MiToS re-built/fit- versilcraft Mystery43

[Alpha22]

I love these updates.... you are a great inspiration....

But, I can't help thinking you will never get reverse on the starboard engine???

 

[longjohnsilver]

Excellent progress Vas. Launch date approaches?

 

[vas]

I love these updates.... you are a great inspiration....

But, I can't help thinking you will never get reverse on the starboard engine???

probably spent a few hours sorting out the slope of the slanted panel and the port side edge to it making sure everything works. I can even get full astern on this setup with around 2mm to spare (after upholstering that is!) The angle in the photos is not helping, and overall the photos don't do justice to the whole helm setup. May try and take my SLR and take some pics one evening with proper artificial lighting as sun messes up everything there.
The only thing I definitely cannot do is to unhook the VHF when going full astern. TBH I doubt there's ever going to be such a need

Excellent progress Vas. Launch date approaches?

ah, wouldn't go as far as setting dates as yet, not particularly good at that am I?
Just go on the first post (which I haven't edited yet) and see how long I was claiming the rebuilt would take...

Problem is that I was hoping the workload on my new post would be reduced by now, but it's still stupidly high (just back from four days in Crete for the biannual rectors' meeting) and a few more unplanned trips to Athens are expected...
Looks like I'll just meet the deadline of sorting out the lower helm/galley area by the end of April, but how much can be achieved during May is still unknown. I'll get George to do some of the bits I was planning to do, that should save me a few days at least.
Still need a fortnight's work for the lazarette (sorting pasarelle pump, steering pump, watermaker, bilge pump, trim tabs etc)
and another one for the engine bay (refitting turbo, sorting elbows, cleaning heat exchangers, etc)

cheers

V.

 

[Firefly625]

Oh what fun you have Vas, I'm actually really jealous as that dash job is right up my street, looks great BTW

 

[vas]

Oh what fun you have Vas, I'm actually really jealous as that dash job is right up my street, looks great BTW

Not seen many pics of your new boat FF! Am I missing a thread or something? Would like to see the layout.
TBH, I enjoy working and doing all this dash design and finishing touches in MiToS.
Yes, a lot of work, but still v.rewarding!

Managed to complete the design and detailing of the lower helm together with the securing system for the slanted panel over the Sailor VHF. Looks v.good and detailing is reaching factory levels!

Was contemplating the placement of the el. searchlight controls on the panel next to the aircon control, but not sure anymore... Reading JTB thread everyone seems NOT to have a functional searchlight. In that case I may not have a search light AT ALL!
Actually main issue on them is that if secured on a 25deg slope (from horizontal) and unfortunately the bloody (massive) thing tilts down to approx. level to the base when not in use. OK, it's electric so I can rotate and tilt up and down, but it's going to look carp day in day out resting at an angle "lighting" the windlass....
Dismantled the lot trying to figure out a way to retune it so that it's going to look decent and still stay level, but it's probably a bit more than what I'm prepared to do right now!
A good compromise is to add the control panel on the side panel over and around the Sailor and do the installation of the searchlight itself on the coachroof at a later day when I'm ready. Mind there's only going to be a single set of controls on the lower helm, so that I have to have access to the searchlight from the f/b and rotate it by hand. Doable but will probably have to design an iroko wedge to support it (and make it look good which probably is more difficult than any!

OK, so with just the "floor" missing in front of the Sailor, the whole thing is ready and upholstered. Side panel will most likely be done tomorrow.

This side panel around the Sailor was an absolute bitch! Not only hours on no end thinking, mocking, building the panel, but you got to implement concealed ways of securing it without starting drilling on the visible surfaces. So last evening spent a couple of hours mocking, building and tuning the fixings... Happy to report that the panel is secured nicely with two 3.5X40 inox countersunk screws.

Furthermore I did manage to wire up the Sailor but I need to source new handset rubber pockets for the handset base. Anyone has any ideas on where I could source them?

