Never thought I'd post this... but I am back in action!

[rgranger]

I think we are just talking to ourselves. The OP has not been back on the site since the start of this thread.

 

[dLj]

I'm still stuck on the V drive.
Why? I can't see that the engine is less intrusive to the cabin. It doesn't fit the KISS rule. It's bassackwards. Difficult to service the stuffing box. I could understand if it put the engine in the middle of the boat for performance reasons but ... it doesn't.
But kudos to OP for getting that beast in the boat and connecting the v drive with the drive shaft - I can't imagine how that went. How do you align the shaft?

V Drives were a design that was used fairly often during the years these boats were built. I've seen a number of boats from that vintage that used them. It does make the engine less intrusive in the cabin. It also makes some other things harder, but hey, everything's a compromise in a boat.

Aligning the shaft isn't all that different. You are still aligning the flanges between the shaft and the tranny - height, angle, distance....

dj

 

[dLj]

I think we are just talking to ourselves. The OP has not been back on the site since the start of this thread.

Hey, she did report back to us that she was successful in getting the engine in... What else would she have to say in this thread anyway? She's moved onto the next project. Good for her!

dj

p.s. That's not stopped us before in talking about things...

 

[shemandr]

I, for one, am used to talking to myself.

 

[jssailem]

How do you align the shaft?

Carefully

 

[FastOlson]

I can't imagine how that went. How do you align the shaft?

I helped a friend, along with a group of helpers, use the boom to lift the V-Drive setup (complete) out of his Willard 30. Cockpit sole functions as a removable 'hatch' in that particular boat. Heavy and awkward as heck, albeit handier than many other boat configurations.

Tried to assist another friend with an alignment for his Valiant 40; V-Drive also. C&C and Hinterhoeller used them; even Ericson used this in one model in the late 70's. They really do increase cabin room. Big tradeoff in servicing them. I would not want one.
Alignment is a physical and mental exercise, and also servicing the stuffing box can be like working blind.

Only advantage is that they are lots "safer" for boats than the cheaper sail drive that a lot of production builders installed to save production costs and shift major service costs to owners after the first 7 to 10 years.

Like so much of life, it's just another Compromise to learn to deal with.