Tools on board. Metric? SAE for sure.

[Comodave]

No problem. If AD can copy it to me I will be glad to post it.

 

[Pete Meisinger]

I am lucky, my boat is an old Albin. Made in Taiwan but a screwdriver is a screwdriver metric or SAE. My Ford Lehman is all standard with the exception of one of the valve adjusting screws which I replaced and now is a 12 mm so that is the only metric tool I have on the boat. Both my cars are a combination, even my old 1978 GMC pickup is half and half, what a pain! nice to know I don't need metric on the boat. Still, my tool box weighs about 80 pounds, I use it to offset the weight of the batteries on the other side of the boat.

I also have Bob Smith's recommended tool list. It is on the boat and I'll publish it on this thread next week if it hasn't been posted by then.

pete

 

[Nomad Willy]

I take my whole tool box and a package of metric wrenches for the engine mostly.

 

[Airstream345]

There was a toolbox onboard when we bought ours with just a few larger open ended wrenches, a strangely filed down screwdriver and some homemade spanners used to unscrew the bronze emergency tiller covers - it took me a year to sort out what those were for

So I went straight to a box box store and bought one of those 180 piece sets in the plastic box along with a cheap set of common screwdrivers and few specific wrenches to do things like bar over a Lehman engine, etc.

I find the neat and organized tool boxes work best with my brain and I don't need to spend more time searching for tools than the job itself and I can bring the entire toolset to the job when working then stow it away when not needed.

Now, this said, I've been in a few stand-up, walk-in ERs with their own workbench and toolboxes and I just drool.

 

[Comodave]

I also have Bob Smith's recommended tool list. It is on the boat and I'll publish it on this thread next week if it hasn't been posted by then.

pete[/QUOTE]

That would be great. I have asked AD for the list but don’t know if they have it or not.

 

[Comodave]

I will try to attach the file here. Have not done a pdf file berore so I am not sure if it will work.

 

[romany275]

Thanks Comodave!

 

[Comodave]

No problem once I learned how to get a PDF file from the email to my ipad. AD came through again.

 

[OldDan1943]

I will try to attach the file here. Have not done a pdf file berore so I am not sure if it will work.

Alas, Sears are fast becoming a thing of the past but, we get the idea.... Buy high quality tools the first time.

 

[ben2go]

While I'm building the boat, I plan to keep a list of what tools I use to install systems. Then I will review that list and add to it or pair down as needed. I plan to keep a toolbox or boxes, so I can be mobile around the boat when it's needed.

 

[firstbase]

Ditto

I have the Bob Smith list, attached. I think this was in my paperwork from one of the 3 PO's when I bought the boat... I think. Maybe found it online, not sure. Let me know if there is an issue reading it and I will see what I can do about making it a little sharper.

 

[rjwilliams11741]

As an avid mechanic (amateur), I've just never been able to get that bent about the dual systems to get profane publicly about it, but to each his own. On the other hand, this:



Just doesn't stand up to serious scrutiny:

Betcha the ship and the landing module had a whole lot of metric parts in them.

 

[Comodave]

I have the Bob Smith list, attached. I think this was in my paperwork from one of the 3 PO's when I bought the boat... I think. Maybe found it online, not sure. Let me know if there is an issue reading it and I will see what I can do about making it a little sharper.

Check post #36 for a clean copy from ADC.

 

[firstbase]

Check post #36 for a clean copy from ADC.

There you go, didn't see the post. If appears they are slightly different? The one I have mentions additional tools for Lehmans at the bottom.

Love his comment at the bottom of the PDF..."This is just a start".

 

[OldDan1943]

There you go, didn't see the post. If appears they are slightly different? The one I have mentions additional tools for Lehmans at the bottom.

Love his comment at the bottom of the PDF..."This is just a start".

The mentioned red touchup paint will look great on my Cummins.

 

[firstbase]

The mentioned red touchup paint will look great on my Cummins.

The Cummins Measles Model. Go for it!

 

[AusCan]

As an avid mechanic (amateur), I've just never been able to get that bent about the dual systems to get profane publicly about it, but to each his own. On the other hand, this:



Just doesn't stand up to serious scrutiny:

Except when the NASA Mars orbiter was lost due to one engineering team using SAE units and another using metric.

 

[OldDan1943]

Except when the NASA Mars orbiter was lost due to one engineering team using SAE units and another using metric.

I thought that was the Hubble telescope. Not to worry, they send up a 'corrective lens.'

 

[jsjudd]

The US government converted the USA to metric shortly after the revolutionary war, but they made compliance voluntary. Perhaps because we value individual freedom more than group cooperation? I dunno. Congress has updated the law multiple times, but never got the gumption to actually force conversion to happen -- unlike Canada, which converted in the 1970s and got much of it accomplished in painless short order.

The result is the mess that has continued now for centuries. We are the only country in the world that has 2 systems. So if you own a US-built boat, you have to carry both sets of wrenches. It's a sad and very American story.