I currently have a short stub antenna connected to the main VHF and the old f/b arch one secured inside the superstructure and connected to the Sailor. Problem is that I also have an AIS to connect and two antennas wont fit on three devices
Is there a reasonably cheap active (I guess) splitter I can use for the Sailor/AIS keeping one antenna for the main VHF?
Plan is to have another "proper" antenna on the f/b harttop once installed, but until then I'd like to have everything working. would a simple T connector cut it, especially with the Sailor mainly turned off?
Good thing is that all antennas/VHFs/AIS are within half a metre of one another, so I can mix and match antennas easily.

On the other side, galley cabinet came back for test fitting today, George did an excellent job and it looks fab! A few pics of it:

Got to find suitable ss rods to add in front (save glasses dropping and breaking when opening the cabinet after a bumpy ride) before painting and got to finalize the "lid" shape and pivot... Panel should be upholstered over the w/e and fitted for good in place.

The oven finally got it's cabinet, looks very good and I only need to "lift" the oven by 10mm to get the spacing right (and still have proper ventilation on the oven front next to the elevated ex chart table iroko clad surface). Slowly taking shape.

On the exterior, George started today working on sanding the iroko toerail cappings for their Owatrol treatment over the w/e. Started with 80grit, will move to 120grit tomorrow and possibly go as far as 150grit on Sat.
Means next job on the list is polishing the railing bases (cones) and fitting them in place making MiToS safe to move about the side decks for the first time after a couple of years...


Finally the dash massive existing panel after all the mods and repairs was still warped so a 100mm chunk was removed from the aft section of it (the clear visible edge) and replaced with some new softwood with dowels to keep it in place (ok and a lot of epoxy...) Looks right at last and needs a bit of fitting before upholstering it and getting it back in place. After that lower helm will be almost complete and I can move to other areas waiting for the yet to be ordered horn before fitting the ceiling slats in place.


cheers

V.

 

[vas]

Morning all and since I'm recovering from yesterday's 5h trekking excursion time to post!

So, stbrd side helm panel work is done. Remember I wanted to fit the aircon panel there, and following JTB rebuilt thread I remembered I have a new Stanley 24V remote searchlight brand new, massive and featuring a godawful control panel. So Quick decision to add the controls in this panel (OK, I AM running out of space down there!)

Test fitting the two things in the panel

preparing / cutting / chiseling the openings to fit the necessary bits. Integrating various switches, buttons, accessories in a panel may be easy before upholstering BUT quite a few bits of kit expect a 2-4mm thick panel to be bolted through! Ply is 12mm, so there's a bit of a problem. Solution is to cut a larger hole, chisel a bit of the façade and flush mount a sheet metal, alloy, plastic where the kit will be mounted. Foam and upholstery will cover everything (ok, you DO use countersunk screws...) and will look nice and clean.

the belly of the panel with all the headlight controls in place. Interesting to note that this panel was built from 12mm ply leftovers I had laying around, scarf joint and epoxied in place. A small reinforcement done (before upholstering) on the thinner part where the Sailor fits just in case and in order to repair a slightly wrong bonding leaving the panel warped. Now perfectly flat it fits nicely both at the lower edge and most importantly where it meets the side window.

The four movement control pushbuttons were bolted on the panel on top of the foam and before the final leatherette. That's my first attempt at fudging the upholstering like that driven from the fact that the pushbuttons were bolted on small pockets in the panel recessed by 3-4mm. End result as shown in the pics above look v.good although they are in a different design theme to the rest of the 70ies chromed push/toggle buttons. Separated there next to an also more 90ies aircon panel is ok in my book.

And here you can see the custom mounts that will help get the panel secure on the top side:

As far as the aircon panel is concerned, cables were too short to reach the new position (old position was UNDER the helm totally inaccessible!) so had to lengthen them AND add a plug-socket (however you call them) so that I can remove the upholstered panel with the controls on it. Took JUST 3h getting all the 24 solderings done properly, heatshrinked etc... So, the "OK, I'll move the panel here" did cost more than I planned for-typical.

