Keeping Up Appearances - Part Eight

In this month's article I'm going to examine one of the most neglected areas in a boat: the engine room.

Generally, the engine room is difficult to get at and consequently fairly easy to ignore. And while some boats have engine rooms that live up to their title of "room", unfortunately mine is not one of them. In this respect, I'm fairly sure I'm in the majority.

For most of us, the space allocated to the engines is the absolute minimum that the designer could get away with. Boats with large engine rooms and small cabins are at a distinct disadvantage to craft with walk-around double berths and full-sized bathrooms come boatshow time.

Think about it: when did you last see a glossy advertisement in a boating magazine that featured an engine room?

Thus, over the years, engine room neglect piles up: rust, leaks, drips and flaking paint take their toll.

During this time, the galley has probably had at least two makeovers. Not to mention the curtains, which have probably been replaced three or four times; the carpet, replaced three times (easily); and the hull exterior, repainted once. Meanwhile the poor old engine room just stays there year after year with time and neglect gnawing away.

Well, if you want to keep your investment in top condition, you had better do something about it. Really, it's not all that hard, although I admit the task can seem a bit daunting.

LET THERE BE LIGHT
So, let's do an inspection, and a proper one at that, an industrial-strength survey of your boat's engine room. First, grab all the carpet and lug it out, along with the three layers of lead-filled sound mat. Then pull up all the hatches and expose the innards of the boat to the light of day. It's amazing what is revealed!

Now is not the time to wish you'd done this when you first bought the boat but were so besotted with the radar and plotter-linked autopilot that all else faded from your mind. Just console yourself with the thought that we're all human.

Most times, the first thing that becomes apparent is how different things look when there is a bit of light on the subject. So let's get out the pen and paper and start a list. At the top of this list put "engine room lights", because if anything is neglected in the construction of the average boat, it's this item.

Don't fool around with the 12V numbers seen at the boat shop; get two or more industrial 240V fluorescent lights with plastic safety covers to protect the tubes. Wire them in properly to the ship's wiring system so that you can see what you're doing while in the engine room. (Doing emergency repairs in the engine room with a torch in your mouth is no fun.)

Now that lighting has been taken care of, you can have a look at the engines. Sure, you keep them regularly serviced and, yes, they run just fine, but do they look the worse for wear? If they do, what's to be done? Well, in the case of my boat's engine, the initial paint job at the factory all those years ago must have been minimal to say the least.

PAINTING THE SISTINE CHAPEL
In my experience, engines, particularly American ones, seem to have paint applied only as an afterthought. (European and Japanese engines are far better finished, I've found. The best I ever saw was a Fiat, which seemed to have a baked enamel paint job.) Everything seems to gets painted - rubber hoses, the lot. Over time most of this peels off and dirty rusting replaces it.

If this is the case with your power plant, and if it annoys you like it did me, then there is nothing else for it but a repaint. This can be tackled in a couple of ways, but first you must clean the engine. I used a good quality de-greaser bought from an automotive shop and applied with a spray bottle and a toothbrush. Although tedious, in a couple of hours this removed years of gunge and grime.

On to the painting. I once watched a friend paint his engine using spray cans. The result was enough to convince me never to try it.

He seemed pleased with the outcome, but it actually looked worse when he finished than when he started.

Instead I purchased some engine enamel and applied it using brushes - some of which were extremely fine. At times I felt like Michelangelo doing the Sistine Chapel, but I enjoy that sort of work anyway.

Areas where the paint had lifted from the metal were primed before I gave the engine two coats of enamel. It took a while, a full weekend in fact, but fiddling with my boat gives me a lot of pleasure, and it sure keeps me off the streets. So, if this is what you need to bring the appearance of the engine up to scratch, you'd better add "engine paint" to the list.

ADD-ONS
Now let's turn our attention to those things I call "add-ons". Add-ons are the various toys - sorry, vital pieces of equipment - that owners stuff into engine rooms. If your boat is old, like mine, then these can be quite extensive.

Possibly, on your ship the add-ons were all installed by dedicated tradespeople only using the finest materials, with no thought for the final cost.

Not being so lucky, mine looked like they'd been thrown in from some distance with the only concern being that they worked. All additional plumbing had been carried out using garden hose - and cheap rubbish at that. Absolutely no thought had been given to the routing of this, and the use of saddles or hose clips had obviously not occurred to the installer.

