Status Catch up

I've been super slack at keeping the blog updated.  So here comes a marathon of updates. But first, I can never remember the URL for the blog and so always use goggle search.  It is now the VERY 1st in the search list.

The Veneer layer has finally been completed, but not without the odd drama.  My flash new band saw died again.  By that point in time it had done less than 5 hours service.  A quick check with the multimeter showed that it had an earth fault which explained why it tripped the Circuit breaker in the house every time I tried to run it.  I strongly worded email (not rude or threatening) to the supplier gained a fairly instant response and within a couple of days they had come around to my house and replaced the motor. 

The ECU for the engine hasn't arrived in Russia yet.  Its now well over the expected transit time so I am starting to get nervous.

I decided it was time to see if the engine turned over.  So I took out all the plugs and using a spanner wound it over by hand.  It turned easily and water didn't come shooting out the spark plug holes thank fully.  Next it was a trip to pick a part to get a few electrical bits to allow me to turn the engine over with the starter motor.  This effort showed I had labelled a wire wrong, but other than that was very easy to achieve and the motor turned quite happily.

Next phase for the engine is to get the loom back on.  I have 9 broken plugs which are proving interesting to replace, the plugs are fine but for the broken locking tab but I can cable tie them on in the short term.  I am also on the hunt for a suitable fuel pump, plenty available on eBay but they are mostly in-tank pumps.  Once the fuel pump is sorted and the ECU comes back there is no reason I shouldn't be able to start it.

This photo is of the test setup prior to shipping the ECU to Russia.  Yury sent me instructions on a couple of simple test to confirm that the ECU is healthy.

So now that the veneer layer is finished I started to get into sanding.  A trip to Bunnings for supplies, and then into it.  Not five minutes into the sanding with my belt sander, the first belt separated at the join, after about 30 minutes all 4 belts I had bought did the same thing.  So back to Bunnings to complain and get them replaced.  Back home and 5 minutes in the first belt breaks again.  While taking the belt off I noted that the drive roller was wobbly.  Turned out it had stripped the thread used to secure it to the drive shaft.  The belt sander was a Black & Decker Dragster, and although about 7 or 8 years old it hasn't done all that much service.  Anyway it was beyond economical repair, so off to Bunnings I went again and to continue my theme of using Bosch Power tools I bought a Bosch Belt Sander.  Its a bit of an odd looking thing, but it works really well, and catches the saw dust very well as well.  I also haven't broken anymore belts so now I am things that the issue may have been with the belt sander rather than the belts.

So after about 4 or 5 hours of sanding with P60 the bottom is looking pretty good.  At the bow where I used Mahogany the joins between planks range for beautifully invisible to pretty miserable.  I am hoping they are a little more consistent on the sides.  However I think once it is finished they wont look too bad.

So all of a sudden I am at the point of needing to drill the rudder and prop shaft hole.  The rudder stuffing box, and its backing plate, and the prop strut have now arrived (and look seriously cool).  I new that the drilling was coming up, I even borrows some suitable drill bits and a big old and nice and slow electric drill to do it, but I have to admit to still being surprised to all of a sudden being at this point.

I had planned to have done all the research and planning for the drilling in prep for reaching this point but have only got things I have read in the past to work from at the moment.  So I have now embarked on a planning session to prepare for drilling.  The actual drilling of the holes doesn't worry me too much, I know its just a process of planning and prep.  So I've begun researching starting with articles / posts on the glen - l site / forum.  I also have Glen Witts in-board installation book.  I have read this book in the past and found it to be seriously dated but with what seem like good nuggets of information sprinkled in it.

Speaking of out dated I also got "How to Fibreglass boats - 2nd ED",  this book too is seriously dated.  They could easily rip out all the stuff on Polyester.  The author also waffles a lot,  the book could be made about 1/2 the size if he got to the point and didn't repeat himself three times over.  However like the inboard engine book there are nuggets of useful info throughout the book.  However, I also bought the DVD, and this was much more useful and to the point.  I would recommend people by this and skip the book.  It too talks a bit about polyester but everything else is pretty relevant / useful / helpful.

I still have a lot of sanding to do, but I am now looking at fibreglassing the bottom within the next month or so depending on what fibreglass cloth costs.