So the finished article now temporarily back in place. It's missing the hole in the upholstery for the aircon panel, will do it today (if I can make it up the ladder to the aftdeck...). Also note the "floor" to the space in front of the Sailor, now nicely clad with the iroko leftovers from the galley cabinets. The top upholstery ending on the triangular panel is still incomplete as I want to check clearances and where I'm "allowed" to staple so that the staples wont show on top of the side panel.

The only thing missing now in the layout is the upholstered dash panel under the windscreens. Following the final modification I mentioned in a previous post, it now features a 100X25 or so new softwood edging that left a bit of a step on the port side (due to the warped ply that was there originally). So, filled it with thickened epoxy, sand it, test fitted it and is now ready for upholstering. I recon it's too dangerous to bring it home (ie living room upholstering workshop ) as I'll probably end up damaging the upholstery of this massive piece, so I'll try and do all the work on the spot. A lot of head scratching still going on.

Plan was to start working outside from beginning of May which is not really that off, but a trip to Athens last week and another one planned for this week means that I wont have time to do much. George is almost ready with the sanding of the toerail/rubbing strake so hopefully will varnish them during the week if humidity is down and weather is looking good (dunno currently something like 25C outside...)


cheers

V.

 

[rafiki_]

Helm panels all looking really good Vas, brilliant job. You're right, it is quite busy, but it looks nicely finished. Again, we could do with some of your temp, we are down in the 10's with a lot of rain forecast for the public holiday on Monday. However, good news is Rafiki back in the water after a quick bottom scrub, antifoul and a few new anodes. Checked all the sea cocks, and freed off the gennie sea cock, but hood news is all ok. Lower hull all polished and waxed. Upper hull next, probably next weekend, clean the canopies, and check she is back up to speed. Will post some pics at some point.

 

[vas]

Helm panels all looking really good Vas, brilliant job. You're right, it is quite busy, but it looks nicely finished. Again, we could do with some of your temp, we are down in the 10's with a lot of rain forecast for the public holiday on Monday. However, good news is Rafiki back in the water after a quick bottom scrub, antifoul and a few new anodes. Checked all the sea cocks, and freed off the gennie sea cock, but hood news is all ok. Lower hull all polished and waxed. Upper hull next, probably next weekend, clean the canopies, and check she is back up to speed. Will post some pics at some point.

yes, went from 15C and cold winds to 25C and no wind in less than a week. As usually we've skipped a couple of seasons and are into summer straight from winter which is annoying. Especially if you want to work on the lower helm, hence my attempt to finish that ASAP and before the heat settles. Just to give you an idea, following a bit of a shower yesterday and overcast sky from midday, at 5 in the afternoon it was almost unbearable and had to work topless till 9:30...

BTW, I think I've only seen a couple of pics of the new rafiki, so maybe a post in the show us your mobo is in order P!

cheers

V.

 

[rafiki_]

Well, I've got before and after with the hull, and some others which I can post when I have a few mins.
Some of your unwanted heat would be gratefully received.

 

[vas]

quick update after a couple of hectic days in Athens on business..

Galley panel finished and a bit of headscratching regarding the small oddly shaped cabinet.
Looks like it makes sense to have a shelf in there so that I can get both tall water glasses and wine glasses on the lower part and short shot glasses and whisky type of glasses on the top. Shape of the cabinet doesn't help getting any slelf in there, and currently thinking of keeping the shelf on the far back part of the cabinet.
Other issue is that I wonder if I should be adding a support so after a bumpy ride I wont be opening the cabinet and catching glasses on air...

mock shelf, testing what fits where...

Central dash panel ready for upholstering. Slight issue is that it's too fcking big and I've no place to do it. I should really take it home for upholstering but I'm afraid I may damage it on transport.

