Engine Progress

The engine is back together. It was not fun. Letting sealant cure etc, and will fire it up some time this week.

Those of you following this blog from Europe, listen out during the week. If you hear a distant scream of rage, that is me, and means the oil cooler is still not fixed.

My Kitchen Rules

Still don't have all the parts I need to reassemble the engine, so this weekend I decided to go ahead and rip out the old stove and install the new one.

Pulling out the old stove was easy enough, and it didn't take long to dissemble the cabinetry and cut things up to suit the new hob and oven, which are somewhat larger. I have kept gas hobs, but since we have two big gensets that have to be run anyway I decided to go for an electric fan oven.

Regulations require a separate 16 amp circuit for the oven, but fortunately I did not have to run any new cables. Behind the galley bulkhead was a 230V feed on its own circuit for a large deck wash pump that was never installed. This was operated by a big double-pole relay switched through the windlass control box - I think I get what they were aiming for, but not really sure why...  Anyway, I appropriated the relay and 230V circuit, and added a 24VDC switch above the hobs that engages the relay. This means the oven is now on it's own AC circuit and can be independently switched off (also required by the regs) but I didn't have to run cable and install a big double-pole AC switch in the bulkhead. I also routed the DC supply for the gas solenoid control unit through the same master switch, so now if I switch the oven it not only cuts all power to the oven and hob but also shuts off the gas supply.

I've hooked everything up and had the hobs going, but still have work to do on the woodwork and stainless bench-top. I'm hoping I'll get the bulk of it done before the end of the week, and then I can get the gas man around to sign it off so it's all nice and legal.

(And Yes, I know the stove is not gimballed. Kamalii is so stable it really is not an issue except in the heaviest weather.)

The original stove. Not the sexiest.

Stove removed.

Internal frames removed and benchtop cut to fit hob.

Cooking porridge...

One small oversight - the oven is too large to fit through the doorway into the galley. I had to strip off the outer casing and take off the fan assembly you can see on top in this photo, in order to squeeze it through.

Got it through...by the skin of its teeth.

Not done yet, but starting to look good.

Engine Update

The results of pressure testing the oil cooler cores are in....and one of them has two leaking tubes. So there we go.

They are being repaired now, and if and when Cummin's ever gets the o-rings and gaskets in that I ordered we can throw the baby back together. Then it will be back onto the fuel system...

Shit Storm

And now for an amusing anecdote...

While I was working on the port side head yesterday one of our delightful children blocked the starboard side head. This was followed by second child filling the bowl with an effort I would be impressed to produce. And so now someone had to clear it all out...

This is the sort of job that invariably lands on me, but this time I gave an emphatic "not me". After most of the day had passed, letting the contents of the bowl mature nicely, the ladies of the ship finally manned up and got stuck in. Our little hero Isi gloved up and emptied the bowl out into a bucket, and then Sharon did the plunger thing, with positive results.

At this point it was the least I could do to take the bucket full of crap up to the toilet block for disposal. By now it was dark outside, pitch-black, wet and freezing cold. Even stepping off the boat onto the dock was a difficult act, it being so incredibly dark, and I took great pains to ensure nothing got spilled. Safely on the pier I congratulated myself and set off down the dock.

Flash-back....

Earlier in the day, my lovely family return from shopping, bringing a trolley full of groceries down to the boat. Having unloaded it begins to rain hard, so all dash quickly inside, leaving the trolley lying across the pier...

...and now you can guess what comes next.

Wearing only shorts and a t-shirt I plough into the trolley at full speed. Smashing my shin and tearing up the skin, stubbing by big toe, and wrenching my back as I collapse, the bucket goes flying....upwards.

Sprawled across the trolley, I receive my manna from heaven.

Oh. My. God.

Now, as I type, I've decided I just don't want to talk about it anymore...

Aaah. The joys of living aboard.

Port Side Head

The parts I need to put the oil cooler back together wont arrive until next week, so I've started work on the port side head - just a repeat of the starboard side i.e. strip back all the gray paint from the teak and varnish up, and repaint the shower. For some bizarre reason the switch for the light in the port head is mounted in the headliner, while the switch on the wall was left disconnected, so I will take the opportunity to fix that up.

Paint stripped with heat gun. Not bad for a first pass.

Steady Progress

So let me first say that enthusiasm levels for pulling the engine apart have not been high, and many work-day evenings have started with the best of intentions and concluded with achieving nothing more than an empty bottle of wine.

So yesterday I bit the bullet and removed the oil cooler. To be able to access all the aft end bolts I had to unbolt the starter motor and slide it around, as you can't actually pull it off with the oil cooler in place unless you jack the engine clear of the bearers. By detaching the forward end-cap and transfer pipes from the cooler and leaving them in place on the engine I was able to pull it off with no swearing what so ever. A first.

Today I stripped the cores out and cleaned everything up. There are no obvious signs of leaks in the cores, but I will pressure test everything in any case, and I am fairly confident the leak was caused by the inner o-rings that seal the cores in the centre of the housing. Upon inspection these had clearly become very brittle with age, and as I had not replaced the inner O-ring when I did the aft core the first time (because it was logistically impossible with the oil cooler in place on the engine) I would say that the o-ring was damaged when the core was reinserted.

Exhaust manifold and oil cooler removed. Had to leave the forward cooler housing cap (lower right of photo) in place.

"Insert your caption of choice here."

 

Crap that I pulled out of the water-side of the cooler.

Cooler cores removed.

This week I will order in a full set of O-rings (I already have a full gasket set that came with the boat) and test the cores, and hopefully next weekend I can reassemble everything. Of course, now I will need to repaint everything, and so the fun just continues...