To recap, this whole project was triggered by a fuel leak. That prompted a reconsideration of the engine, which led to its removal and reconditioning. When the engine was removed, the beds were discovered to be in a shocking state, which led to their removal and a slow reconstruction in one of the most geometrically challenging tasks I have ever undertaken. Now, Hallelujah, the new beds are in and the engine is safely bolted to them in (almost) perfect alignment.
In my last blog I described my initiation into wood-working as I cut and shaped the new beds from scrap timber. I took my newly-cut beds to my mate James, to drill the holes for the holding-down bolts with a drill press (not having one of my own). James is more of a heavy-engineering type, than, say, Naman, who is more of a fine-furniture type. Whereas you would go to Naman for a beautiful cabinet or table, you would go to James for a cyclone shelter. While James kindly drilled the holes, I reconsidered the upper surfaces of my beds, which were about 3mm out of true.
The perfectionist in me decided to build a jig from the extruded aluminium sections from Bunnings. These sections could accurately set out the 75mm step and get things in parallel in my new jig. I employed my new-found planing skills to flatten another plank that I had bought from the Demolition Yard for $9, and then cut out new pads for each of the four engine-bearing-bearing-surfaces. I then attached the pads to the jig and epoxy-glued them to the bearing wedges, with the help of some thinner strips to fill the larger gaps. My new batch of Norglass epoxy set nicely, unlike the dregs from the old batch.
After some more planing, I coated the finished assembly with a layer of clear epoxy resin as a barrier-coat. Like the floor plate, I have decided on a clear finish, through which I should be able to see any rot or other problems, if they ever develop.
If nothing else, the construction of the floor plate and bed has given me the confidence to tackle demanding wood-working jobs with little more than a power-drill, a hand-place, some epoxy resin and a bag of dowels. Keeping metal fixings out of the body of the timber is obligatory because, chances are, you will probably saw or drill into them at some point.
I recruited Ryan and Mark, my son-in-law and his dad, to lift the engine back into the boat. This was easier than taking it out because I had stripped off the 16 kg flywheel and about 17kg of other peripherals, such as the starter motor, alternator, stopper-solenoid and exhaust elbow.
Prior to the engine-lift, I had constructed an aluminium lifting beam that fitted snugly onto the slider-tracks for the companionway cover. To this I attached a lifting strop and chain-hoist so that I could manoeuvre the heavy engine after Mark and Ryan had gone home. The lifting-beam proved its worth in the following days as I lifted the engine into place several times, only to remove it again to make an adjustment to the beds.
In a prime example of going round in circles in the middle of the alphabet, I found that the holes I had drilled the day before had to be filled with epoxy, because they put the beds about 10mm too far forward, leaving insufficient clearance between a cut-out and the fuel pump assembly. These adjustments were too awkward to be made with a power-saw and, in each case, I lifted out the engine, un-bolted the engine beds and took to them with a hand-saw at a work-bench.
Finally, after much jiggling and wiggling, I got the engine into the right place horizontally. I adjusted the height of the bearings to get the flange on the gear box to mate with the flange on the drive shaft. It was better to check the clearances between the two steel flanges, than with the more elastic polymer of the 20mm thick Polyflex coupling. To get it to line up, I needed to wind the rear bearings down to the stops, and raised the drive shaft a few millimetres in the shaft tube. The result is that the drive shaft is a little high in the tube (hence my earlier comment about the alignment being ‘almost perfect’), but the tolerances should be OK. I resisted the perfectionist in me that would have otherwise told me to plane down the beds by about 10mm, lifting the engine out one more time and fitted the Polyflex coupling before sliding it into place.
Importantly, with our without the Polyflex coupling, the clearances around the engine sump and fuel pump were good, being enough to get my fingers around all the protruding bits and pieces. This was the first real test of all my measuring, jig-making, cutting and planing, and I was truly grateful that it all worked.
The beds were bolted onto the floor plate with 65mm M12 stainless steel coach bolts, six per bed or twelve in total. The engine bearings were bolted onto the beds with 50mm M10 stainless steel coach bolts, two per bearing, or eight in total. I pre-drilled the holes for the bolts, to the diameter of the bolt-shafts, which were 8.5mm and 7.0mm for the M12 and M10 bolts respectively. Drilling these holes was a challenge, because Bunnings had a limited selection of Brad Point or auger drill bits. These types of bits cut around the circumference of the hole first, reducing the kind of tear-out you would get with a normal twist-bit.
The auger I had bought had a tapered point, which was designed to bury it into the timber at a surprisingly rapid rate. I had to be careful not to drill it all the way through the hull, which would have joined the inside of the boat directly to the sea, with predictably disastrous consequences.
My strategy was to cut the main hole with an undersized Brad Point bit or auger, and then to ream it out with a twist drill of the right size. A couple of hours crouching over the coach bolts with a ratchet-socket wrench in the engine bay made me feel like I had just spent a significant session on a rowing-machine in a gym, with the sweat to prove it.
I have yet to replace the peripherals and to connect the wiring, fuel and water hoses. However, these should proceed without much more worry, because the engine is now back in place, and the new beds fit.
A is now hull-up.
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| Using the jig to epoxy-glue bearing pads to the engine beds |
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| Using the jig to check the clearances under the engine |
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| The engine, on its way into the boat |
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| Insufficient clearance between the fuel pump and the engine-bed cut-out, which needs further adjustments to the bed, and its location on the floor plate |
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| Lifting beam assembly, which proved its worth in the many times the engine was lifted in and out of the engine bay, whilst it was fitted. |
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| Clearance under the engine sump |
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| After adjustment, the clearance to the fuel pump is good |
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| Checking the rear-port bearing before drilling the fixing-holes for the holding-down coach bolts |
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| Checking the forward port bearing before drilling the fixing-holes for the holding-down coach bolts |
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| Checking the forward-starboard bearing before drilling the fixing-holes for the holding-down coach bolts |
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| Checking the rear-starboard bearing before drilling the fixing-holes for the holding-down coach bolts |
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| Engine in place and bolted down |
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| Engine in place and bolted down |
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| Engine in place and bolted down, showing the coupling to the drive shaft at the rear . |
