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I just upgraded my old claw anchor to a Rocna (trad style not the Vulkan, as I wanted the bail/guard -- to avoid fouling in swirly tidal anchorages). The old claw was 15kg and not imho adequate for the boat (GB32). It held in most conditions but let go on me one evening last summer in a rather...

I can't find a part number on my Velvet Drive (maybe too many coats of spray paint over the years?) but it dates from 1968 or so. I am looking for a manual that would tell me about the fill level, as it seems to me to be overfilled (per dipstick markings). The dipstick is weird (has a dogleg...

Still trying to figure out what killed my alternator. When I started investigating the problem I found that the drive belt was quite loose (as in, I could turn the alt easily by hand without the belt moving). This was totally my bad, as the alt was a new install about a year ago and I know...

1). Alt belt replacement... On my F-L 120 (as other owners may know) to install a new alt belt you have to drain the coolant system (wth were they smoking...) and pull the main coolant hose. This is not a nice feature and I've been considering buying some feet of Fenner power-twist link belt...

I have been extensively lectured by the Guy Who Knows Everything About Ford Lehmans (the invaluable Brian at American Diesel) about the general godawfulness of my massive water-jacket exhaust system, and he has convinced me that it can be done more simply and safely and easily by reverting to...

I'll try to get some good pics of this and update later, because it's hard to describe, but my FL 120 has a non-standard exhaust system that looks pretty strange to me.... From the back of the engine just at water injection point emerges a monster stainless steel pipe maybe 4 inch diam. It...

My ancient 120 is leaking diesel and I'm trying to figure out where it's really coming from... seems like low down on the stbd side (of course, where all the fuel lines are). I've been tying dry rags around various connectors and then watching to see how wet they get, and I now suspect that the...

I am fairly contented with the combo chartplotter/fishfinder Hook5. It does what I want. I have one big gripe about it though and am wondering whether anyone has a workaround. It offers the usual two chart orientations -- North Up and Course Up. Not to start a religious war or anything, but...

[UPDATE: Never Mind... just checked again, for grins, and the Benmar website -- though very patchy looking (broken image links etc) -- is back... and there's a new phone number. I'd have deleted this post if I could find a Delete option, so the next best thing was to update it with a Never...

My new old beater Grand Banks 32 came with a clunky old Raymarine GPS/sounder at the indoor helm station, and a Lowrance Hook7 GPS/sounder at the flybridge. The Raymarine works OK, screen is a bit temperamental but it's a decent unit. The Hook7 OTOH never did read depth for me. It reads...

OK, those of you who have one probably know all about this but I am just discovering it. It seems to be impossible to find a filler cap for the header tank on an old Ford Lehman 120. The cap shown here does not really fit right. You have to shove it down very hard to get it to "nearly"...

Hi folks. The story of my new old GB32 seems never to end, still trying to get the engine into travelling condition -- I don't know when I will ever get to actually enjoy the boat! Anyway, after a head gasket job this Spring it appears the mechanic was a bit careless putting everything back...

Well I am not winning so far with the new boat. The flybridge depth sounder was not reading (chartplotter worked, temp OK but depth just blinks random numbers). It's a Lowrance Hook7 from about 2014, 2016, somewhere in there. Googling around I found the suggestion that low voltage could...

My new ancient boat came with a Lowrance Hook (circa 2016?) at the flybridge helm, which was supposed to be in working order and had apparently worked great for many years. Well, it is in almost working order: all GPS functions are working fine. And the transducer is sending believable...

I am trying to set my profile image to a 300x300 jpg that is 57K in size, but the forum site keeps telling me the upload failed. help?

Me again, sorry for the pepper-shot of questions but I am just getting to know my "new old boat" and discovering many mysteries and fixit items. I noticed that there was a lot of deadzone/slop in the flybridge wheel but none at the wheelhouse steering station. Thought maybe a keyway on the...

I just bought an old woodie GB32 that came with a fairly recent Webasto heater (not on the boat right now and can't recollect the model number but it is fairly modern). The heater will not start up (blinking error code 1 which is the most generic, "something's wrong"). It is in a devilishly...

I have finally brought my "new" 1969 GB32 home after a comically extended head gasket job (4 day job took 7 weeks, don't ask me, I don't want to talk about it and I'm still kinda mad). Standard Ford-Lehman 120, single fuel filter (old model), Velvet Drive. I haven't even seen the prop yet so...

I just had the head lapped and a new head gasket installed (plus some other minor engine preening) and we're running nicely. However, oil is escaping at the twist-on cap on top of the valve cover. My valve cover is non-stock -- some fancy chrome job. I think the rubber gasket on the cap is...

I just recently bought a 1969 GB32, a little rough around the edges but sound and serviceable. So I thought I'd drop by and say hello. Certain to have some questions later as I dig into projects, but one immediate trivial question is... ... what diameter is the shaft for the flybridge...

I can feel old age creeping up on me and my sailing days starting to wind down -- spending more time motoring than sailing this last season -- so it's time to start thinking about making the transition to the Dark Side :-) But if I'm to own an MV instead of an SV then I would like something...