1953 38' Monk Tricabin

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  • skaraborgcraft
    Banned
    • Jan 2010
    • 12824

    #16
    Re: 1953 38' Monk Tricabin

    Im more curious to know why the boat sank to a level where the starter motor and battery was swimming. Was the clench fastened galv nails a common method on these monks? Vinyl wall paper and a fiberglassed sump pan would have me thinking twice about the previous owners. Im using a lot of tung, or a 2 coat polyurethane varnish, my days of sanding between 6-8 coats of varnish are long gone unless i have a blank cheque in my hand.

    Comment

    • Don MacLeod
      Senior Member
      • Mar 2015
      • 223

      #17
      Re: 1953 38' Monk Tricabin

      That boat and design has a lot of character - I like it.
      I am fascinated by the name. Kia Ora is a common statement of greeting used by us New Zealanders. I wonder how the boat got its name?
      Does it have a local meaning?

      KIA ORA in Maori language means "Greetings, Hello'. http://www.maorilanguage.net/maori-w...reetings-mihi/
      It also means " hello! cheers! good luck! best wishes!" http://maoridictionary.co.nz/search?...ia+ora&search=
      Depends which dictionary you use.

      Comment

      • moTthediesel
        Senior Member
        • Mar 2006
        • 2749

        #18
        Re: 1953 38' Monk Tricabin

        Bless you Sir! There is, I'm sure, a special place in heaven for folks that keep old wood cruisers going. I haven't the fortitude for it, but I salute those that do -- every time I see one out on our water it puts a smile on my face and a song in my heart.

        I wish I wasn't a whole continent away, I'd be happy to try to help you out with that oil pan fix.

        Tom

        Comment

        • Garret
          Hills of Vermont
          • Apr 2005
          • 48655

          #19
          Re: 1953 38' Monk Tricabin

          I too am a big fan of the Monks & will be following this with interest.
          "If it ain't broke, you're not trying." - Red Green

          Comment

          • MoePorter
            Senior Member
            • May 2015
            • 315

            #20
            Re: 1953 38' Monk Tricabin

            My Monk reference (beyond boat yard work & some time on a Monk troller) is "Ed Monk and the Tradition of Classic Boats" by Bet Oliver. Ton of photos & might help you determine what's original on yours.

            You might try Deks Olje #1 instead of tung oil. Similar look and ease of application (and more to the point re-application) but works better on a boat in my experience. Genuine tung oil is my go to finish for the majority of my furniture projects but the Deks lasts a lot longer outside.

            The transom door is a contrasting element of the transom design so you might get away with a Honduras frame & different wood/or paint on the doors panel. I'm doubtful you'll get a good match in any case so you might just go with an purposeful contrast instead of a failed match. I hate trying to match different ages & species on a boat with stains & dyes as they often only succeed until the next refinishing...

            I'd say you got very lucky to find a sound transom under the fiberglass! Speaks well for the build quality. Do you have a picture of your "clinched galvanized nails"? That would be unusual.

            Don't know any way to trust an oil pan patch without pulling the pan to really go over it & then why not replace it - Thanks for persisting on the forum & sharing your Monk with us. Moe

            Comment

            • Peter Knowles
              Member
              • May 2015
              • 52

              #21
              Re: 1953 38' Monk Tricabin

              OK, time to bite the bullet and tackle this motor.....

              I know the sump pan is in rough shape, so the only solution is to pull the motor and investigate.
              So I built a gantry of 2x4's set on the engine beds and braced to the house roof.
              two come-along hand winches and up came 1400 lbs of Perkins.



              Hauling the engine was pretty easy but what I discovered underneath broke my heart.
              The entire oil pan had been sheathed in fiberglass. And it fell away exposing the most disgusting Swiss cheese, cast aluminium oil pan you can imagine. And worst of all, from every cancerous lesion spouted water, sea water!




              This thing had been running! the poor thing had been pumping sea water through the crankshaft journals! Aggghhhhhh!

              OK, time to reassess,....

              I pulled the pan and the oil pickup strained was nice and oily, measurements suggested that it was high enough that it may have been sucking oil from above the pool of water.
              No doubt turbulence would have mixed a lot of water into the mix but I decided to take the risk and carry on. The motor sounded sweet when running.

              Off to have a custom oil pan made,....

              Flash forward 5 weeks and $1300,....



              Please disregard the checkerplate, I got the stock cheap(er).
              This shot shows it painted with POR 15 in an effort to isolate it electrically from the bilgewater.

              So new pan on, drop engine, all new hoses, new starter, just because, and off she went!
              Well after an hour of bleeding the fuel lines.
              I was thrilled,.....for 5 minutes.
              Until the bilge filled with oil.


              But this was red oil, ATF, from the Velvet drive. I looked for possible leaks at hoses, breathers, dipstick. Nope.
              But I do have an ace in the hole.
              I replaced the plug in the bottom of the bellhousing with a brass nipple and length of 3/8" tubing so that if the engine ever developed a rear main seal leak I could pump it out, within reason. As a result I was able to determine my new problem was a front seal leak on the Velvet Drive as pumping out the bellhousing revealed ATF, lots!

              So pull the engine again, pull the transmission, replace the front seal, which was horrible, the shaft was very rusty so careful sanding and driving the new seal a little deeper onto clean shaft should do the trick.



              All buttoned up and back in, runs nicely, no oil leaks, at last!

              Time to polish fuel,.....

