Mirror Dinghy kit news update and a lower price offer

Boat kits can be quite involved, some become more complex  as the class rules add on to the base kit., after a full review we see that customers can save themselves outlay by out sourcing materials themselves.

Taking advice and finding the rules do state we can supply to the local market as we wish, we offer
the basics and ask that the buyer shops around for  themselves to complete the kit.

In the case of the Mirror Dinghy, CKD Boats cc will only  now offer  the plywood CNC cut panels, epoxy, glass tapes, fumed silica and micro balloons only, rudder and foil are still options.

Customers will need to supply their own fasteners, timber and whatever else is needed to complete the boat themselves.

This will save you plenty!

Roy

The JoLon Imp one year ago today

They set off for the Impossible journey one year ago,the plan was Johannesburg to Coventry, England, they made it too!

The car was 1971 Mk3 Hillman Imp but the engine was an old 1963 Mk1 engine that was used as it was handy.

Coventry.

Frank Clayton is on the left, it was he and a mate who had tried to get to Mongolia in his own Imp some years before, they failed at that attempt but Terence on the right and his mate Geoff  succeeded.

This took 29 days, 19 countries, 3 continents and 14,000 kilometers plus 1000s more by ferry,they arrived
with six hours to go an the last day of the Imp Clubs event.

Well done guys!

TT writes below, his book on this epic trip will be published later this year.

The JoLon Imp will be shipped to South Africa soon, it will then drive from Port Elizabeth to Cape Town, then on to Johannesburg to close the loop, let me know if you want to see the car and meet the guys who do the driving.

Almost a year ago we Geoff and Terence achieved the Impossible; they managed to drive a Hillman Imp from Joburg to Coventry in the UK to celebrate the car’s 50th birthday. After the success of their trip the car was entered into the Classic car of the Year competition in England and against hundreds of other much shinier classics it managed to claim runner up at this prestigious event. 
On the 1 year anniversary of the Groot Imp Trek we will bring the car back to South Africa. It will arrive by ship in Port Elizabeth and then travel to the Historic Hillclimb in Knysna. Thereafter a trip to Cape Town for a few days before continuing on to Joburg, Arriving back where it started with a generous amount of fanfare that the little car deserves. 
Tomorrow 28 March is the 365 day anniversary of our famous departure and to mark the day, Geoff and I will drive another of Terence's Imps again north from Johannesburg but this time we will spare the folk of Coventry and pay a visit instead to our good friend and Imper David Alderson Smith who lives in the quaint little town of Cullinan which some years ago produced the World's largest daimond which is today to be found on the Queens crown! 
the picture was sent to me by a lady who once owned a chamois and immediately took an interest in the Imp as i was chatting with Frank who previously did the Mongol Rally in an Imp under the name Team Badger. (great clip on U tube worth watching!) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l5hk_chz47Q

Terence Tracey

Manager of Scrooge Diner.

Get there for good value and interesting fellow diners, who may be from all over the world plus motor sport fundi's.

Roy

British Seagull 5hp carburator

In this case its a twin fixed jet one we have changed to a 25:1 fuel to oil mix jet.

The carb is a quality item and is known as the Seagull - Amal two - jet Carburetor.

This carburetor arrived in a mess, we have reworked it, and painted it,fitted the 25:1 fixed jet and put a new
choke hood and throttle cable on the carb.

Normally the fuel mix is 10:1 so liable to smoke?

The outboard will have the timing cover spray painted in hammered gold metal paint, the rebuilt  petrol tank

will finish the restoration.

Roy

A Series three RCOD ?

This  is being discussed right now, it will be a CNC kit to a real classic please read the blog below to get an idea of what this boat has done and probably will do again?


http://sayachts.blogspot.com/2011/01/rcod.html

 

RCOD Shosholoza in Chapmans Bay, South Africa.

What an exciting prospect!

Roy
 

Watchmate AIS Imports, Duty and local Vat?

The Watchmate AIS by Vesper Marine continues to be a popular choice and cruising yachts persons are choosing this make over others. We have been the Vesper Marine agent for Southern Africa now for some years, we can ship to other destinations of course.

We ship using companies like Fedex, they are very cost effective and delivery takes around a week.

Duty is not applied on navigation equipment but we are charged 14% Vat when the goods enter the country.

The buyer then claims the Vat back from customs when leaving the country, its the same as when flying out?

Roy

When it says stop you stop?

Well what choice did the driver have?

Your arrival at the very nice Hout Bay Yacht Club in Hout Bay Harbour demands you stop there!

