We were back on track, and a week later was in Dartmouth on holiday, where she didn't want to start all that well as the timing wasnt right, or had no real power. We managed a flat out speed of 16knts. yay.. (with an obviously blowing head gasket due to the rebuild being a tad rushed :ambivalence: )
So. Winter came. perfect time to have a re-think. I had chosen the Yanmar 4LHA - STP, as the 240hp rating for the size of the motor seemed pretty perfect. Im guessing normal people at this point throw it at a marina to fit a new one, and get the chequebook out. But normal is boring and mine would have bounced off into the distance with just the sight of a 'mechanic'.
So, where the heck would i find one of these engines, since their like rocking horse poo.. After searching, there was one on a 'certain boat sales website'. perfect, after lots of emails, with pictures of the engine ect, i was happy. paid the man over email, all was well. Or so i thought. Typical, turned out to be a scam, and after 3 months got my money back. Phew...
But anyway, I put a call out on this forum, trying to find one. No-one had anything in my budget, except.. I received a PM from a great guy selling a commercial boat, with two engines that he wanted to sell all together, so after a trip to Isle of Wight, I was a proud owner of a fleet!
The neighbours did laugh a 'little' when they saw this monster 30ft long 9ft wide bright orange 'thing' coming down our tiny lanes, and even more so at how we removed it from the lorry...!
Anyway, I had two engines. Keeping the one for myself, I sold the other, which nearly paid for the whole purchase of the orange boat! Then went to work, stripping the orange boat's jet drives off, and finally selling the hull for a whopping £50.
So with this in mind, I needed an outdrive that could take the power. Now, once again, back to the internet where I found one for a good price, with little use and good condition. This wasnt a hard process, and with a bit more help from people from this forum (cheers again!!) had all the bits and bobs to put that side together, selling the old alpha one too.
Now came the hard part. As the Engines had got jet drives powered through gearboxes, I hadnt got the bell housing, couplers or exhaust horn that you need. No-one had any second had, and was getting quotes of around 7,000 for the parts through dealers. I was extremely shocked...
So. change of plan - make my own.
Using the bell housing from the V8 i had, I cheated a bit, and used an external guy to get this made up. Honestly, his work is phenomenal, and reasonable too. PM me for his details.. anyway, here is his handy work on both the housing and spacing ring that was needed to couple my drive up
everything mated up perfectly.
So, now had to fit the thing in the engine bay. perfect time to get the steam cleaner in there!
After she was clean, i did all the stuff that would have been a real ball ache with a lump of engine there.
The electrics were all pre wired, for the engine and charging system. (Can you tell which company I work for from this one below yet??
)
Now, i had a problem that i hadnt got a power steering pump on the engine block. Once again, with a bit of googling, I came across a Citroen Saxo electric pump, £15 of ebay. Fitted that and it actually works (yeah, wasnt expecting it too really) so now had power steering.
For the exhaust, i used a V8 one, which i modified extensively to be a single outlet but with a pressure release for the exiting raw water on the other side.
For anyone who has the techie ability to do so, a winter with some time and some good fortune!
First off, I wanted a boat that I could sleep on, with a realistic budget of 5.5k. After some looking around, I found one at a local marina (not bad for the middle of the UK...) at a well overpriced 13k, with the petrol 5l v8, where the owner had left her for some time.
It was a bit of a state, with some 'interesting' vinyl up the side, but it came with a trailer and loads of bits and so was happy to go for it. Unfortunately she was on the hard, and so i couldn't hear the engines run. Bearing this in mind, I thought id have a punt at it, and offered them 5k. They accepted.
Upon bringing her home I was eager to find out what state the v8 was in, not hoping for the best. With some fresh batteries in, I hit the start key.
Nothing. seized rock solid. Okay so, plugs out, oil in - to find one of they cylinders was full of crud.. like, nothing I have seen before.
The Spark plug port on the left was full.
Okay, so I had an issue. Engine out, heads off.
Still not sure what the heck this stuff was, but it had a good go at eating that piston. Great. So, after sourcing some used but good pistons (amazingly hard to do...) We were back on track, and a week later was in Dartmouth on holiday, where she didn't want to start all that well as the timing wasnt right, or had no real power. We managed a flat out speed of 16knts. yay.. (with an obviously blowing head gasket due to the rebuild being a tad rushed :ambivalence: )
So. Winter came. perfect time to have a re-think. I had chosen the Yanmar 4LHA - STP, as the 240hp rating for the size of the motor seemed pretty perfect. Im guessing normal people at this point throw it at a marina to fit a new one, and get the chequebook out. But normal is boring and mine would have bounced off into the distance with just the sight of a 'mechanic'.
So, where the heck would i find one of these engines, since their like rocking horse poo.. After searching, there was one on a 'certain boat sales website'. perfect, after lots of emails, with pictures of the engine ect, i was happy. paid the man over email, all was well. Or so i thought. Typical, turned out to be a scam, and after 3 months got my money back. Phew...
But anyway, I put a call out on this forum, trying to find one. No-one had anything in my budget, except.. I received a PM from a great guy selling a commercial boat, with two engines that he wanted to sell all together, so after a trip to Isle of Wight, I was a proud owner of a fleet!
The neighbours did laugh a 'little' when they saw this monster 30ft long 9ft wide bright orange 'thing' coming down our tiny lanes, and even more so at how we removed it from the lorry...!
Anyway, I had two engines. Keeping the one for myself, I sold the other, which nearly paid for the whole purchase of the orange boat! Then went to work, stripping the orange boat's jet drives off, and finally selling the hull for a whopping £50.
So with this in mind, I needed an outdrive that could take the power. Now, once again, back to the internet where I found one for a good price, with little use and good condition. This wasnt a hard process, and with a bit more help from people from this forum (cheers again!!) had all the bits and bobs to put that side together, selling the old alpha one too.
Now came the hard part. As the Engines had got jet drives powered through gearboxes, I hadnt got the bell housing, couplers or exhaust horn that you need. No-one had any second had, and was getting quotes of around 7,000 for the parts through dealers. I was extremely shocked...
So. change of plan - make my own.
Using the bell housing from the V8 i had, I cheated a bit, and used an external guy to get this made up. Honestly, his work is phenomenal, and reasonable too. PM me for his details.. anyway, here is his handy work on both the housing and spacing ring that was needed to couple my drive up
everything mated up perfectly.
So, now had to fit the thing in the engine bay. perfect time to get the steam cleaner in there!
After she was clean, i did all the stuff that would have been a real ball ache with a lump of engine there.
The electrics were all pre wired, for the engine and charging system. (Can you tell which company I work for from this one below yet??
) Now, i had a problem that i hadnt got a power steering pump on the engine block. Once again, with a bit of googling, I came across a Citroen Saxo electric pump, £15 of ebay. Fitted that and it actually works (yeah, wasnt expecting it too really) so now had power steering.
For the exhaust, i used a V8 one, which i modified extensively to be a single outlet but with a pressure release for the exiting raw water on the other side.
