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I did a welding course at Uxbridge college several years ago. When I was first thinking of building my own boat I thought that I had better go back to do a refresher course. Unfortunately the college has now gone 'I.T.' and no longer runs any welding courses. (Hmm- where will all those young lads learn to weld now?) They were just about to close for the summer in 2002 and all the welding workshops were being refurbished. I asked if perhaps there may be some equipment for sale. I was told to go to see one of the lecturers, who told me there were some welding rods that I could have for 'Err, say a tenner for the lot?' The lot turned out to be a wheelbarrow brim full of various rods. While I was wheeling them past a window I spotted an engine in one of the workshops. Everything else had been stripped out except this huge stationary engine. I asked if it was for sale and was told I could have it for £100 but it had to be stripped out and taken away very quickly. It turned out to be a Petter PJ3W of 1965 vintage. I checked with a local supplier, Marine Engine Supplies, to see if it would be suitable and was told it was a good choice at the right price. The only problem would be sourcing a bell housing and gearbox to fit it.

So I took a day off work and spent many hot hours undoing the long exhaust system and all the mounting bolts, and then manhandling it into the back of my Escort van. I then took it back to Andy's workshop where it would stay for the next year or so.

I stripped it down and did a top end rebuild over the course of the next year. I also had the injectors and pumps overhauled by Diesel Engine Services of Uxbridge. While the rebuild was slowly progressing I was keeping a lookout on the internet for a gearbox. I finally found one in Shireoaks Marina near Worksop. I detoured over to see it while on a cycling holiday in Lincoln in July (A very long detour!) The snag was, it came with another Petter PJ3 engine and the owner wanted to sell all together. I needed it so had to buy the lot, so I paid the man, bringing the gearbox home with me. I went up again at the end of September to get the engine  (I'm trying to sell this air-cooled PJ3 if anyone out there is interested.) Picture below, right.

I got it back home, left the gearbox in Andy's workshop and depositing the engine on a stack of breeze blocks at the back of my house. The bell-housing was a perfect fit onto my engine and the gearbox will fit okay just as soon as I make an adaptor plate to join the two

. I finished rebuilding the top end just before we moved the workshop from Uxbridge to West Drayton and its been under the trailer covered with a tarpauline ever since. I haven't even run the engine yet but there is no reason to think that there will be a problem.

 The air-cooled (Blue paint job)engine is also now at the yard. I have to fit the starter motor mounting plate from the water-cooled (Green paint job) engine and put the flywheel back on. Then I can run it to test it and hopefully sell it.

The blue bell housing can now be fitted to the (green) water cooled engine. I then have to make a mounting plate to fit the 'Self Changing Gears Ltd' gearbox to the engine. This will be a 10mm ring with holes drilled for the gearbox and corresponding holes drilled for the bell housing. The company that now owns the name 'Self-Changing Gears',  E and S Engineering were very helpful and told me the gearbox was made in 1956 and was a direct drive with no speed reduction. Not only that but they sent me ,free of charge, an original 1956 handbook for the gearbox.

On May 6th I decided to give some thought to the engine. I haven't looked at it since it was put on a pallet under the trailer over 18 months ago. I had to move various vehicles and bits of plant and equipment out of the way to get it out from underneath. This took about 2 hours. I then put the water cooled and the air-cooled engines side by side on a trolley. I have to do some switching about of bell housings, flywheels etc.

On May the 8th I got back at about 5.30 after a 'hard day' doing my accounts with a good friend and felt like doing some work on the engine. I turned the flywheel and was pleased that it turned fairly freely. I got about 8 litres of oil into the sump and turned it over by hand for a few minutes to spray some oil on the parts that are hard to reach. Andy and I rigged up a drum of diesel fuel and after bleeding up all the fuel lines we connected a battery and tried to start it. There were a few niggles until we got fuel flowing to the injectors. We then had to figure out what position the various levers had to be in to start and to run the engine.. Finally we got it running at about 8 o'clock. I hadn't yet filled the radiator so we didn't run it for too long. I then got out my Kamco Flushing pump.www.kamco.co.uk This is normally used for flushing radiators in central heating systems but I figured, why not? Its just another radiator and the engine is made of cast iron just like many boilers. I rigged up some reducers to connect into the top hose joint and turned on the flushing pump. It looked a bit like a colander,with water coming from every orifice! so I got out some tools and tightened up various nuts. I also removed the radiator and soldered about 6 different leaks. Then I reconnected the radiator again. This time when I turned on the flushing pump it circulated nicely, with no water fountains. So I added some FX2 descaling solution to the pump and circulated it through the radiator and engine for about an hour. Then neutralised it before draining again and refilling with fresh water.

The radiator will not be used when the engine is finally installed in the boat, so its only still attached while I test run it. The engine will be cooled by running the water through a skin tank welded to the side of the boat when its in its final position. After the flushing process was finished I ran the engine again for a while. The oil pressure gauge was showing nil pressure but after checking with Andy's test gauge I found it was faulty and the pressure was in fact about 50 PSI. I finally got to bed at about 3 o'clock. Lucky I don't have to be anywhere early tomorrow!

16th May. I spent every every evening since the above till Sunday 14th cutting and welding the stem to the front of the boat. Late evening on 14th I started cutting out the plates to join the engine and gearbox. Over the next three nights I cut out two rings from 12mm steel plate. This was a struggle because the plasma cutter is only designed to cut up to 8.5mm plate so they had "wobbly" edges but I can clean most of that off with an angle grinder. I am so impressed with this plasma cutter and it was well worth the money it cost.

I drilled the rings to match the holes on the gearbox and on the engine. I had trouble matching the threads on the engine.It wasn't Metric, fine or coarse, UNF, UNC. Someone in the past had rammed 10 mm nuts onto the starter motor studs and ruined them. It finally turned out to be BSF, a thread that is not much used nowadays. I finally managed to source bolts and nuts from APEX Fasteners on Ipswich Road on the Slough Trading Estate. I also put together the exhaust system and then ran the engine for a while. Much quieter!

18th May Julie and I are off to the Kelvin and Vintage Marine Engine Club's meet in Bugworth Basin in the Peak District this weekend. I have tried to get there for the last 4 years and am finally going. My engine qualifies as vintage. We will be under canvas (Nylon!) for the weekend so I hope the weather is kind.

What a treat to see some of the people I'd read about for many years in the Vintage Marine Engine Magazine. And what a treat also to see some of the lovingly restored engines. I was also very impressed with Mick Edge's internal fit of N.B.Bass. It showed great attention to detail and must have taken many hours of work.

4th September. Its about time I did some more to the engine I think. The generator/welder has been playing up a bit lately so I have ordered a set of filters, air, fuel and oil and will give it a service when theyarrive. Until then I will work on the engine/gearbox adaptor plates. I decided that the original plates that I cut in May weren't good enough. So I marked out two new plates and spent this weekend cutting and machining them.