Water Intake Mainfold

I made the original water intake manifold intake out of copper but I was unable to get the jubilee clips to close down enough to form a reliable seal.  Even after wrapping with loads of PTFE tape the tube proved too wide and the reinforcement wire too strong.

The next option was to use 1 1/4" waste pipe but this was a tad to large for the ID of the tube. 

I tried heating it with boiling water but this was not enough as the reforcing spring inside the tube wouldnt give.  So I tried the cooking oil trick again.  This can be heated much hotter than water and did the trick softening the tube nicely.

Stretched and cooled over a spare bit of pipe

Job done.

 I must repaint the bilge again!

The green pipe is a hose to supply water to test the joints.  Water tight now :-)

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Another Groundhog Day

I have had a a bit of a problem with the magnolia paint on the side of the boat and to a lesser extent on the blue parts.

The magnolia was worst affected. After a few months I notice the surface had dulled.  On closer inspection it could be seen that a multitude of tiny lumps that looked like micro blistering but wasnt as this is caused by moisture and under a magnifying glass there was no hole in the lumps.

This is magnolia but poor light

So I DAd the side with some 400 grit and the tops came off the lumps without damaging the rest of the surface.  I then polished it up with Tcut and left it a while to see if it would re-appear.  After a few weeks decided it was time to get it resprayed. 

So after watching the weather for a while I decided today and tomorrow were probably going to be the last opportunity this year what with light and damp and wind and temperature.  

Jerry turned up bright and early and on we cracked with prepping the magnolia sides.  He did the big stuff I did the small hand areas and the masking.

The blue will be finished tomorrow.  All this week I have been applying 2pac primer with a small foam roller to avoid mess.  I am very surprised how good its gone on and its nice and thick so will be good for rubbing down.  Fingers crossed for and accurate weather forecast.

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