Finally today I Owatrolled the port side toe-rail iroko. Had to add 12mm dowels (is that how you call them?) then chisel the leftovers, sand, then air-pressure clean and then apply 6coats of the stuff wet on wet. Sanded up to 180grit, result looks good enough for me. Colour variations on last pic are way to exaggerated, wonder why. Will try again tomorrow when it's dry. Matching dowel colour is a tough job, annoyingly some are fine when hammered in place, but once sanded you get to a lighter colour :argh: Pretty sure it's going to even out eventually.

Tomorrow I'll have a go at polishing half the stanchion support cones and bolt them in place properly (means some sika underneath, a 1.5mm thick rubber washer for isolation and help avoiding water seeping inside/under the cone, etc. If it's sunny it's going to be difficult as today I got the first sunburn of the season


cheers

V.

 

[vas]

haven't updated the thread for a fortnight, but I have been working although not as much as I'd have liked, but nothing new here...

Have the stanchion bases on port side sanded, polished, matched, checked and bolted in place. That's the easy part, the actual stanchions polishing is a different story though...

Plan is to sort out the rest of the bases over the coming w/e. We shall see.

In the lower helm area I finalized the layout of the ex-chart table upholstered and bolted in place the port side border so that I can permanently place the dash. Problem is that the dash is a massive piece and difficult to handle/upholster.
Need to sand and oil/Owatrol the oven iroko box and secure both the oven and the box in place. Easy job for an end of day's work task.

I also replaced the upholstery on the bulkhead supporting the lower helm seat. Not such a straightforward job and I ended up with one worn bolt supporting the seat and two badly scored chromed bases. Bases are in Athens for plating, so that fake croc helm seat can come back in place supported by shiny chrome

amazing closeup of the seat base:

Machinist did some work on the water and diesel caps that I'd noticed (stupidly after getting them rechromed!) that the M50 thread was too worn out to properly bolt and seal... So he "sleaved" a proper bronze section and re threaded it. Looks perfect, works perfectly but on the one he had to remove a bit of the chrome plating so I may have to rechrome it. TBH I may keep that on the NAFTA side to remember where to fill with diesel Chrome plating and machine costs more than two new osculati caps, but that's the price to pay to keep some touches of original detailing in there.

Spent a couple of evenings working on the lazarette, finished cleaning and painting the hull sides and transom (er, from inside!) getting ready for fixing skinfittings, trim tabs and three lumishores. So last evening did all that and I can happily report that transom is ready for the polished trim tabs and the bathing platform (more on that later). I only chickened out when drilling the 6mm hole for the central lumishore and decided that symmetry wasn't worth the fear of compromising the central transom beam so I shifted the hole around 70mm offcentre.

Since I've decided to finish messy jobs and move towards the engine bay, I also refitted (after changing two more seals) the steering ram. No more fcking seals to replace, piston looks perfect, but bloody thing leaks again :argh: So off again today and back to the machine shop for further cleaning/checking and pressure testing. Hope to finish with AFT oils and that sort of mess this w/e.

I also decided (after an awful lot of head scratching!) where I'm fitting the passarelle pump/relays and the watermaker heavy pump, control box and membrane. All sits nicely at the aft section of the lazarette behind the steps going down from the aft deck. Safe from hitting, pulling cables and all that. Made the big move and drilled the transom and bolted the ram base for the passarelle, drilled the holes for the flex hoses, fixed and tidied up the lot. Connected all up and wired it up to 24V, some may remember that the pump had a 12V 100psi sticker but only the Quick remote and two relays were 12V. Replaced the relays with 24V, removed the Quick and fired up the passarelle. Using the toggle switches after an initial (worrying) delay the thing autobled itself and started working! So currently have a fully functional passarelle. Well impressed, other than due to the way the transom pivot is manufactured, I cannot get the passerelle more than approx. 35degrees up
Got my 30usd 4chanel 24V Chinese remote out, wired it up in the place of the Quick, and I now have remote control as well. Well impressed!
No leaks, but passerelle needing a good clean and a light sanding of the grated teakplywhatever thing it's covered with.

An issue that needs addressing is the dingy lifting system but I need a few pics to describe it so will come back to this.


