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The following account of the restoration of S.Y. Ena's engine in 1984 is an extract from the book, 'Ena', by Alan Deans.

The original steam engine had been stored for many years in Hobart, but parts had been stolen from it and the remains were eventually used as landfill during construction of a shipping terminal. One of similar size was found, however, in Hobart aboard the disused river ferry Excella. The coincidence here was that, like Ena, Excella had been designed by Walter Reeks (a noted Sydney shipbuilder at the end of the nineteenth century), although originally diesel-driven and later converted to steam. In her day, Excella was the fastest ferry on the Derwent, but by the early 1980s she was moored and being used as a restaurant and cocktail bar.

The steam engine was still below decks, but someone had used a gas torch to cut the top off and provide more deck space. The top of the engine had simply been let to fall into the piston rods and crankshaft. The machinery was winched out, and the rusty shapes of the cast iron and steel transported to Sydney.

There the parts were welded together and the whole engine carefully reassembled, as in a jigsaw puzzle, to ensure that it would work and it would fit. Then it was stripped down and the parts used as patterns for the new engine, which was recast or forged in a variety of workshops around the suburbs.

The only part of Excella's engine that could be salvaged was the cylinder block. A new engine bed had to be constructed because the replacement unit had been designed for a flat-bottomed ship, whereas Ena's beam was narrow and her bottom v-shaped.

Once all the new engine parts were ready, they were assembled and the unit pressure tested. Any part that did not fit properly was machined until it did. Once everyone was satisfied that it worked, the engine was stripped down again. It was detailed and painted, and only then assembled for the last time.