Andy135

Good write up. Sounds like a productive day, even if the unicorns stayed away. Like you, I've been hearing of them in the Solent proper. Maybe worth turning right next time out...

Luckily got an invite on a friends boat Saturday,  with the massive tides we opted to have a tester at inner Nab.  There were some reports of Unicorns (cod) in the solent but we stuck to the plan expecting the solent to be weedy and a struggle with the size of tide. 
 
Quite lumpy when we got to the mark and if the tides were smaller would have run to the solent but hey ho nothing ventured nothing gained. 
 
Not much to report really a constant stream of straps, dogs and whiting with a double figure undulate showing on a live whiting being the best fish of the day. 
 
Counted over 20 boats out there with a few moving about so guessing the cod did not read the plan. Did hear of a couple appearing in the solent so maybe we made the wrong decision but thats easy to say with hindsight. 
Didn't bother with pictures mainly because I didn't want to drop the phone in the drink but more importantly we didn't get anything we deemed worthy of a picture, the Ray was released alongside so not bloated and weighed. 
Calmed nicely just after lunch with a bit of sun coming through but the bites dried up so we sacked it and headed in around 3pm 

Good choice to go for white. Really changes the feel of the boat - looks very sleek 👍

She is fitted with a ford sabre 180hp  gives 16/17 knots at 2000 revs

Will do
 

Zooks gone all foreign
Didn't understand any of them there words

You weren't far from us, I was out on a friends boat.  Lumpy as you say at first, quiet on the fish front with a nice double undulate the notable fish amongst straps and Whiting

Another Solent angler! An extra-big welcome then - there are a few of us on here from that part of the coast. 👍

I have been fishing the Solent and beyond for around 35 years started on charters and progressed to my own boat a few years later,,, I fish all year but it’s the cod season I like the most. As Suzook said some of you may know me from wsf 

Thought shotgun was better option! 🤣

New to the site and liking what I’ve seen so far 

Just because that's what we use😁😁

Ok, I think we need a facepalm option under the "Like" menu as that's the second time today I've caught you making a "Dad" joke, and it's even worse than the first! 1/10 at best - go stand in the corner and think about what you've done... 🤦‍♂️

I only picked her up the week before last so won't get launched until next spring.
I'll miss my old Reiver, it's done me well over the last 28 years

So you fancy having a crack at valve clearances? It makes no odds as to whether its a 4 stroke outboard or diesel inboard, principals are the same...... It is always better to have clearances set at the top of their clearance
First of all there are 3 general types of tappet arrangement;
Hydraulic These are great as no scheduled maintenance. Should the lifter fail then its a replacement job. This style relies on oil pressure to operate, so if you start getting rattly tappets, turn it off, you are short of oil.... Personally, I've never had one fail, but I have had issues when they've all been replaced. Ended up towing vehicle about in gear to get enough oil pressure to expand them!!!
Bucket and shim These come in two styles, shim under bucket and shim over bucket. Over buckets are easier to do, as normally there is a valve tool to create enough gap between cam and bucket to remove shim. On some engines these have been known to spit shims out at extreme performance conditions. The under buckets have no such issues, but generally these are a cam out job! So this will mean new belt kit for the modern engines.
The trick is to measure all the gaps before removing shims, then hopefully the sizes are still readble, otherwise its micrometer time, or the very least, a good set of verniers. Normally shims come in 0.05mm increments.
Once measured you can then workout what size shim you need to replace with. If you cant find a shimming chart then basic maths is required.....
Locknut and Screw Ultimately the easiest type to deal with. Some screws have a square drive on the end and there are adjuster tools to make the job easier.....
 
Soooo, now we know about the different types, what is it we are trying to achieve? The basic idea is that as the engine warms up, parts expand, including the valves. So to get a nice seal when the valve is closed we need a gap between the valve and cam or rocker. If too tight, then when the engine warms, you will hear it drop a cylinder or more out... This is why it's important for engine to be stone cold
So next we need to know when to adjust each valve in turn. This is where some understanding of how the engine works comes in. You need the cylinder on firing stroke at TDC. So if you put the engine on its TDC marks, then either cylinder 1 or 4 will be on firing stroke. For an overhead cam engine, the cylinder with the cam lobes pointing away from the valve is on firing stroke. So once that cylinder is adjusted, turn the motor through 360 degrees and the other cylinder will be on firing stroke. If you turn the crank through 180 degrees, the cylinders 2/3 will come in to play, repeat process, turn through 360 again for the 2nd cylinder of that pairing.
For engines with rockers and pushrods, as you aproach TDC, watch the valves, you will have one cyinder where the exhaust is closing and the inlet is opening, this cylinder is "on the rocks" (rocking between valve open/valve closed), so the other cylinder is on firing stroke.
 
If you know the firing order, life gets a bit simpler to understand what the engine is doing. Cylinders 1 and 4 go up and down together and are 180 degrees to 2 and 3, so firing will either be 1,3,4,2 or 1,2,4,3. For all 4 cylinders to go through a firing stroke, the crank will turn through 720 degrees. With a 4 stroke, a piston goes up on compression stroke, down on power stroke, up on exhaust stroke  then down on induction stroke.... Easily remembr as Suck, squeeze, bang, blow..... Lust like a 2 bit hooker!!
You will also need to know the spec for clearances, and if a shim engine, a shim chart is useful....
Tools required Am going to assume you have access to the valves already, so you will need:
A socket/ratchet/spanner to fit the crank pulley to turn the crank
Feeler gauges
Spanner and driver/pliers or adjuster tool for locknut and screws
verniers or micrometer for bucket and shim engines
Chalk for marking pullies (makes it easier to see)
Head Torch
Obviously the list is not exhaustive as different engines an have skightly different requirements

Boat pic uploaded, yes, it is a fair trek but I've been doing that for nearly 30 years now, I've retired now so I'm able to pick and choose travelling times to suit 

Better not let them know your a Ginge either. 
imagine the embarrassment of having bought a boat from a ginger !! DFC

no point doing half a job

Hello from Chippenham,
I live in Wiltshire but the boat's in Scotland at the Isle of Whithorn.
I bought a Reiver Sportsman new in 1992 which I've just replaced with an Orkney PilotHouse 20.
Boat fishing is summer only for me, I love my shore fishing for codling in the winter.
I'll look forward to a great forum
Chris

Welcome, I like the orkneys
Get a few pics up on the show us your boat thread

I've just ordered another batch of OO stickers for boats/tackle boxes etc, due for delivery in about a weeks time. If anyone's interested then this batch will work out at about £3 per sticker. Post up if you're interested in having one.



 

Bit of a "Dad" joke that... 2/10 I'm afraid. Must try harder... 🤦‍♂️

What if its on his trailer on his driveway