Lots of small projects, refitting bits and bobs either new or cleaned/rebuilt, quite satisfying tbh.
Two new jobs taking some effort to design and proceed are the flybridge seating and the bathing platform.

After studying the brilliand seating sketches and photos kindly sent by Bart, I changed my mind in making full boxes with lid and storing space and opted for a similar layout but with two side pillars painted and a central polished iroko seat. haven't got the sketches around, but will post some the following days.
Anyway, George did the stbrd side pillar and needs to get the necessary pieces of iroko to do the seats. Backrests will probably wait

Regarding the bathing platform, again got a series of pics from Portofino's Itama and MapisM wooden trawler and I'm at the scratching head and producing sketches stage atm. Planning to use some of the teak I bought for laying on the decks of MiToS but still not sure what's the best way of setting this. Platform will be around 3.5m wide (transom is 3.6m and there are the exhausts another 15cm on each side) by approx. 1.4m. Curved transom means that if I go for a flat aft section of the platform width will range form 1.3m at the centre to 1.6m at the sides. Still working on it. Calculated to approx. 80kg which together with the 40odd for the watermaker, the 120odd for the passarelle and the 150odd for the tender will add 400kg aft. Nice! My excuse is that replacing the Detroits with the IVECOs the boat is now sitting a good few inches higher, so adding less weight further aft will more or less balance the engines.


cheers

V.

 

[jimmy_the_builder]

Good going Vas. Any further thoughts on the swim ladder?

 

[KevB]

Nice progress Vas. Always a pleasure to read.

 

[rbcoomer]

All coming together nicely now Vas - there'll be a few corks popping around the forum come launch day

 

[RIN]

All coming together nicely now Vas - there'll be a few corks popping around the forum come launch day

There most definitely will. Keep at it Vas - I reckon its going to be a very emotional day for us all when you launch.

 

[vas]

thanks guys,

work is progressing slowly as I cannot steal enough time to work... Kids exams, admin work, teaching AND bleeding friends visiting NOW keep me away
JTB: nope, finalising the drawings for the platform atm! Seems that two of the 7 pieces (erm, beams rather!) of teak will have to be sliced for a 3.5mX1.4m platform. I'll post drawings during the week.

Quick update no pics:

Steering ram WORKS and DOESNT LEEK! That's a first over the last god knows how many years!
So steering sorted, system bled, all working fine. Wheels at home for polishing the alloy part and removing bits of old paint off the leather rim.

Trim tabs in place, connected, new pipes fitted and secured. Got to do the electrical connection on the lower helm to get them tested. Also need a tiny wee funnel to fill the pump with AFT oil! Hole is around 10mm in dia, wft?

Moved all the parts of the HRO desalinator on board (lifting the motor/pump assembly from the yard up to the aft deck with ropes was good fun, must be a good 35kg and I was alone...) and test fitted the lot in the lazarette. Finally decided on RO membrane, control box and motor.pump placement. Got the first two secured in place and wired them up. Pump needs some iroco work to create a solid and strong enough base for the rubber mounts, Stuck a bit on the prefilter placement.
Turns out that since I'm not using a lift pump, I'm better off keeping motor/highpressure pump as well as prefilters BELOW waterline. Easy to do, if I can steal the evening I'll install them and move towards engine servicing and refitting one turbo and the two new custom made ss exhaust elbows. That's the week's task anyway.

