Steering Gear Changes

During the reconstruction of the boat it was noticed that steering was rather heavy.
Checking the route of the steering cables nothing out of the ordinary could be found.
The steering cables were as good as possible cleaned lubricated etc. in the expectations that over time the steering would become more easier.
It was also during the construction period checked if the actual steering unit connected to the steering wheel could be taken apart but this looked not that easy as one would expect and was left as it is at that time.
While sailing with the boat it was noticed that there was no improvement in steering the boat, no real issues to keep the boat on track but the actual steering was still rather heavy and not that easy while maneuvering, although this could be compensated with both engines.

Since I was not satisfied with the situation it was checked if there would be anything incorrect with the rudders, cables were removed from the rudder arms but there was no improvement in rotating the steering wheel. Rudders could be moved freely.

Next step was to take the steering unit apart but unfortunately I was not able to do so.
Removing all bolts and nuts was no issue but splitting the actual unit to reach the cables was not possible, without most likely damaging the unit.
I expect that the reason for not being able to open the unit is not only the age of the system but the cotter pins installed in the unit, see below pictures.

With this issue it was decided to look into a new steering unit with new cables, going through the internet for additional information and cost it was clear to me that there was not a lot of price difference between the cable system, complete unit and a hydraulic steering system.

It was then decided to switch from cable steering to hydraulic steering.

The original cable steering was removed and looking at the inner cable in the outer cable I could see that all was rusted, this was also mentioned on the internet in several websites that when the steering becomes heavy most likely the cables are rusted and that there is a great chance of a cable failure.

After the old steering unit and cables were removed the new hydraulic steering was installed.

Cabinet in the aft cabin was removed and position of the new plunger was checked that it would fit within the space available.

At this point I made a mistake, by counting the revolutions of the steering wheel hard starboard to hard port and comparing this to the instruction manual of he new steering unit, both were about the same amount of turns from hard port to hard starboard.

Therefore I was under the impression that I could use the same connection as where the original cables were connected.

A new support frame was made to fit the plunger and all looked as it would fit and work without any issues.

Reading the instruction manual more precise I noticed that instead of 35° rudder port and starboard I most likely would reach half of that steering angle.

New plan was made and the complete steering angle was drawn on carton and measured from the center line of the rudder stock with the information available in the instruction manual.

It became then clear that the original connection for the steering unit would not be the correct position of the connection to the hydraulic plunger.

A new hole was made in the rudder arm for the connection to the plunger.

From below picture it can be clearly seen the plunger stroke for full rudder movement between 35° port to starboard, Red line new position of the plunger stroke for full rudder movement.

Blue line if the plunger would be connected to the original position of the rudder arm.

This new position of the plunger resulted that a new hole needed to be made in the rudder arm, since this is brass it can be done without removing the rudder arm from the rudder, in my case this would not be possible since the boat is in the water.

Not only I made a new hole but I threaded the hole this to make sure that when the plunger would be connected that the rudder arm that it would have the less chance to get loose even under vibrations.

The hydraulic plunger was connected with a bolt and locking nut.

A new support was made for the plunger position and all was put in place before finally mounted.

An additional check was made to make sure that with the plunger stroke full rudder movement was possible.

Hydraulic hoses were ran between the steering pump and the plunger and all was mounted in place.

The hydraulic hoses were both kept at the same length this to prevent any steering delays between moving from port to starboard. Actual length of hydraulic hoses used was 7.5 meter per hose.

For filling the system with hydraulic oil and venting the air out of the system one needs to follow the instructions of the manufacturer.

The hydraulic pump, actual steering unit, was installed in the steering stand and although I had concerns that it would have a large impact on the actual steering stand it does not look to bad.

As can be seen the steering unit does not look that bad on the whole steering stand.

An issue was that the original steering wheel did not fit on the new steering unit.

The original steering wheel has a straight shaft while the new steering unit has a conical shaft, I have considered several option to make it "work" but in the end I ended up with buying a new steering wheel which is actually almost the same as the original one.

