Overhaul 2005

           The search for the replacement engine started last summer, trawling through “Boats and 
           Outboards” and the net in general, also deciding on what engine to put in and whether to up
           the power. 
           After several months of frustrating searching Dave Adams (Torbay Belle) gave a cut out of an 
           advert for Winchester Marine from a commercial fishing magazine, showing the kinds of engine 
           which would be suitable.
           
           In July 2005 a phone call and a visit revealed a gold mine for second hand and reconditioned 
           engines; apparently they have over 4000 in stock, not just boat engines but commercial plant 
           and pumps.

           Keith, the engineer at Winchester Marine was certainly very helpful and certainly knew his 
           diesel engines. He knew exactly what would be suitable and after a couple of visits, some 
           measuring up and a bit of research I settled on an ex-MOD Ford Sabre turbo 212HP with a Borg
           Warner 1.5:1 gearbox. 
           The engine didn’t look that great in it’s current state, but I had decided to go for a fully 
           reconditioned engine, which would mean that the engine would be sent away, fully stripped and 
           rebuilt with any worn parts replaced, I would also be getting a full years warranty from date 
           of commissioning. 

           See the photos below I took during my visit to Winchester Marine of the Ford Sabre 212HP in 
           it’s “raw state”.
 
  

           After a long wait until January 2006, I get the phone call to say that the reconditioned 
           engine is ready, so I arranged a visit to see the engine. Maurice Shepherd came down with 
           me and boy were we impressed! 
           The engine looked immaculate, with a brand new starter motor and alternator. 
           The engine was started up and what a beast! She ran sweet as a nut with a total lack of 
           vibration and what a sound without any exhaust! 
           A few details sorted out and I arranged for delivery in 2 weeks time.

           See the photos below of the new engine running at Winchester Marine.

   

           So 2 weeks later and I travelled down to Winchester Marine; picking up Jim Morris on the way. 
           The money paid and the engine loaded up on to a small pick-up.
           Keith from Winchester Marine was delivering the engine for me. The engine only just fitted and 
           the rear suspension was put under severe pressure! 
           I followed Keith I my own car and the journey only took about 40 minutes to the boat yard. 
           I had already arranged for the crane to be available in the yard and we soon had the engine 
           safely unloaded and wrapped in a tarpaulin to protect it from the elements.

           Again see photos below.

     

 

           Now I had got my nice new engine I now had to get the old lump out! 

           I’m afraid it is not just a case of plonking the new engine in, with the increased power I 
           need to replace all of the stern gear: prop shaft and shaft coupling, R&D flexible coupling,
           shaft seal, cutlass bearing and propeller. 
           So I needed to remove the stern gear so that I could take it to sort out the replacement parts, 
           to remove them it is far easier to remove the engine first. 
           
           So I assembled a motley crew of myself, Jim Morris, Richard Walton, Joe Lawrence, Karl Hide 
           and Maurice Shepherd. The goal was to remove the engine and stern gear in a day.

           As with a lot of these jobs things are always not as easy as they seem! Access room to the 
           engine is very tight and nuts and bolts are heavily corroded from the salt water atmosphere. 
           Everyone set about disconnecting everything attached to the engine, undoing bolts where possible
           or liberal use of the angle grinder (tip: don’t use cheap grinder discs!). 
           The rear out rigger containing the cutlass bearing was proving to be a problem so Richard and 
           me agreed to leave it until the prop shaft had been removed..

           After 4 hours we were ready for the lift, with a bit of advice from Dave Wilson we eventually 
           managed to get the lifting strap under the sump and a longer rope under the gearbox. We were 
           just hoping there wasn’t anything still attached to the engine that we had missed. 
           So the lift started and the engine started to lift, I then noticed an earthing lead still 
           attached to the starter motor, this was quickly removed and the lift continued without a hitch 
           and we had the engine on the ground by 14:45. Mission accomplished!

           So a big thanks to the motley crew.

           Again some photos below

     

      

     

  

           A working party consisting of myself, Karl Hide, Maurice Shepherd and Jim Morris made our way 
           down to continue the work. We removed several bits from the old engine which I needed to keep, 
           mainly the support brackets for the gearbox. These looked very rusty and in poor condition but
           Jim managed to clean them up really well using a wire brush attachment to the angle grinder 
           and they are actually in good condition. We then managed to remove the old exhaust system after
           much frustration; the existing engine uses a 3” diameter exhaust system, where as the new 
           engine will require a 4” system, so yet more expense!

           The next job was to degrease and pressure wash the old engine as Winchester Marine are 
           interested in buying it off me. The steel engine bearers were then cleaned up with a wire brush
           attachment to the angle grinder, removing the surface rust so that they could be inspected to 
           ascertain their condition; thankfully they were fine. 
           Then on to cleaning up the engine bay, this was done again by degreasing and pressure washing. 
           Following this was the onerous task of cleaning the bilges of years of crud that had built up 
           in the bottom in inaccessible places below the old engine. The problem was that once the crud 
           had been disturbed it blocked the bilge pumps, which had to be regularly cleared to pump out 
           the cleaning water.
           It is still not completely clean, so a bit more work needed on the next trip.

           We also managed to remove the Morse engine gearbox/ throttle control system, as this is old 
           and needs to be replaced. We were then able to inspect the existing Morse cables, the throttle
           cable was fine but the gearbox cable needs replacing. 
           We also removed any gauges not needed as the new engine includes a new instrument panel and 
           wiring loom.

           The transplant to be continued!!!

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