The Problem is Solved.

The solution.

Well the overnight brain cells did the trick. Roger came up with a solution. He used a section of tube, with a slot cut in it, and a groove at one end to take the piston rings in. Once this is placed in the chuck of the lathe, as seen in the photo above, and the chuck is tightened up, this squeezes the tube enough to grip the piston ring whilst in a fully compressed state. This then allowed the required thickness the be removed from the inner edge of the ring. Excellent. You can see the slot in the tube running diagonally across the lower side.

As of lunchtime today (I am typing this in as I eat, hahahaha) the 1st piston is fully installed with all the piston rings fitting inside the liners, and the big end connected. The 2nd piston is in place in the liner ready for the piston rings to be fitted.

Unfortunately after lunch we discovered that the oil rings are not the right ones, so we have had to order some different ones, which should take about a week to arrive.

Pistons Go In.

Cleaning the Pistons before Installation.

Having successfully installed the Liners yesterday, we set about installing the pistons. First the piston and con rod assembly was cleaned up very carefully. Then the lowest oil ring was fitted to the piston as once it is in the engine the piston will not come up high enough to fit this lower ring. The piston and con rod were then installed into the engine.
However things were going too well. We then fitted the remaining oil ring and 3 piston rings. We worked the oil ring into the liner, but the 1st of the piston rings proved to be a tad difficult. We removed the rings and Roger checked their thickness, they were too thick! A quick phone call to the supplier and he said they were all he had. An overnight plan had to be formulated.

1st Piston in Place.

Fitting the New Liners

'O' Ring Fitted to Liner.

With the arrival of all the new parts last week, Roger and Keith set about fitting the new liners today. First they had to fit the 'O' rings to the liners. The 'O' ring creates the water seal at the bottom of the liner.

Lowering the New Liner into Place.

The liners were then lowered into the engine block.

Tightening the Liner Down to Compress the 'O' Ring.

Then the liners needed to be pushed down the final bit to compress the 'O' ring into the block. Roger made a device for this, which worked well.

Testing for Leaks.

They then half filled the water jacket with water to check for leaks, so far so good. They will leave it overnight to make sure there is absolutely no trace of leakage.

The 2 New Liners Fitted.

The New Liners Arrive.

Well Wrapped Up.

The new liners for the engine have arrived, and very nice they look too. Roger has managed to obtain some 'O' rings to fit the new liners. These 'O' rings create the watertight seal between the water jacket and the oil sump, which is where the water was leaking and we decided to strip the engine down to discover there were no 'O' rings forming the seal, just some silicone sealant.

One of the New Liners Next to an Old Liner.

Yesterday the new piston rings arrived, so we now have everything ready to start rebuilding the engine next week. So we look forward to the rebuild of our engine and the prospect of cruising again.

Bonfire Night.

Our Guy.

Having been given the pleasure of organising Bonfire Night. Tina and I decided what the bonfire needed was a nice looking guy. So we found some trousers, a shirt, a hat, scarf and a jacket and set about stuffing our guy with any rubbish to hand. We recycled a chair that was destined for the bonfire anyway, and roped our guy to it. Poor thing he did look like he knew his destiny. But although I say it myself, I think Tina and I did an excellent job of the guy and getting the evening organised.

Firework contributions.

People coming to the bonfire do, contributed some fireworks for the display and as you can see we had more than enough for an excellent display.

Bar-b-que.

Tina and I had spent the early part of the day organising where everything was going to go, including the bar-b-que. With people arriving at 7pm we made sure the bar-b-que was up and running for everyone to place their offering onto it. Friends bought burgers, sausages, a pot of soup, and a pot of chilli, plenty of bread rolls and of course plenty to drink. We had all three grills going, so there was plenty of room to lay out the food. No one went without throughout the evening, it was a huge success.

The Guy.

Every guy knows his destiny, and our guy was no different, well unless you count his LED eye's which Roger's brother Martin fitted. Whilst he burnt everyone was taking bets on how long the eyes would keep going. if i recall they lasted 9 minutes from what we could see in between the smoke and fire from the bonfire.

One very happy engine driver.

Keith really enjoyed driving one of Roger's engines. It has given him a lot of pleasure helping to restore the wagons and the adding new track.

All aboard.

Train Rides for everyone.

Everyone enjoyed a train ride around the boatyard.

Fireworks Display.

Keith, Roger and a few helpers gave us all a fantastic firework display.

Around the bonfire.

A wonderful evening was had by all those who attended, we finished up sitting around the fire chatting. No there was no singing, it would of probably put the fire out LOL.

Narrowboat Oakley

Well it has been a busy couple of weeks, too busy to even have time to update this blog. We are awaiting the return of the liners for our engine, so in the mean time Keith has been busy helping Roger with his railway as seen in the previous posting. Once the brake van was completed they set about repairing the track and adding a new section which now allows 2 trains to be run at the same time. A small platform has been added between the new and old tracks. Which Tina and I helped with, moving soil about and we did a bit of landscaping, so it looks nice. I will take some photographs once it is all complete.

Oakley arriving at the yard.

In between this work Keith has helped one of Roger's steel workers restore the narrowboat Oakley, a 1936 big Northwich of the G.U.C.C.Co. Whilst serving with BWB she was shortened to 60ft for use on maintenance work on the Leeds & Liverpool. He has a lot of work ahead but he has the skills and the facilities here. There is a website following this restoration at www.nboakley.blogspot.com so please go and have a look at Oakley's progress.