Shiny engines? How to achieve it...

[alpha]

Forgive me if I'm in the wrong forum... I have a Freeman 32, built 1970, with twin Ford/Thornycroft 108hp straight six engines (Ford 2715E block). She's on the Thames west of London.

The engines, and the bays they sit in, need to be smartened up. This will necessitate removing the engines, which is not problem, but I wonder whether anyone has any bright ideas about getting them bead- or shot-blasted and sprayed, to give a good finish. Lancing Marine were mentioned but I suspect they'd charge a fortune. The alternative seems to be wire wool and patience!

The bays I shall look after myself with new plumbing and soundproofing and lots of paint.

Thoughts and ideas please...

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[mtb]

You can get it done quite easily your self using either a jet wash with a sand blasting attachment or a small sand blasting unit. Machine Mart do em the nearest one to you in W London would be Twickenham . They did do a sand blasting hand held gun which is a bigger version of a spray gun , I used one to make things easy when building a sand blasting cabinet.
I'd consider first degreasing then a paint stripper to get the layers off .
Cheers
Mick

<hr width=100% size=1>smile you'l be on your boat soon ;-)
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[miket]

Just as a matter of interest, what name and variety is your Freeman 32?

I had a 32 with the open cockpit (no hardtop) and skinny rear cabin coach roof, with those same engines.
Wonderful boat. Great turn of speed and surprisingly seakindly, and a doddle to handle on the upper Thames.

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[Forbsie]

Where about on the Thames are you? I'm on Eel Pie Island and am going to check tomorrow if Eel Pie Slipways have any sand-blasting gear. I'll let you know how I get on.

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[tr7v8]

Errr sand blasting seems a tad extreme. On mine I've left them in the boat and removed the easy to get off bits and washed off with parrafin and gunk soaked in hosed off with warm water. Paint can be any oil based stuff, Japlac works well spray if you can. Use a brush on all the hard to get to bits. They look quite decent especially if the bits you remove are in a different colour. If slightly rusty a Trustan23 type rust remover works well.

Jim
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[alpha]

Thanks for the help so far.

I'm going to need to take the engines out to do the necessary work on the engine bays, so once out, some form of blasting seems sensible.

What are the collective thoughts on serious overhaul work? Some advice I've received seems to be 'don't touch them until they go wrong' and my professional experience backs this up (though this is not on boats).

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[Peterduck]

If you are trying to remove rust on the engines, I suggest painting them with molasses. Yes, that's right, molasses. It's quite miraculous at removing/dissolving rust. You may need a few applications, depending on how thick the rust is but [a] the materials are cheap, you can do it yourself, [c] it's easy to contain the resulting mess. Once the main body of the rust is removed, treat the fresh surface with Phosphoric acid to leave a coating of Ferric Phosphate [a good base for paint]. Then it's start in to build up a good layer of engine paints.
Peter.

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[miket]

If it ain't broke, don't fix it !!

Those old Ford Thornycroft 108 hp engines are so unstressed they would fall over given the chance.
If they start OK and don't smoke too much (they all smoke quite a lot by modern standards) leave them alone.
I just had injectors out and overhauled and both injection pumps off, overhauled and recalibrated. Went like a bird.

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[alpha]

Thanks for the advice, Mike. What are your views on over-revving? My engines are not governed to 2500 (book figure, I think) but to about 2800. The boat flies along at higher revs, but I don't do it in case it's harmful.

I appreciate that the engines are vastly de-rated, but I guess that over-revving has the potential to do some harm. Any thoughts?

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[Forbsie]

He laughed at me!! So I guess that's a no then. /forums/images/icons/laugh.gif

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[miket]

From memory 2500 was max' rpm, so if you are getting more, your props probably want re pitching. I can never remember which way it is, but I am sure there are plenty who do. I think you need to increase pitch to increase the load and thereby reduce the revs.
The engines on my old Freeman ran spot on after the initial overhaul (injectors and pumps) which also included balancing the props. Max speed on speedo (not GPS, but no current) was 20 kts with no water and light load, and we used to cruise 14/16 kts on holiday trips to Holland, France, etc fully laden (still v. little water)
What sort of speed are you getting, and which model Freeman 32?

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[tr7v8]

I suspect that the lower revs are the continuous or commercial rating while the higher revs are the pleasure rating. Normally rated for 1 hour every 6 or similar.
Sound as though you maybe under propped if you can pull these revs easily.

Jim
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[mtb]

There are a few mediums that will be fine , because you only have the engines to do , I'd suggest getting the sandblasting gun and oxide medium from Machine Mart .
put the engine inside a plastic sheet so that you can after sieving re use the stuff, 5KG should be enough to do both .

While you have em out why not renew the big end and main bearings which as you know wont cost a lot.
Cheers
Mick

<hr width=100% size=1>smile you'l be on your boat soon ;-)
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