This rat's nest of green garden hose offended me so much that I just had to eliminate it, and this was quite a job. I used good-quality hose and re-plumbed all the poorly done circuits. I saddled using plastic saddles and stainless-steel screws and double hose-clipped every joint. I purchased a kit of hose clamps, the really first class ones that come with their own special driver, as nothing is more annoying or dangerous than a hose popping off at the wrong time.

Once, my engine's raw-water hose came off the exhaust junction and the result was catastrophic: hot salt water sprayed all over the engine room and its components. The exhaust pipe, being rubber, nearly caught fire due to the lack of cooling water. Be warned - use only the best quality hose clamps and make sure they are all stainless steel. (It might seem unbelievable, but there is a brand on the market where the screw is only mild steel.) Finally, use two for every joint. Better get that list out again. Aren't you glad you started?

LET'S GET ELECTRICAL
Once the plumbing is neat and tidy, look at the electricals. On my boat, all the electrical work that had been carried out since the ship was manufactured looked as if it had been done by the Spaghetti brothers. The fundamental system was "drape and tape". All the wire used for the 12V additions was identical to that used for the 240V system, which made fault-finding a bit like playing Russian roulette with six rounds in the revolver.

My background is electrical, so sorting this out was less onerous for me than for the uninitiated. But it still took a long time to put the house in order. If your boat is similar, then the advice of an expert is best obtained. However, if it's only in need of a little clean-up, there is a lot that can be achieved.

First, don't use electrical tape to secure any of the wiring; it won't last. Instead, secure all wiring using wrinkle split conduits and saddles where possible.

The split conduit is a marvellous product that can be slipped on existing wiring to produce a neat appearance, while at the same time protecting the cables. It's available at most auto-electrical shops and comes in a variety of diameters.

Any other wiring that needs securing is best tied back using plastic cable ties; these can be purchased at the same time. Just a small tip if you are going to use these: when you cut the excess from the friction clip, turn the clip so it's at the back of the item being secured. The reason for this is that the cut end of the strap is quite sharp and will deliver a deep scratch to anyone crawling around in the engine room, and as that is mostly going to be you, that's incentive enough.

THE FINISHING TOUCHES
The list is becoming quite long, but that's the way it's supposed to be in boating - a boat is only finished when it's sunk.

Let's now imagine that all the things we have discussed have been rectified: engine nicely painted, plumbing all sorted and running in straight lines, electrical cables saddled and conduited. Is anything left? Of course there is!

For instance, have a look at the bilges (that's the evil-looking area under the engine). If you haven't put a tray under the engine to catch all the oil drips from it, add it to the list as a matter of priority.

I'm fed up with all the boats that have automatic bilge pumps, weeping stern glands, oil-dribbling engines and no pan under them to retain the oil. If the EPA busts you for pumping out filthy, oil-laden bilge water, I for one will cheer from the sidelines. Polluting the water in this manner simply isn't acceptable.

As a bit of insurance, chuck a couple of oil absorber bags into the bilge - and think of other ways to look after the only ocean we've got.

All this housekeeping has probably revealed pieces of equipment that were previously obscured by untidy plumbing and wiring. A bit of TLC here never hurt. I like to spray pumps and things like that with WD40 or similar and give them a good wipe over with a rag to keep corrosion at bay. At the same time I check that everything is secure and shipshape.

The amount of dust and fluff that can find its way into the engine room should not surprise you, as when the engines are running they consume prodigious amounts of air, and that air has to find its way into the engine room somehow. In theory, it should all come through the engine room vents. But these are often not large enough, particularly if the engines are bigger than the original designer allowed for, which is commoner than you might imagine.

I have been on one boat (whose manufacturer I will not name) where the floor of the main saloon was sucked down more than an inch when the engines were revved - you could literally feel it under your feet. The boat was basically one big vacuum cleaner that sucked all the dust and fibre down to the engine room.

Your boat may have adequate vents but the engine room air pressure will generally be lower when the engine is running, and this accounts for all the dust. There's nothing for it but to give it a good clean every month or so.

Well, time to drag the hatches back into position and heave the soundproofing and carpet into the saloon and re-lay it.

That list is going to occupy a bit of your time if your boat's engine room is as ragged-looking as mine was. But the feeling of achievement that a clean and well-maintained engine room gives is, to me, well worth the time and effort.