The car is a 1967 Singer Chamois which I restored some twenty years back. Used as a daily driver for
thirteen years, it was then used less often but still on a regular basis.

Upgrades have continued, a part Sport engine is now complimented with Monte Carlo lower and stiffer road springs, plus a change to disc brakes on the front of the car. Note the larger 13" steel rims, the tyres then become a lower profile, the ones used are similar to those on the Fiat Uno and 65 x 155 x 13.

Roy

The RCOD or Black Soo design as a kit?

This has been on the back burner some years but we have never had a an order,so nothing ever became of the idea. The  Royal Cape One Design (RCOD) concept was taken from Zeeslang, which is still sailing and now in Austria.

The boat that started it all, Zeeslang.

 http://ckdboats.blogspot.com/2009/12/yacht-zeeslanga-good-wooden-boat.html

A Roy McBride picture, taken in the Hout Bay Harbour at the Hout Bay Yacht Club marina.

BUT! that design is a very special and super fast sailing yacht, plus against some of todays fancy but fast yachts can still show a decent turn of speed, did Chris in Durban quote me 25 knots of boat speed?

We now have an ex TBA member who is doing the plans, put that another way a cut file for us to CNC the hull bulkhead shapes.

Unlike the older plywood boats, the new ones when built in an epoxy/ plywood build will stay both light and also strong.

Traditional wood builds could and did take as much as 20% of the boats weight up in sea water, it would have been less with the plywood sheeting builds, say 10% how much is that, I wonder would it be 50 or even 100kgs?

Anyone with interest with this design and idea please contact me.

Roy

A new Hillman Imp Timing Chain Tensioner

May 2014 and some two years since the repair shown below was tested in a 1963 Hillman Imp engine. We find the rub strip looked just as it is in the picture below but could be prised free with a screwdriver.

Please do not copy this attempt to re furbish the Imps timing chain tensioner parts, an update will follow once we have the correct grade of glue.

I say new but refurbished would be a better term?

Now we are into year 51 of the Hillman Imp motor car some parts are either hard to find or very expensive, both probably?

The engines timing chain tensioner fits that description exactly.

This is an old tensioner fitted with a South African anti friction pad, I did this in April 2013 for a 1963 Hillman Imp engine I was rebuilding.

The 1963 engine with the remade chain tensioner fitted. The engine has now run for many hours as a static motor on the bench top, no degrade of the tensioner was seen.

The suppliers of the friction pad and the special flexible epoxy were both involved with this idea, approval was given by both suppliers.

The last Rootes made tensioner  (on the right) was supplied to me by a company in the UK in 2011, the cost ex works was GBP42 then, that's about R756 right now, plus postage, import duty and local Vat of course.

The small friction pad on the left may be next to be remanufactured if there is enough response?

We now have a Timing Chain Tensioner export order and would be happy to have more!

The price? R385 ex works and with a replacement tensioner blade, that's GBP 22.00 or U$36 .00 depending on the exchange rate? payment with your Amex, Visa or Mastercard via Pay-Pal is acceptable

The old and the new, we need your old metal parts on and exchange basis.

Roy

British Seagull 5hp with a new finish

The Seagull engine in question looks to have never run in salt water, it was very second hand when delivered though.

Now such engines are made from good materials and given we can take them apart to the last nut and bolt if required, refinishing to as close to new is possible.

The flywheel cover will be sprayed with new gold in a hammer finish.

This work is not unlike restoring a classic car it takes time, lots of time, plus the parts have to be imported, Cape Mail stopped the parcel, then levied duty plus the normal 14% Vat of course.

So here we are, the main body and power train is rebuilt, its the fuel tank next and that has to be cut into three parts to enable it to be reshaped and allow the new solid brass threaded insert to be Silver Soldered in, thats expensive stuff, then again this is that kind of restoration.

Just the hammered gold paint on the flywheel cover and the rebuilt fuel tank to add now.

Hint, keep your restored British Seagull outboard working well and looking clean by running it in fresh water and then cleaning it down with some Teepol Orange (clear)  pure soap, then rinse with clean water.

Roy

 

The outboard as it looked on arrival!

 

 

The engine will not have run in years?

 

 

 Dirty and the tank filler is wrecked, the parts were mainly intact otherwise, you can see why a total strip down was required.

 

A message in from my parts supplier.

Must say the Seagull looks as close to original factory condition as any I have seen, well done!

Regards,

John

How to assemble a 5hp British Seagull outboard

The diagrams I have give an indication as to what goes where but so many models seem to use other parts and its not altogether clear what fits what or where? We have fitted the 25:1 petrol to oil conversion kit to the carburetor, the original mix was 10:1 so prone to smoking?

