I found that the lovely brass rudder post that I wanted to leave in the boat takes a smaller diameter shaft than the brass types that are really available today.

These older shafts were often made out of silver steel, so they were always very straight and strong enough to resist almost any collision....and didn't need to be quite so fat as the weaker brass shafts that are used now.

The old type rudder blades were still only made from brass, and in the event of a prang the blades would often tear-off - leaving the silver steel shaft nice and straight, but in the boat on its own with no blades left on it.......just like this one was!

I am trying to do a little bit to this boat in-between all my other projects, but if find some time will make a new rudder to fit this original brass holder rather than swap it out for a new moulded plastic type.

Bob.

The quickly knocked-up "orange box" boat stand fitted OK and will do the job of holding the boat until something better can be made when I have more time to spend on one.

The hole in the transom where the exhaust pipe exited the hull was bunged with a suitable sized piece of scrap dowel and glued in.

Inside the hull the exhaust outlet hole was also bunged with the same length of dowel.

The inside rear part of the hull is much drier and free from oily residue from its previous time running with a rear inlet HP40 Marine engine. The olde style brass rudder post will be retained along with the similar vintage brass water inlet scoop.

Looking inside the rear hull compartment, the blocked exhaust hole can be seen in the top right corner, and the original brass rudder post and water scoop can be seen were they will be staying.

Bob.

I never thought of that Dave, I will see if I can get an iron in, or come up with another way of getting the heat in there.

This afternoon, I knocked-up a basic 'orange box" stand so that I have something to place the hull on as I am working on it.

Based on what we have found with the Sea Commander trials, I have reduce the depth of the keel and removed the old knackered prop shaft ready to have a new replacement fitted.

When I have got some of the fuel "goo" out of the hull I can start to look at a baseplate to fit an engine mount and test to see what adhesive will work best.

I noticed that part of a doubler that would have been under the motor had split, so I put some medium super-glue into the gap and left it overnight to set with three small clamps on it, and that seems to have bonded back together very well.

Bob.

I have used kitchen paper (the absorbent type) and heat to draw oil out of wood in the past. Something like a Solarfilm iron or similar could be the answer. Obviously, once the paper is oily it needs to be replaced.

I am not getting all of the oil residue out of the hull using baking powder and other similar powers.

I need something that will actually draw the fuel/oil residue out of the wood.

My wife suggested using Swarfega, my first reaction was to be a little dubious as I was worried that it could replace the fuel/oil impregnation with one of its own that could also prevent any adhesive from getting a good grip into the fibres of the wood - but it may be worth a try.

I am also considering wiping the surface with cellulose thinners to see how I get on with this idea?

Bob.

I was wondering what I could try to soak up any oil out of the wood - I will try corn starch. Thanks for the idea Adam.

The wood needs to be free of any contamination to make sure that any glue that I need to use when fitting an engine mount for a brushless motor can penetrate and adhere fully in the wood.

It is something that I am concerned about.

Some of my other restorations that had been oil soaked had the wood cut out and replaced, but I am hoping not to have to do this as it makes a lot more work !

Bob.

Hi Bob

Looks like your punt may have paid off 👍👍. Looking at the pictures does not look like it's too oil soaked at all. Perhaps put some cornstarch over any areas which are bad see if it can soak it up?.

Adam

The inside of the hull now looks like this and is ready for cleaning and checking over.

Bob

The motor, silencer and fuel tank has been removed from the hull, along with the pair of Futaba 148 servos that were mounted on a piece of "hardboard" (masonite?).

The drive belt that had been used to start the engine was quite dry and hard. This suggests that this engine had not been started for quite some time, and the motor itself is also "gummed-up" suggesting that its previous owner failed to oil the engine and turn it over after it had been run to prevent this happening.

The engine mount and servo plate fell out rather too easily suggesting that they had not been fitted very securely.

The inner propeller shaft has some corrosion on it that may clean-up OK, but changing it would not be too much of a problem if it doesn't.

A heavy duty "Huco" style of universal coupling was fitted - I have not seen one like the before. I still have quite a few old HUCO couplings, but nothing as large as this one.

Most of these parts have gone straight into the bin as I have no use for them, but the motor looks interesting so I may clean it up and see if I can find a way to "de-gunk" it and free it up.

A rear induction HP 40 size water cooled marine engine is Austrian made and would have been regarded as a performance engine back in my day, so it seems like an unusual choice for this type of boat?

Bob.

This is what the inside of the boat looks like with the unknown glow plug engine fitted with its fuel tank and silencer - ready to be removed.

From the outside this looks like a nice tidy installation and it also "looks" like it is also quite dry (not swimming in oily gunk), so maybe the hull is not as fuel soaked as I feared it could be?

Bob.