Engine Installation.....part 1. (32' Osmond)
Sunday, November 8, 2009 at 5:33PM ;)
After the engine has arrived and been set on the engine beds the installation of the engine can begin. This first picture is of the area where the outside stuffing box will be installed. When the hull arrives at the shop this area of the hull wasn't large enough to accommodate for the box that needed to live there. So the area is increased in size by layering fiberglass until it matches the foot print of the outside stuffing box. These first few sentences are feeling like filler just to get me down the page enough to add another picture, bear with me and maybe the content will improve as the chatter continues.;)
A small hole will be drilled in the center of this area and a string will be pulled up to the back of the motor. Then angles can be checked and the motor can be moved to the correct position using the chain falls and i beams. Once the engine is near its final resting place the pilot hole for the outside stuffing box can be drilled at the correct (undetermined) angle. When the outside box (pic #2) fits into the pilot hole bronze studs (pic #3) are threaded into the hull and pinned in place. Trying to explain this process without the accompanying pictures is proving to be difficult but when writing a post about what you are about to do instead of what you are doing, what did I expect. ;)
After the studs are in place and the box is near its final resting place the inside box can be attacked. In this case the inside box will actually be a cutlass bearing fitted with a PSS dripless shaft seal. The cutlass bearing is pressed into a short piece of fiberglass tube and the tube is glassed in place to support the center of the shaft. A temporary shaft is slid through both boxes and a pad is built under the outside stuffing box until the two boxes are perfectly aligned. Fiberglassing around both box areas and then sanding that fiberglass to a smooth finish and the drive line for this boat is (or should I say "will be") finished. Once the shaft is locked down the engine can then be twitched into place to line up with the shaft.
The next steps for the 32' Osmond:
- Inside and Outside shaft boxes
- Windshield
- Trim Tabs
- Fuel System
- Water System
- Exhaust System
- Finish the Boat
Only seven things on the list.......should have that punched out by next Thursday. ;)
Anything that was difficult to understand in this post should be cleared up with the photos added to the BOATS IN THE SHOP section later this week (or is it next week?). This "bonus" picture is the outside of the primary exhaust. We've been dumping the exhaust out the bottom of the hull and had great results with it. By building a wedge around the front of the hole it creates a low pressure area and eliminates any back pressure issues that could be a concern.
First post delivered on schedule, I intentionally didn't set the bar very high with this one. The writing could have been better but then you would all have been disappointed if the next three posts didn't shine quite as bright.
;)
;)
;)
;)
;)
;)
;)
;)