IanR

Has anyone mentioned this wooden motor on here before? It's on Facebook market place, don't know how well the link will copy but here goes! https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/523005505298984/

Can't help with a stencil but interested to see what replies you get, as I would like to do the same on our cloths, so sizes would be great!! Depending on the sizes and then the lettering option you are going for, I could make up some stencils we could both use! Were these stencils sprayed through, or brushed through, or even just used as a template and drawn through, then painted in by hand? Ian.

Has anyone any first hand knowledge of doing this? The land in particular has moorings (four boats) on it already and we would be hoping to move some mobile workshops on site (in the shape of 2 four wheeled 'living vans', possibly until we rebuild a derelict building that is on site. Can I assume that since it has moorings already we'd be able to moor boats there with a change of ownership. Also, none of these moorings, as far as I know, are residential but we'd be wanting one residential as we'd be selling our house to fund it. We probably wouldn't be having any other boats there if we moved there. All at the wish list stage at the moment, but are there any surprises we'd need to look out for? Many thanks for any input, cheers, Ian.

Thanks for the replies folks, some lovely insight and atmosphere in those pics, though they throw up more questions for sure!! Is the chap in the white jacket putting the finishing touches to the paintwork on a steel band, a blurred paintbrush can be seen? The close fit of the ellum might be an optical illusion due to the stern post being much thinner than the ellum timber? On some H + W cabin structures the panels are recessed. On others there is no framing. In some of the austerity liveried photographs the cabin structure can clearly be seen, with the vertical planks of the cabin sides visible from top to bottom, plus the ends of the cabin roof planks visible under the handrail strip and above the cabin side planks. Did the structure design change throughout production to lose the 'framing'? Ian.

Has anyone got any images or film footage of riveted narrowboat manufacture, H+W in particular if I'm being selfish? Were the iron or steel plates and guards etc predrilled for rivets, even precut to shape, then distributed around the works as a kit of parts? Predrilling would certainly be an easier operation, accuracy dependant. What were the tolerances involved I wonder? Many thanks, Ian.

Many thanks for the input gents, much appreciated. Good to know about the possibility of head gasket reusability, though the 'new' engine would yield a template to send off before splitting the two I have on ours. I know the 4 is a bit big, but we've got to know it quite well and more importantly it's already in there and won't come out without a fight. Ian.

We have a 4VSH in our boat. It's been very reliable, ie always started well enough, and run for hours and hours without issue. But, it's always had a lumpy bit on the throttle and I've always thought that a 4cyl lump could run slower than it does on tickover. Saying that, I don't know what revs it actually does on tickover it's just a feeling it leaves me with! I always planned to take the heads off for a clean up but never have as I haven't any new head gaskets, nor a template apart from the two that are on it. So we are reluctant to split the heads to find it needs gaskets etc whilst it still is running well. The 4VSH comprises of 2 x 2VSH heads on a 4 cyl block. Now to the point!, I'm on the verge of acquiring a fairly complete 2VSH, of very similar vintage. This motor needs some valve work but has already been disassembled to check its condition, the gasket is in good order so would be good for a template or annealing for use. Would it seem a good idea to refurb the 2VSH head and then swap it for one on the 4, refurb that and swap it for the other 4 head, finally refurbing that to again swap it so the 4 has its original heads as before? Also, while I'm at it, because I suspect the 4VSH is down on power (not that you'd suspect, it has tremendous pulling and stopping power) and it is on tickover most of it's life, if the mounting bearer dimensions and output heights are the same, (which I suspect they are since they apparently have the same size flywheel) would it be a half decent idea to pull out the 4 and fit the 2 and be able to use the same shafts, gearbox and prop? I think I'd at least have to fit a less pitchy prop perhaps. Any thoughts folks? Many thanks, Ian.

I imagine the bit you have would contain the most of the original boat, since if that was converted and looked similar to yours it would have a new front and back ends, leaving just a bit of side and bottoms of the original? What are your plans for Water Lilac? It'd be lovely to see an original BW hire boat! Our boat is a cut and shut too, we have the back end of butty Indus, converted to become Water Willow, though perhaps somewhat sadly, it doesn't look like Water Willow anymore. Best of luck with your lovely boat! Ian.

I'll get some detailed pics when I get chance to reinstall the blind gubbins after doing the lining out! Trouble is I have been trying to get my house reasonably heatable for winter and the boaty bits have had to take a back seat for a while. Pipistrelle, I'm pleased you still have Clypeus! Ian.

Nice looking boat! Have you lengthened it, or is one of those internal pics part way through hull clean up and paint? Ian.

Condensation is a slight concern, but none of the floor touches the hull by about 1/2" or so, and none of the partitions cupboard backs etc will be in direct contact either. Any furniture backs will be vapour barriered and insulated before they are slid into place. The floor is completely removable for 95% of its entirety, just the central keelson plank and a few planks under the Rayburn etc are fixed. I'll add some more detail in another thread to save cluttering up this window based one. Have you got a layout planned yet Starman? How much have you got to play with, any pictures? Ian.

We spoke to our local inspector to run our ideas past him, most of which he was more than happy with. The high level vents are behind the cloths in the bathroom and living room bits, with a smallish gap above the escape triangle hatch in bulkhead at the back planks, and gaps above the hatches mid hold. Low level is a decent air gap under the whole floor with vents to outside at each end. Our cloths are in about 5 bits and are held off the steel by the sidecloths and strings underneath. There must be a 2" airgap at the bottom, but tapering to bugger all over the planks. We originally thought we'd need more low level vent area but our bloke said it would be pointless as we aren't lining any of the hull apart from the bedroom end. Foolish maybe, but we so wanted to be able to see the hull we'd spent so long cleaning up and painting. We'll see! Ian.

No signs of any issues with water ingress yet Starman. The cable guides and cables are always hidden by the cloths either side. The 'U' tubes are offset (in that the inner leg of the U is longer than the outer on the bottom brackets) so even if water got into the tube it would not overflow inboard anyway, but like I say, there 'shouldn't' be water in that area anyway! The blind on the side hatches (the only ones I've done before the lining out) has about 5 loops on its sides which the cable goes through. This tends to make the cloth fold at those points. The window ones I am hoping will be easier to control as the cloth has more space above in which to disappear, so less folds will be required. In all honesty I like 'Heath Robinson' type gadgetry and look forward to the day I can open the lot from inside and reveal it's true use, rather like Jones' truck in Dads Army that had secret gun ports that could open in a hurry! Ian.

Hi Starman, we are in the middle of our undercloth conversion. Our windows came from Channelglaze Ltd 0121 706 5777. Double glazed, openable and very little sticks out on the outside. Our boat has side cloths which helps disguise the top edge of the windows. They are invisible when closed and just visible at the bottom edge if they are just cracked open. The cloths initially rolled up to reveal the window, but this is a pain in the backside in reality and I always had a plan for making them openable from inside. This involved making four 'turnaround' cable brackets for each window. Cables run in a loop down each side of each window, half of each loop runs inside the boat. There is a crossbar between the two cables which is lifted to close the blind or pulled down to open them. I made up a sample on one of the doors before I did the lining out and insulation, just to make sure it was worth the bother! In practice it worked great so all the brackets were made up for the windows and doors. Folded steel brackets with a silver soldered 'U' bend tube which carried a throttle cable outer which in turn carries the cable. You can just see the inner ends of the tubes in a couple of pics. Now the insulation and lining out is done (all as per Koukouvagia' set up which has worked for him over several years and for which I'm very grateful!!) I am beginning to get round to connecting the blinds up. I'll get some better pics of the set up as I go. Hope this might help and isn't too late. Ian.