With Friday being a public holiday in South Africa I used the free time to sort this lot out, click on the picture to enlarge.

We now hold stocks of the correct 140 grade of gear oil.

Parts have been re chromed and really do look correct now.

The main assembly is back together, the clutch works again, all that remains is to fit the propeller, the mounting clamp, carburettor, handle and control, plus that petrol tank with its gaping hole once repaired.

How easy will that be, time will tell?

Roy

We have a similar British Seagull 5hp engine which was serviced and fitted with new parts as required, its for sale, restoration can be done if required. The engine has never been used in salt water and is in great condition, contact me for pricing.

How to assemble a Mirror Dinghy from a CNC cut kit

This may be the same from a hand or electric jig saw cut kit but Peter the boat builder was very happy with the panel fit and how easy the hull went together. Check how well the bulkhead in the picture fits.

With the actual hull dry assembled with copper wire, Peter then applied a mix of epoxy , micro balloons and fumed silica between the copper wire.

Note how clean and smooth the center line joint is when the copper wire has been removed.The dagger board case has not been fixed in position yet.

The deck and seat panels fit well ( I have the foredeck upside down!)

This is a larger boat than I expected but Peter tells me it has turned out to be a  pleasure to construct.

With regards to the size, the Mirror is 10' 11" long but check the chopped off pram dinghy bow, is we extend the sides forward we really have a 13' 6" inch boat!

The decks and seats will all be bonded in next week and we will then have the very first CNC cut Mirror assembled and ready to trim out.

Once measurements are prooven we can accept your orders for both kits and completed boats, on a first come first served.

This boat will be sold unpainted unless you want it finished.

More next week

Roy

Google Earth is watching you

Well I have to assume its Google Earth, it may be the Cape Town City Council also?

Seen yesterday and in the Alphen to Constantia areas.

Click on the picture to enlarge it.

This is not too bad a picture when we consider the camera is my now old Canon G11 which has the well known fault of scratches on the lens, yes a bad design fault for sure. I went to telephoto as the Honda CRV was moving away from me, the windscreen of my Ford LDV seems not to be there?

The Eyes Have It, or is that us?

I think the gear was active as a spinning wheel could be seen on the top of the rig.

Big Brother or was it Little Sister?

Roy

Note, if your home, car or person is found on Google Earth and you have an objection, you can request them to degrade the image, you can also ask them to correct a position based on a postal code if the building indicated is to be seen out of position. I have done this myself and later found the marker was placed in the correct position.

Impressions magazine competition now open!

I am not sure if none Imp Club members can enter this competition but why not give it a try?

www.theimpclub.co.uk

None members are welcome to try on a fun basis.

Taufeeq lifting  and Saleem watching.

 

One from me, how about " The worlds first light car" ???

The model is a 1971 Hillman Imp Deluxe.

Roy

Mirror Dinghy progress on our CNC kit assembly

I spoke to Peter the boat builder yesterday, progress sounds good and I will see him later today, so pictures of the Mirror Dinghy build then.

I think he has been fastening the pine cleats to the bulkheads and seats?

This was just one week back, the hull panels were put together two days later!

It was easy says Peter.

At this stage the copper wire has been removed after the epoxy paste fitted into the hulls ply joints was cured, this leaves a nice clean surface on which the glass tape will be epoxy fitted later.

Check the pine cleats which are fitted first.

Kits and part or fully built Mirror Dinghy's to order.

Roy

Exide battery charging on a Singer Chamois

The 1967 Singer Chamois is kind to batteries, the Lucas  generator only puts out 20amps but for normal driving use and including using headlights this is fine.

The battery is a couple of years old, more maybe? I have never checked the fluid levels as modern batteries seem not to need this?  The car is used on a weekly basis but not for great distances, I allow the engine to reach a decent warm up and by the time I put the car away the heater is working, this in an Imp tells  you that the water has circulated and arrived at the front of the car.

 

The car normally starts first time and even after a week or two when I have not driven it. Recently I have detected that the battery was not quite as strong as normal, time to check the fluid levels? I removed the battery and sure enough the fluid levels were well down, topped up and with a fairly clever charger on I was pleased to see that the charge came up to a decent level.

 

 

The battery fits on the right hand side of the engine bay, looking inside it to check the fluid levels is not that easy, so removal of the battery was the better idea.

 

Its worth checking the battery levels?

 

How easy is that!

 

Roy