Need some advice/ideas. Picked up what Pete suggested to JFM regarding the Plasti Dip and since no matter what I do, I'll never manage to polish and get some decent finish on the railings (32mm dia alloy tubing) I was thinking of coating them in dark grey/black (similar to the matte black I did the window frames and engine vents.
Other than the hassle of doing it, any serious objections?
I could even ask Alekos to prime and paint them as he's doing on the other matte black using the same materials, wonder if it's going to be hard enough to make it without having to touch it up all the time.
Yes, I know that I should have ripped the whole railing setup and built a new one in ss, but was trying to keep some more of the original items.
Mind some stanchions are badly damaged, knocked, bend, you name it. Got them all straight, clean but they need an awful lot of work to polish and still wont be particularly smooth and shiny. I'm going to finish with the polishing of all the stanchion bases (The alloy cones) and finish their installation, but the bits above would look v.nice in matte black.

cheers

V,

 

[rafiki_]

Good stuff Vas, and I think that a painted finish would work, if you could get a durable result. Flaking, eroded or worn will not look good, especially considering all the other fantastic work you have achieved on MiToS. Perhaps a matt grey rather than black, so it is less obvious if some of the paint comes off? Good job with the desalinator. I guess with all the rubbing and polishing, you have arms like Popeye?

 

[longjohnsilver]

Vas, how about a syringe for the ATF?

If you paint your rails black won't they be too hot to hold or touch? Pretty important safety issue.

 

[KevB]

Do the rails break down into smaller pieces? Just wondering if you can get them anodized and dyed.

 

[vas]

Good stuff Vas, and I think that a painted finish would work, if you could get a durable result. Flaking, eroded or worn will not look good, especially considering all the other fantastic work you have achieved on MiToS. Perhaps a matt grey rather than black, so it is less obvious if some of the paint comes off? Good job with the desalinator. I guess with all the rubbing and polishing, you have arms like Popeye?

Considering LJS comment re black paint, I'd also go for dark grey and matt or something would be ideal. Will see what Alekos says.

Vas, how about a syringe for the ATF?

thought about it, but it is a bit naf isn't it? I mean it's a 100X150X250mm box half of it is ATF tank, why have such a tiny hole to fill it?

If you paint your rails black won't they be too hot to hold or touch? Pretty important safety issue.

Safety in the sense of what not falling in 26C water under the blazing sun

I know what you mean, hence the dark grey matt option. Would be nice not to have lots of colours though

Do the rails break down into smaller pieces? Just wondering if you can get them anodized and dyed.

Kev,

anodizing is not really an option as:

stanchions are 650mm long (or something like that) and I got 17 of them, but the horizontal handrail is in pieces that some are a good 5m long (and curved)
further, unless material is nice and smooth, there's no chance anodizing is going to be any good. Now, the stanchion base cones needed a lot of work. I mean A FCKING AWFUL LOT! Still only 30% of them are in almost perfect condition now in order to anodize them. The rest had welds to fill up holes that PO drilled, or sort out hits, corrosion patches and general messing about 40y in the sea. They are a bitch to even polish decently as there's minute pitting and scoring that shows when polished so I have 3 levels of cones' condition to tackle and strategically place on the decks The ones closer to the aft deck are the best, the narrow part of the side decks has the worst (as you cannot really notice them except when moving) and around the bow are also some nice pieces but not too nice as your eyes will be further away unless you're tinkering with the anchor in which case again you don't really care that much. That's my theory at least.

The way I see it I have the following options:

A. Since generally the handrail is in better nick, Alekos could spray paint dark grey matt the vertical pieces and leave the horizontal slightly polished. Mind the handrails slide through the stanchions. so there will be grey gaps on the handrail every metre or so...

B. Assemble the lot carefully in situ, add the ss 4mm headless hex screws all around, regulate the bases AND THEN remove it carefully as it is assembled, bring it down and spray paint it there all in one go dark grey matt

C. same as B but in matt black that the rest of the window frames and engine vents are painted

will see what Alekos thinks.
Seems that it's going to be stronger to do it in special alloy primer and proper paint rather than PlastiDip it. Although saw some videos with clear laquer over the PastiDip and it was much stronger. Guys (on youtube) say that after a couple of days it becomes quite strong and wont scrape off, but tubing is not the best test scenario. Paint shop can also provide spray cans with identical paint, so that would be the ideal solution for now me thinks.
If I go the paint route I got to find a way to hang my fenders as I wouldn't dare have them permanently hanging off the stanchions or the railing.

cheers

V.