This week we've been laying the floor (a dedicated post will follow when it's complete), while today we have employed the help Colin aka the project manager and Terry the engineer. Their main task was to improve the engine bay doors. In their original form they consisted of two thick steel plates, that did the job but were hard to lift and were not lockable. We wanted a more elegant way to accessing the engine room.
The solution was to hinge them on removable pins that are retained by 'R' clips. The pins then slot into sockets that are welded into the deck's drain channels. Gas struts were mounted, which takes the weight out of lifting the lids and hold them in the upright position. Secondly, they installed a flush fitting lock, which we purchased from Timage, a company that makes parts for high end yachts. We do not intend to keep this locked when the vessel is carrying passengers as this would be unsafe should the engine room ever need to be accessed in an emergency, however I like the idea of having the ability to lock it when we are away for any extended period of time. As a finsihing touch, the fellas have added a 'finger pull' handle, welded into the lid.
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Another key bit of progress is the steel shelves we had welded in. These will house the 75l calorifier (hot water tank), Hurricane heater (diesel fired boiler) and the battery banks. The inlet/port welded into the diesel tank will provide the route for the boiler's fuel return feed.
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With all the exposed metal caused by welding there's a fair bit of priming and painting to do to tidy things up. On the plus side the welder was quite impressed with our Jotun paint job, as it didn't come off easily.