My next boat will be something that was made OUTside the US. Then I will only have to carry one set of tools.

 

[Bigsfish]

jsjudd “My next boat will be something that was made OUTside the US. Then I will only have to carry one set of tools.”

Not so quick skippy, my current boat was made in Malaysia and it has metric and USA hardware on it.

 

[koliver]

I carry a full set of Metric and a full set of SAE tools. I don't mind.
I also carry lots of spare screws and whenever I have to take something off for repair or even for cleaning or varnishing, if the screw is a slot and sometimes if it is Phillips, I replace it with Robertson. This is one place the US has fallen way behind, as their insistence on Phillips screws and their common usage of slot screws creates a lot of extra work when the screw or bolt is balky. Slots strip easily. Phillips strip too, though not a badly as Slot. Robertsons almost never strip. Phillips come in way too many sizes and angles, so to prevent getting the wrong screwdriver in the screw and stripping it is difficult. Robertsons come in a sensible number of sizes. colour coded too.

 

[Kit_L]

My boat has a mixture of metric and SAE, so I thought I need "everything".

To the OP, ben2go, I had never heard of Metrinch tools before, and will definitely look into them—and we do have local distributors, too.

I have a number of toolboxes presently, plus a pretty practical range of 18V tools and enough batteries for using a few tools at a time. Together, basic woodworking setup, plus mechanical setup. I am keeping notes on what I use for all the repairs I am doing presently. Like another poster above, I use my boxes for trim!

 

[OldDan1943]

My boat has a mixture of metric and SAE, so I thought I need "everything".
I use my boxes for trim!

I use my wine cellar as ballast and trim.

 

[STB]

My boat has Perkins, which are SAE, but I find tons of uses for my metric. Outboard motor mount. HVAC system. Windlass. Bolts the old owner(s) put in to tie things down. Maybe the genset, I cant remember. Various clamps, etc.

My metric set doesn't get used on the mains -- but never gets dusty. Mostly the small and,mid sozes get used. Rarely more than 13mm.

 

[Night Watch]

Engine zinc wrench

I can’t find an SAE or metric socket to remove engine zinc on Volvo TMD41a engine. A friend loaned me her calipers and it’s 21.5mm!
Nothing seems to fit it. I’d like to find a socket but neither 21 or 22 work. My friend said to use a 6 sided type socket rather than 12 and can’t find it at auto part store. Any suggestions besides buying a boat with a Lehman?

 

[Kit_L]

Try the Metrinch equivalent socket; this is part of its huge appeal to me (someone who owns all the relevant SAE and metric spanners and sockets). All seem to be available in 1/4", 3/8", and 1/2" drives, so your existing gear will work with them.

 

[Tom.B]

I have a European engine in a California-made boat. So I have both... even without the Volvo... I would STILL probably have both. I have a nicely organized, good quality plastic box of 1/4” and 3/8” drive sockets only and a roll up set of spanners (SAE and metric). I too will cringe when someone pulls out a box of cheap and rusty tool bought at a flea market or truck sale. Lots of people make it work, but it just isn’t the way us old techs get things done. Moreover, often they are just piled in a box and they will spend a great deal of time sifting thru the mess to find the correct size. To me that is a little nuts. I also have several bags, that to be honest, need some organizational direction. I was hoping to have one for electrical tools and one for woodwork, however, there is so much crossover, it really didn’t work out. So I basically have one bag for most used, one for less used, and a hard box (that doubles as a step up into the v-berth bed) for the oddball and specialty stuff.

 

[Kit_L]

Tom B. wrote:

one bag for most used, one for less used, and a hard box (that doubles as a step up into the v-berth bed) for the oddball and specialty stuff

Wah: almost identical (except my step up box is the electrical tools one). Noice!

 

[ben2go]

I can’t find an SAE or metric socket to remove engine zinc on Volvo TMD41a engine. A friend loaned me her calipers and it’s 21.5mm!
Nothing seems to fit it. I’d like to find a socket but neither 21 or 22 work. My friend said to use a 6 sided type socket rather than 12 and can’t find it at auto part store. Any suggestions besides buying a boat with a Lehman?

A flip socket will work. 20 on one side and 21.5 on the other.


https://www.amazon.com/CTA-Tools-17...34422029da2901aaafd1ca2d912a16&language=en_US

 

[koliver]

I can’t find an SAE or metric socket to remove engine zinc on Volvo TMD41a engine. A friend loaned me her calipers and it’s 21.5mm!
Nothing seems to fit it. I’d like to find a socket but neither 21 or 22 work. My friend said to use a 6 sided type socket rather than 12 and can’t find it at auto part store. Any suggestions besides buying a boat with a Lehman?

On my TAMD 41s, the zincs in both engine and trans HEs have 13mm square ends. Use an adjustable wrench to remove the odd sized ones and replace with the common ones.