Engine Access Port

[TheIntern36]

Has anyone installed, or considered installing a large reinforced hatch in the cockpit sole to access the fuel tank and aft parts of the engine from above.. That has to be an easier way to get hands on the engine than climbing down through the cockpit lockers.

[PeteW]

I just spent a few days jacking up crawling around up a the front of my engine. (700 lbs) I had to remove both motor mounts, drill and saw off the brackets and replace the rubber mounts to loose 1.5" port and starboard. I needed this to finalize the  alignment on the U-joint following the bogus repower job the PO did.

Hatches would have been of no value in assisting this work. However I am considering drilling holes and plugging the deck at precise locations to allow me to extract the pushrods. This will facilitate removing the head in-situ.

Besides, a little yoga and contortions are good exercise.  

FYI if you ever need to jack up the front of the motor to extract the mounts. 5/8" all thread and wooden blocks under the exhaust manifold works like a champ. The rubber in my mounts was hard and collapsed to where it was metal on metal.


Pete

[TheIntern36]

That's good to know.  I'm hoping I won't ever need to get that up close and personal again (other than routine maint.)  The engine is in my shop now about halfway through a rebuild.  Also thanks for the reminder I need to source some motor mounts.  All mine are in pretty bad need of replacement.

https://goo.gl/photos/j9kCAd6qTdBxtwXv6

[PeteW]

Is your Pearson a Katrina boat? I suspect my Pearson was totaled by Wilma (2005 Ft Lauderdale). It showed up  abandoned  out in CA a couple of years later and in very poor condition. Holes in the deck and a bathtub ring down below where it had laid on its side in sea water. Pearsons are strong. Any other boat would have sunk.

You engine bed looks to be modified. All the cross members removed probably  to facilitate alignment to the V-drive  with a 1:1 Velvet Drive  bolted in. Don't know what your budget is but I recommend the high deflection damper plate from R&D Marine to replace the spring type. Also you may want to get a bonding wire onto one of those strut bolts before you drop the motor in. Very hard to get to otherwise.

You can find the correct motor mount part numbers at Bushings Inc. on-line. D2200-7 or maybe -5 for the 4-108. I bought mine through Go2marine. Free shipping.

Looks like you're doing a great job.     Pete

[INCOMMUNICADO]

Intern, The motor bed looks great. One of the many mistakes I have made over the past thirty years was not making a drip pan the first time I removed the engine.  Perkins are great engines but they leak oil. I made mine with a hose going to the sump with a stainless steel catch can. It made life better. Allen

[TheIntern36]

Pete- I purchased the boat in Kemah, TX, so have no reason to believe she was hurt in Katrina.  You are right about my transmission, it is a 1:1 Velvet Drive, which I am planning on opening up, and possibly rebuilding as soon as my engine is back in one piece. 

One issue that I'm having to face before we get the motor back in is a leaky strut bolt.  You can't tell from that picture but one of the bolts is weeping quite a bit (I expect much more if the 600 lbs iron horse was in place.  I've dammed it with some epoxy but only so I could paint it..  I am making preparations to do a haul out sometime this fall, before the engine goes back in.  I plan on having the yard remove and rebed the strut, and I will go through replacing 4 thru-hulls while it's out (the overboard discharge for the head, shower sump, and cockpit drains all need to be gone through).  I'll bond it as soon as it's not leaking.

Thanks for the encouragement, the PO neglected a serious oil leak for god only knows how long.  I inherited a major sludge issue, that took many cans of foaming simple green, hot water, and pressure washer to remove.  But nothing beats sitting in your engine bay running hose in a white t-shirt and coming out clean.

These are some pics of where I started...

https://goo.gl/photos/dXKwNqPYBZx9hWTd9

https://goo.gl/photos/e5sxiGsHeBmNuJD96

https://goo.gl/photos/Cw2DkY4ckvCmNY9P7

[TheIntern36]

Can companies refurb motor mounts?  Mine look like they were originally from Bushings Inc.  The rubber isn't good anymore but I don't really see anything else wrong with them.

[PeteW]

They cost around $50 a piece. I noticed then when you drop a new mount flat onto concrete it will bounce.   Pete

[Della and Dave]

One other tip I would offer is that when putting the engine back in, put a banjo fitting in the oil drain plug so you can drain the oil at the low point instead of having to use a vacuum extractor.  Much less messy and you get more of the old oil out.  Can't easily do it with the engine in the boat though.   I wish I had one.  

Nice work!

[TheIntern36]

Thanks for the tip.. The easier the better, easy things tend to get done when they should.

[P69]

You might want to consider getting a hydraulic hose made. I know it's way overkill, but if you can't get to  the pan without pulling the engine, how will you change the hose clamp on a home-made drain hose once you put the engine back in. Even if it the clamp might not need changing, now are you going to check it? With hydraulic hose/fittings I can probably forget about and it'll be ok for a long time.  Fortunately, I can reach my pan drain without pulling engine (Universal 5444). I can't see it, just can feel it and get a wrench on it.

I have a similar setup on my engine, but could not find a banjo fitting with the thread pitch for the oil pan (12 x 1.25). I ended up with a 3/8" ID hydraulic hose and fittings coming out of the pan to the reverso pump. that ID also gave me a whole lot more flow than a banjo fitting.

[slokat]

One of the things that a PO did right was to change out the drain plug with a fitting and add a pump to change the oil on Wind Tamer. Simple solution that simplifies maintenance.