              Peter Knowles
              My YouTube channel, Travels With Geordie

              Comment

              • skaraborgcraft
                Banned
                • Jan 2010
                • 12824

                #22
                Re: 1953 38' Monk Tricabin

                Gotta love a Perkins! That 5,000 bucks makes sense now......

                Comment

                • Peter Knowles
                  Member
                  • May 2015
                  • 52

                  #23
                  Re: 1953 38' Monk Tricabin

                  Greg, neat idea on the mahogany graft,... I'll look around.
                  Needs to be steam bent though,...

                  Bob, Would love to know more about your project.
                  I'm hesitant to endorse Tung oil too much as it requires regular attention.
                  Let it go without a fresh wipe on for too long and it fails.
                  I got caught out this very wet winter and didn't have enough coats on in some places that I need to address now.

                  Jeff, yes, I'd heard of aniline dyes, I need to look into it. Thanks.

                  The boat sat low because she was all but abandoned, and the bilge pumps regularly failed.
                  About 14" down in the bow was the highest watermark.
                  The engine sits very low making the starter vulnerable.

                  I don't know if Galvanized clinched was common, I'll get some photos.

                  I would imagine Kia Ora has no local meaning, assumed the New Zealand meaning.
                  As the name has no real significance to me, I'll be changing it to Geordie, after my dog who I will lose soon.
                  I know this may open up a whole new debate on the changing of boat names.
                  I'm prepared to endure the rituals,....

                  Moe, I've used Deks Olje before, and like it, perhaps tung oil is more of a faith based finish,...
                  I just love it.

                  Thanks all,...

                  Peter
                  Last edited by Peter Knowles; 04-27-2016, 02:19 PM.
                  My YouTube channel, Travels With Geordie

                  Comment

                  • BrianW
                    not your average member
                    • Nov 2002
                    • 28191

                    #24
                    Re: 1953 38' Monk Tricabin

                    Land Rovers, Monks, and kilts! You're in the right place!
                    “Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one's lifetime.”― Mark Twain,

                    Comment

                    • Garret
                      Hills of Vermont
                      • Apr 2005
                      • 48655

                      #25
                      Re: 1953 38' Monk Tricabin

                      Originally posted by BrianW
                      Land Rovers, Monks, and kilts! You're in the right place!
                      'zactly my thought.
                      "If it ain't broke, you're not trying." - Red Green

                      Comment

                      • Larks
                        Larks
                        • Jul 2007
                        • 16793

                        #26
                        Re: 1953 38' Monk Tricabin

                        Originally posted by Peter Knowles
                        I'll be changing it to Geordie, after my dog who I will lose soon.
                        I know this may open up a whole new debate on the changing of boat names.
                        I'm prepared to endure the rituals,....
                        I can see why - perfect!

                        Last edited by Larks; 04-27-2016, 07:47 PM.
                        Larks

                        “It’s impossible”, said pride.
                        “It’s risky”, said experience.
                        “It’s pointless”, said reason.
                        “Give it a try”, whispered the heart.

                        LPBC Beneficiary

                        "Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but the really great make you feel that you, too, can become great!"

                        Comment

                        • nedL
                          Senior Member #1976
                          • Jul 2000
                          • 7544

                          #27
                          Re: 1953 38' Monk Tricabin

                          Wonderful project! I can relate in sooo many ways!

                          Comment

                          • Peter Knowles
                            Member
                            • May 2015
                            • 52

                            #28
                            Re: 1953 38' Monk Tricabin

                            Let's clean that old diesel,...

                            I bought the boat with about 120 gallons of fuel aboard.
                            By my best calculated assessment, the tanks are about 100 gallons each.
                            The tanks are very nice, made of aluminium and well secured.
                            Filtering was by a small Racor with spin on element and a small water bowl below.
                            And then the secondary on the Perkins.
                            I was really concerned about what might be in the bottom of these tanks.
                            I bought an electric fuel pump, a pair of fuel level senders and a Racor 500 filter.
                            I really wanted to be able to scrub the bottom of the tanks so I thought I'd be able to cut reasonable sized holes in the top of the tanks if I added electric senders. The tanks currently have sight glasses.
                            Through these holes I was able to use a wand of copper tubing with a wire brush on the end and endlessly scrub the bottom of the tank while vacuuming up the resulting debris. At first there was so much crud I didn't pass it through the filter but rather into a large funnel in the top of the opposite tank lined with paper towel.
                            This was a slow process as diesel doesn't pass through paper towel all that promptly even when it's clean.
                            After hours of this I switched to the Racor and clogged up a dozen 10 micron filters and drained water out of the bowl many, many times. Then a heavy dose of diesel stabilizer and switch to 3 micron filters.
                            Pumping non stop for days until the filters stayed clear.

                            Diesel = clean!

                            Please forgive the lack of pictures, I do have some of the Racor, the pump and a tank with a hole in the top.
                            Not particularly inspiring,....


                            Peter Knowles
                            My YouTube channel, Travels With Geordie

                            Comment

                            • skaraborgcraft
                              Banned
                              • Jan 2010
                              • 12824

                              #29
                              Re: 1953 38' Monk Tricabin

                              Time very well spent i would say.

                              Comment

                              • BrianW
                                not your average member
                                • Nov 2002
                                • 28191

                                #30
                                Re: 1953 38' Monk Tricabin

                                Here are two threads on fuel filtering/polishing, from some the forums best...





                                Please note the Paladin is no longer with us, but held in the highest regard.
                                “Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one's lifetime.”― Mark Twain,

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