Engine Mounting Prepwork

A few weeks before the engine got dropped in I got started on the final prep for the engine compartment. I had previously painted the compartment with bilge paint, but at the last minute I decided to reinforce the engine mounts. It's not that they were in bad shape, but epoxying a few more layers of glass couldn't hurt.

I didn't want to interfere with any of the engine mounting brackets, so I opted to add the glass to the inside of the mounts.  I sanded the area down and cut out 2 layers of 1708 biaxial cloth for each side and trimmed them up for a good fit with a 2" overlap onto the hull.  I glassed those in place and let them setup overnight.  The next morning, I cut out 4 additional pieces of glass that extended further onto the hull right at the mounts and glassed those in.  

Once cured, I bored out the mounting holes on the aft engine mounts because once the engine is in place, I won't be able to get a drill in there to re-tap.  I left the forward engine mounts alone until the engine is installed because the access is better and I won't have to guess at their location. I followed up with another 2 coats of bilge paint.  

Meanwhile, I had ordered butyl sound deadening mat and 1/2" sound/heat proofing foam and got to work on that.  Once the engine was in place and connected to the cooling/exhaust systems soundproofing would be all but impossible.  It's still a cramped area, but other than that it was an easy job.  I just templated out the wall where the butyl and foam was to go and cut it into easy to manage pieces.  Both the butyl mat and the foam have adhesive backing, so as long as you are careful once you pull the backing off, there's nothing to it.  Once the engine is in and setup, I'll be adding more butyl mat and foam to the galley assembly that covers the engine compartment.

Finally, I installed the water lift muffler and the exhaust hose running to the aft port on the stern.  This involved a lot of boat yoga to wiggle into the compartment on the starboard side to access the stern but I somehow managed without getting stuck.  I'm hoping to get the engine on it's mounts this weekend followed by the transmission.  Once that's done, I can start the initial alignment process and get the shaft full installed.

First 2 layers glassed in 

Third layer in progress

Time for more paint

Complete. Note the butyl mat installed in this picture. Foam goes over the top.

Butyl mat and foam in place and seams mostly taped

Much boat yoga required to get in this compartment

Engine is Back in the Boat

The engine in 2023

Almost 2 years to the day after I bought Velorum and equipment, I finally dropped the engine back in after rebuilding it.  It's not installed yet, but it's sitting in the cabin waiting for me to figure out how to get it off its stand and back onto the engine mounts.  It was a big day because I was struggling to find someone in Central NH who had the equipment (and insurance) who was willing to do it.  I could have hired a mobile diesel mechanic from the seacoast to do all the install work but they require that they do the whole job and charge a small fortune.  I just needed someone with a crane to drop the engine in.

Fortunately, Reliable Crane Service came to my rescue and the owner agreed to do the job on a Saturday so it wouldn't tie up his equipment for more lucrative jobs during the week.  So, at 7AM Dennis showed up with a HUGE crane (he said it was his small boom truck and not actually a crane) and got to work setting up.  We connected his hook to my chainfall and he picked up the engine right out of my utility trailer (without the stand because that wouldn't fit into the opening) and hoisted it 30 feet above the boat before lowering it just above the companionway hatch with me giving hand signals. 

Once it was centered over the hatch, my wife started lowering the engine using the chainfall while I guided it into the cabin.  Down below, my son made sure it was clear of any furniture and we eventually lowered it enough to put the wooden stand back on and then lowered it the rest of the way onto the cabin sole (with a plywood cover).  

All told, the lift took about 20 minutes and the rest of the time was spent chatting with Dennis and Roy (the owner of the farm where I keep the boat).  Thankfully, it was extremely uneventful and as soon as the engine landed in the cabin, a huge relief swept over me.  I had been thinking and planning about this lift for a long time and was so happy that it was done.

This morning I went over to the bolt and put all the parts I had stripped off the engine and started trying to figure out the next big step, getting the engine back on the stringers that it will live on going forward.  I'm planning on installing the lift muffler before I get the engine back in because access will be infinitely better.  I also decided that I would epoxy a few more layers of 1708 biaxial glass to the inside of the stringers followed by another coat of paint to make sure the mounts are bombproof, but that shouldn't be too bad.  For now I'm just going to bask in the glow of an almost whole boat...

