Temp gauge has arrived

Investigation work

Took several hoses off the engine and flushed water through the system - the slab tank filler is unblocked from the filler to the heat exchange/thermostat and water is flushing through the engine. The expansion tank was blocked to the heat exchanger - very thin hose. Next week I will take the hoses off the slab tank and flush it through to check for blockages. I checked the engine oil and it is clean. I cleaned out the air intake and noted a very small amount of engine oil in it.  I decided to start the engine and it sounded ok with no oil coming out of the exhaust. I suspect that the piston rings had probably overheated and let oil past the cylinders. Hopefully this is the last overheat - we are not used to 30c temps. I might buy a temp gauge for the boat to monitor it - the blue overheat light on the control panel doesn't come on until it is too late!

a bit of research

Reading various forums on the subject of overheating there are a number of possibilities re the damage:

the damage was obviously caused by overheating due to poor coolant circulation - kinks in hoses, blockages or air locks - not the first time i have overheated - 3rd time.

Oil section of head gasket leak
Warped head
Piston rings damaged
Cylinder scoring
Cracked head
Blocked heat exchanger

Most advice is to change the engine oil as it will be cooked
Also to check for blockages in the air intake which can become full of anything including carpet fluff
As I havent lost coolant it is unlikely to be a coolant leak, but, i need to check the coolant and oil for contamination.
The thermostat could also have failed - only recently tested when the housing was replaced.

There is a possibility that sorting the coolant issue may solve the problem as long as no serious engine damage has occurred.

If the engine needs a major overhaul I will sell the boat 'as is'

I am unlikely to take the boat very far now - probably just to willington and back!

Head gasket blown

The boat overheated again today resulting in steam coming out of the air intake and exhaust system - there was no loss of water this time - the system is now air tight - this has actually done more harm as the loss of water pressure was cutting off the engine before damage was caused. It was a lovely day to take the boat out and we had a nice picnic in egginton. We luckily got a tow back to Mercia marina and only had a short pull back to Findern. Looks like season over for me - I will sort it but I have too many other higher priority things to do than worry about the boat.

Painting the rails etc

I painted the cabin sides where the roof paint had overlapped and the hand rails. The welds on the springer are very prominent so a good finish is impossible. There is no point in grinding off the edges on a 25yr old boat. Will turn the boat

and do the port side when the weather improves.

Only fools and horses Chinese takeaway paint

The insects are lovin it!

Well I will get noticed - probably from the moon!

The official colour is hot mustard!

Not happy with cream

Will go with yellow as cream is too bright

Undercoat finished 6/7/14

Undercoat completed today - also ground off some old welds that were left when the old pole support broke off - before I owned the boat. It is forecast rain  in the next couple of days so completed just in time. Top coat next week weather permitting!

A start on the roof 5/7/14

Managed to sand half of the roof and primer before tea time yesterday. A lot of rusty blobs removed with a file. Haven't chosen the final colour yet, but, looking like cream. Shocked at the price of paint at DIY stores - really does pay to shop around. Will need to re seal around the flue and mushrooms before final coat.