As can be seen from above pictures I moved the steering unit slightly up since I'm a tall person, but still there is enough clearance between the steering wheel and the steering stand.

Below old and new 

Sea Water Cooling pump

                                                              Sea Water Cooling Pump

After the boat went into the water and all overboard valves were checked as well as hose connections, the mud boxes were filled up and before the engines were started ,to prevent that the sea water pump would run to long dry, although prepared with acid free Vaseline,  I filled up the pump with water through one of the plugs above the pump.
With one engine there was not issue but the other engine the water ran straight out of the pump through the mechanical seal.
Although I'm familiar with these type of pumps they are not all the same and especially the older pumps from around 1970 are not the same as build as these days.

To know which pump type was installed on the engine, engine manual does not informs you which pump actually is installed, I had to remove some paint from the cover and was able to check for the correct type. The one installed on my engines is a 1" type of pump.
I was a kind of lucky to find this information since from the other pump the original cover was removed and replaced by a stainless steel cover.

Going through the internet to find the correct drawing, which took me some time I found a Johnson manual with drawings and spare part numbers.
Going through this manual I also noticed that quite some parts are not available anymore which created some concerns from mys side, since I expected that the mechanical seal was broken.
The found drawing in the manual gave me an better idea how the pump was build together.
See below drawing.

Taking the pump apart after having removed the pump from the engine I directly noticed that the circlip , part of position 4, was not installed therefore preventing the mechanical seal rotating part being pushed against the stationary part.

As can be seen from the next picture of the other engines sea water pump the cir-clip is clearly visible.

To be able to run the engine and not filling up the bilges a rubber O-ring was placed between the housing and the stationary part of the mechanical seal and by installing the impeller the mechanical seal was compressed and in such way there was no leakage, although I know this is not the correct way of repairs it fits it purpose and in the man time I was able to search the internet for the correct parts.,

The idea was to completely overhaul the pump and replace all wear and tear parts, items 2, 4, 6, 8 on the drawing. Reason was that I have no idea how many running hours the pumps do have and if they are still able to give enough cooling water to the engines on long runs.
There the challenge started as I could not find any company in Holland who as able to supply all parts I required.and  I ended up in the USA with a company who was able to supply all required parts.

After the new parts were received  the first step was to remove the pump again from the engine and check the condition of the pump shaft to see if there was an issue to install the circlip. As can be seen from the below picture the groove for the circlip to keep the mechanical seal in place was completely filled with rust, most likely an incorrect type of material was used for the circlip when the last overhaul was performed.

After cleaning the rust and debris out of the shaft the groove became visible again.

The next step was to check if the circlip would fit in the groove and would remain in position after being installed, this was the case and the circlip was removed again.

The following step was to take the pump further apart and to check the dimensions of the old parts and the new parts, the wear might be less than I would expect and there might be no need to exchange the parts and safe the new parts for the future.

The cover as can be seen from the picture showed quite some wear actually the thickness of the old cover was 2.2 mm while the new cover is 2.5 mm.

The covers was replaced on both pumps.

The next part which was removed was part No. 2 the guidance piece for the impeller, it's simple to remove just unscrewing from outside.

On both pumps this part was not stuck. Checking the measurements at the thickest part I noticed quite some wear, old one 4.5 mm new one 6.3 mm and this was a good reason to replace this part on both pumps. On the picture this wear is also quite visible.

I do not think that this wear will reduce the capacity of the pump since the impeller will still be able to close the suction from discharge side.

The next part which was changed was item 8 the bottom wear plate where the impeller runs over.

The plate removed was 1.7 mm and the new plate 1.8 mm not much wear but one could see the area where the impeller had ran over.

The mechanical seals were inspected and I could not see any damage to the running surface nor excessive wear and therefore they were reinstalled and not replaced.

What I noticed that when i put all new parts in the pump housing that item 2 was slightly sticking out above the surface of the pump housing. This was solved by cleaning the bottom surface of the pump housing since over the years time some debris and corrosion had been building up preventing that the bottom wear plate item 8 could be completely going in its place.

