The Daysailor | Systems: Diesel Engine Foundations

~MENU~

Home

The Concept

The Boat

Bringing Her Home

Weekly
Progress Log

Daysailor
Projects

The Boat Barn

Resources

Other Sites

Email Tim

Systems: Diesel Engine: Engine Foundation and Engine Installation

Engine Foundations: Final Installation

Once the epoxy adhesive and fillets cured, I briefly sanded the areas to smooth out any rough spots and prepare them for final fiberglassing. Then, I spent a fair bit of time cutting the various pieces of material for the installation. Since I had abundant quantities in stock, I chose 6" biaxial tape in a 24-oz. weight; the smaller size also would make installation a bit easier, if more time-consuming. Each side of the foundation, inside and out, required three layers of the tabbing, so I had to cut a total of 48 separate pieces.

With all the pieces cut to the proper size (each subsequent piece overlapped the one previous by a couple inches), I installed all the tabbing in epoxy resin over the next several hours, carefully rolling out each layer to ensure the best bonding. The final layers extended all the way up the wooden foundations to the top edge for ultimate strength, and also to begin the planned full encapsulation of the foundations in fiberglass.

The next day, I cleaned and sanded the new fiberglass, and proceeded with the final fiberglassing steps. With the main tabbing done, the remaining fiberglass was for protection and encapsulation purposes only, and was not intended to add much in the way of structural strength; mainly, it would clean up the top edges of the foundations, and serve as a first defense against surface moisture. I used a double layer of 10 oz. cloth over the top, running it over the edges to cover the top edge of the heavy tabbing beneath, and a single layer of cloth on the forward and after ends and corners.

When the fiberglass was cured, and after sanding, I was able to paint out the new foundations and surrounding bilge areas in the engine room, completing the bulk of that job. I left a small area around the stern tube unpainted, since I had yet to permanently install the stern tube. That would come later, when I installed the engine.

Next: engine installation.

Preparing for Engine Installation

Since I was ready to get the engine in the boat--I wanted this heavy work out of the way before I applied finish primer, which was coming right up--I enlisted some help to set up a hoisting rig and lift the new engine off the floor and into the cockpit. First, though, I prepared the day before by moving the engine from the front of the shop to the back, after hoisting it onto my rolling staging for the move.

Using a pair of ladders and a heavy 4x6 beam, along with my trusty chain hoist, we managed to successfully lift the engine the 8' needed to safely ensconced it in the cockpit.

Lifting an engine into a relatively finished boat is always a somewhat tricky task, particularly with less-than-ideal rigs, but we accomplished the feat with no real problems. It felt good to have the engine up in the cockpit, where I left it for a day or so while I made the final preparations for its installation on the new foundations.

After a long web search, I located some 316 stainless steel threaded inserts, which I wanted to use in the plywood foundations. I planned to epoxy the threaded inserts in place, which would provide a secure and effective means of attaching the engine to the foundations; I thought the threaded inserts would make for a stronger installation than by simply using lag screws into the plywood. Plywood is very strong, but does not excel at holding fasteners in its end grain.

I chose 3/8-24 threaded inserts and fine thread bolts, both 316 stainless, for the task. I bought 1-1/4" bolts since the 1" ones I really wanted were not available in a reasonable amount of time.

To begin, I set my engine base template on the foundations, with the four flexible mounts installed, and after positioning the template properly, marked the locations of the boltholes in each of the mounts. Then, I removed the template and got to work.

To install the inserts, I first drilled a 31/64" pilot hole, then carefully self-tapped the inserts into the foundations with my largest screwdriver. I looked for a 9/16-12 tap (the size of the outer threads on the inserts) at a local store, but they didn't have one, so I figured I could give it a try without the tap. The tap would have made the installation job easier, but in the end I succeeded, though installing eight of the inserts took nearly two hours all told.

Once I had threaded the holes with the inserts, I removed them and then reinstalled them permanently with a thin coat of epoxy on the threads to lock them in place.

Finally, I loosely installed the flexible engine mounts in their new inserts, leaving the mounting bolts relatively loose to allow for adjustment as needed. Then, I prepared to move and lower the engine into place.

The engine was already in the cockpit, but was at the after end, far from the actual engine beds. To get it into position, I carefully lifted/dragged it (on a protective blanket) up onto the after engine hatch, which I had reinstalled for the occasion. Once on the hatch, I could easily pull the engine up towards the forward end, where it ended up directly above the new foundations.

I set up a heavy beam on a series of blocks on the sidedecks, directly over the mounts. It was immediately clear that there was not enough room for the chain hoist to work beneath the beam, so I had to add additional blocks to raise the hoisting beam a few more inches. Even this was not really adequate, but I was out of blocks. By two-blocking the hoist, I found that I could just start to lift the engine; with a little grunting, I managed to pull the engine hatch out from beneath, leaving the engine hanging in the clear space above the mounts.

Then, it was a simple task to lower the engine the couple feet onto its pre-installed mounts, which thankfully turned out to be in the correct locations and lined up properly with the engine mount flanges. In only a few minutes, the engine was secured in place, though all bolts were still loose for later adjustment and alignment.

I was further pleased to confirm that there was lots of room a round the engine for maintenance, and that the engine hatch easily cleared the top of the engine. Of course this was not an accident, as I had carefully planned and located everything to ensure that this particular engine would fit, but it was still heartening to have my calculations confirmed.

Please click here to continue with the engine and related systems.>