Prep for Engine Install

I finally found a crane company (Reliable Crane Services) through a friend that is willing to drop the engine in this upcoming Saturday and as a result, I am terrified.  I know this sort of thing is done all the time, but I've never done it so I started to worry about pretty much everything surrounding the event.  Would the engine even fit in? Of course it would because it used to be in the boat dummy.  However, as I reviewed some photos from the previous owner who removed the engine, I saw that he had stripped a lot of the parts off before removing.  I ran over to the boat and started taking measurements and found that theoretically, the fully built engine could slip through the companionway hatch, but just barely and it certainly wouldn't drop straight in.  

The companionway measures roughly 23.5" wide at the top, but tapers down to 17" at the bridge deck.  It is 23" long (fore and aft). The engine is about 20" wide, but 28" long fully built, so suffice to say, it wouldn't fit without some crazy maneuvers as it is lowered down.  I decided to strip it down to what the previous owner had done to make it about 50lbs lighter and a bit slimmed down.  I pulled the exhaust manifold, alternator, heat exchanger, air filter, and a bunch of cooling hoses.  Prior to that I drained all the oil and coolant as well so I don't make a huge mess.  

So even with the engine stripped down, it's still going to be a square peg in a round hole situation.  With so many dimensions in play between the companionway hatch and the engine itself I decided to make a cardboard mockup of the engine and figure out the best way to lower it in.  I taped together a bunch of cardboard into a big rectangle with the maximum engine dimensions and brought it over to the boat with a piece of wire to simulate the chain hoist.  I probably looked pretty ridiculous up on the boat with a big cardboard box lowering it up and down at various angles.  

I think I figured out the best angle of approach as the engine enters the companionway and once satisfied, I loaded the engine onto my utility trailer and brought it over to the boat along with my wife and son over (they will be helping me on lift day) to walk them through my sad choreography.  

Of course once the engine is lowered into the cabin, then I have to figure out how to get it into its final resting place, but that's a 'future me' problem.  One thing at a time.  I'll try and post a recap later this weekend, hopefully it will be good news and I'll have a few photos.

Barrier Coat

Since I have eaten an elephant and got the bottom sanded and fair over a few lunch breaks in the past few weeks, last week I decided to tackle the first epoxy barrier coat on the bottom.  Clearly the boat already had an epoxy bottom coat job at some point in the past, but I didn't think a few fresh coats could hurt.  Plus it makes the boat look a lot more like a boat that will be launched again soon.

I purchased a gallon kit of gray Total Boat Epoxy Barrier coat on Amazon and when it arrived last Monday, I got right to work.  The first step in the process is to spend some quality time with a drill and mixing paddle to fully emulsify the sludgy stuff at the bottom of the can.  When these cans sit, the solids very quickly settle to the bottom and I don't think any amount of stirring with a wooden mixing stick would work.  

Once I had the entire can of base uniform with no chunks, I wiped down the entire hull with acetone and then taped the waterline.  This particular barrier coat is a 3:1 ratio, and because I wasn't sure how much it would cover I started with a quart (mixed volume). I had some plastic graduated mixing buckets on hand and added 1 - 1/2 pint of curing agent to the bucket followed by 3 - 1/2 pints of the base and stirred it all together for a few minutes (this time with a wooden mixing stick).  

I poured the mixture into a paint tray and using a 9" foam roller with 3/16" nap.  I started on the keel and just rolled it on.  No drama at all, but very satisfying to see the mottled red, green, and white hull turn a uniform gray.  With the quart I was able to cover both sides of the keel and a foot or two above it.  I repeated the same process for the rest of the hull and the next day I came back and moved the jack stands so that I could get under the pads. 

Photos are better than words for something like this, so here they are:

Many years of old crusty bottom paint flaking off when the boat first arrived

Bottom paint removed and hull partially sanded

Hull sanded and ready for a new barrier coat

Barrier coat applied and looking snazzy