Below picture shows all new parts installed including the ring between circlip and mechanical seal which was not found when taking the pump apart, might be that at earlier overhauls this ring was not installed but according to the drawing it is a part of the pump and therefore I did install the ring.

Pump installed on the engine and the circlip installed on the shaft, this went relatively easy and therefore I think that the ring between circlip and mechanical seal is a part of the original installation of this pump. The circlip is not from steel or stainless steel but from brass , therefore it does not stick out on the below picture, but can be seen.

The pump was further build together impeller installed and new cover with new screws completed the overhaul . A test run was done with the engine and although difficult to see it looks like that some more cooling water is running through the engine and I also have the impression that the pressure is a bit higher.

Completed inside pictures

                                                        Inside Pictures..

Although one never is finished with restoring an old boat and the small items takes the longest time to complete, I would like to share some pictures of the completed inside of the boat.

In the bow new mattresses were made with special covering for boats which are anti allergic and resistant against mildew.
The bottom of the mattress was covered in an open structure to be able for the mattress  breath and not hold humidity in them.  This was done for all mattresses and cushions in the boat.
Although with the above knowledge and keeping the boat in the winter in the water the mattresses and cushions have been removed.
New mattresses were bought, the foam and my neighbor was able to cover them.
Foe the new foam the old mattresses were used as template which came out very well, everything fitted tight as it should be no large gaps.
This method works better in my opinion then making templates for example from carton.
The forward bulkhead was renewed as well in the restoration process but the doors to the anchor bin are the original doors.

The Main cabin kitchen as mentioned in one of the blogs was taken completely apart sanded and        re-varnished. The sliding doors of the cabinets are original and were just cleaned, they are still in a good condition.

I kept the original cutting boards in place. New faucets were installed as well as new potable water lines from tank to the faucets in the kitchen area and bathroom.

The storage area for plates and cups was taken apart again since the present seize of cups and plates did not fit in the spaces for them, some minor new arrangements were made with the vertical supports and all fits now as it should be.

When I bought the boat there was no cover over the stove, old fashioned Taylor cooker which actually works well, and since this did not looked good as can be seen from the following picture a cover was made and placed over the stove, cover can be seen in earlier pictures.

Below picture shows the stove in view

The dining table which I think is not original was varnished and new wood pieces placed on the side to prevent that when the boat list slightly all is sliding of the table.,

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Also here in the sitting area the cushions were 100 % renewed as well as the aft wood support to the back cushions which was painted as well to protect the wood from humidity. 

Original this was not done and the wood support for the cushions was unpainted.

Since this Storebro 34 is a Deluxe Storebro  we do not have a U-Couch but an L-couch with at the end a closet and a so called Captains chair.

This captains chair was completely stripped and re varnished after the wood was stained with a color close to mahogany. Comes out always more red than one hopes for.

The bathroom which also can be used as a shower area was as mentioned in an earlier blog completely stripped and re varnished in a two component epoxy varnish to withstand water in case we are planning to take a shower here, which for sure at this moment is not in the planning. 

The original toilet was removed, since it is not allowed in the Netherlands to discharge black water in inland  waters, therefore a chemical toilet was installed which actually sits nice and high.

On the right upper side one can see a gauge and two switched, the gauge is for checking the water level in the potable water tanks which is switch activated while the other switch is for the potable water pump which stops when a certain pressure is reached, a pressure vessel for potable water is installed in the engine room spaces.

The aft cabin same as in the forward cabin the mattresses of the beds were completely renewed.

Further all wood work was sanded and re varnished as described in earlier blogs.

The steering area as described in earlier blogs was also completely sanded wood replaced where required and varnished.

The steering stand was kept original no changes in gauges or switches just wood sanded and material around the gauges cleaned and polished.

The foot supports, port side and starboard side were installed again, although I'm pretty tall  one never knows when one needs them again.

The chairs, as far as I know original were re-upholstered and we choose for white seat, do not know if this is original but I think it looks nice with the wood in he steering area.