Took Friday off to get to the boat yard and have them lift the old
Volvo out of the boat, and the new engine in with their crane.
(Took less than 15 minutes, don't know if they are charging me or
not)
I took the Beta loose from its wood crate then moved the crate
inside and placed it across the bunks to set the engine on. (Would
have just lifted crate and all but the Beta manual says the lifting
Eyes were not designed to lift the crate as well as the engine.
Hard to believe, the crate weighs almost nothing)
Cleaned out the area under the engine, took off my electrical panel
to study the wiring a little. Went to buy Bilge paint. US Boat only
had it in Gallon Cans, and a can was $75! (If you are going to
stock only one size can of Bilge paint is a gallon the best choice
really?) Went to West Marine and they had a smaller can.
I also priced the insulation, and it was around $75 per roll.
Whisper's was still in decent condition so I passed. (Spent about
an hour working and a couple hours shopping called it a day, went
swimming with my wife and son)
Saturday
Sanded the engine room fiberglass wiped with brushing thinner and
painted. (Wow looks fresh and clean!)
Removed my water lift muffler to clean up the area under the cockpit
floor. (The muffler was nearly overflowing with water hmmm)
Removed the old Vega Stuffing Box
Cut the fuel filler hose and removed to get it out of the way.
(Only necessary because I am replacing all of the fuel tank lines.)
Mounted the prop to the shaft. (There is no hole on the shaft to
insert a cotter pin to hold the nut in. I guess this must be
drilled?)
Filed off the rough edges of the forward end of the prop shaft so it
didn't scratch the cutless bearing, and pushed it through the stern.
Went inside to install the flexible coupling. (I was annoyed that
the bolts supplied with the coupling were too long for the Beta and
would have cut into the Transmission housing. They have to be cut
by about 3/8"in length. I tried a hacksaw first (pain in the ass
in tight quarters standing on your head), then removed the coupling
and finished with a dremel tool with a grinding cut off wheel. Also
no nuts were provided, Just happens that the nuts provided tomount
the beta toits shipping crate fit,and they appear tobe stainless
steel,so I'm using them.
Installed the Volvo Penta "backjack" stern gland. What a simple
device! Seems a little slack to fit the Vega fitting, but I was
able to tighten it on with two hose clamps.
Removed the old Vega throttle handle. (This was tough, tried prying
with screwdrivers, didn't budge. Bought a small gear puller, but
the grips could not get behind the flange, finally used a 3' pry bar
and it came right off.
Drilled the Beta mounting plates and mounted them to the Vega
Bearers. (I used a small tabletop drill press, set up on my work
trailer for this. I thought it might be hard to get true holes with
a hand held drill)
With a 4x4 across the top of the companion way and a "come along" (I
guess this is a ratcheting cable hoist but I've always heard them
called come along) I was able to lift the Beta off the crate with no
assistance. (Lifted it up enough so that it could be tilted to pull
the crate from under it) I installed the adjustable feet on the
engine and then lowered it on the mounting in the engine by pushing
it with my knees while lowering it. (Helps having my electrical
panel removed and laid to the side at this point) No helpers need
yet except for the crane getting the engines in and out, but I did
get a couple of scratches on my interior woodwork.
I had a problem with the engine sliding aft. The bearers run down
hill and there was not enough friction on the motor mounts to keep
them from sliding. (I used WD40 to cool the drill bits when I
drilled the plates; maybe that was part of the problem) It was
impossible to align the engine with the engine sliding under it's
own weight, I tried inserting sandpaper between the feet and the
bearers, didn't work. After much swearing and gnashing of teeth, I
lifted the engine back out then put a 1" x1" piece of double sided
tape on each motor mount (that spongy stuff that you get with drink
holders etc. so you don't have to drill holes to mount it) It
worked. It provided enough friction to keep the engine where I put
it.
I got the engine reasonably aligned and then traced the feet on the
metal bearers.
Called it an end to a long hot, frustrating, day (9am to 7 pm with a
break for lunch.)
Sunday, Lifted the engine back out and left it hanging in the
saloon. Took the plates off so I could drill and tap them at the
drill press. Seemed easier than trying to do this inside the boat
and working around the engine. Lifting the engine in and out is
relatively easy for one person using a come-along.
(Note, I used 5/16" - 18 bolts (3/4" long) with a ¼" bit. for
attaching the motor mounts to the steel plates.(this after much time
spent trying to convert the metric bolt size and figure out what
English size drill to use., only to then realize that West Marine
only sells English size bolts anyway) This was my first time to use
a tap and die set. It's easy and now that I have it I can think of
all sorts of uses.
Re-installed the mounting plates to the bearers and set the engine
backing place and installed bolts in the newly tapped holes. It
was now unaligned slightly and would require more fiddling. All
this took an amazing amount of time and it was now 6 pm and time to
clean up head for home.
(About 8 hrs working less time for trips to West Marine for bolts,
(I broke one off test threading it into my second tap think it
still had some metal shavings in it.) and covering up everything
between intermittent rain showers.
I had hoped to be a little further along after the second weekend.
The whole deal may take me 4 weekends instead of three. We'll see.
Volvo out of the boat, and the new engine in with their crane.
(Took less than 15 minutes, don't know if they are charging me or
not)
I took the Beta loose from its wood crate then moved the crate
inside and placed it across the bunks to set the engine on. (Would
have just lifted crate and all but the Beta manual says the lifting
Eyes were not designed to lift the crate as well as the engine.
Hard to believe, the crate weighs almost nothing)
Cleaned out the area under the engine, took off my electrical panel
to study the wiring a little. Went to buy Bilge paint. US Boat only
had it in Gallon Cans, and a can was $75! (If you are going to
stock only one size can of Bilge paint is a gallon the best choice
really?) Went to West Marine and they had a smaller can.
I also priced the insulation, and it was around $75 per roll.
Whisper's was still in decent condition so I passed. (Spent about
an hour working and a couple hours shopping called it a day, went
swimming with my wife and son)
Saturday
Sanded the engine room fiberglass wiped with brushing thinner and
painted. (Wow looks fresh and clean!)
Removed my water lift muffler to clean up the area under the cockpit
floor. (The muffler was nearly overflowing with water hmmm)
Removed the old Vega Stuffing Box
Cut the fuel filler hose and removed to get it out of the way.
(Only necessary because I am replacing all of the fuel tank lines.)
Mounted the prop to the shaft. (There is no hole on the shaft to
insert a cotter pin to hold the nut in. I guess this must be
drilled?)
Filed off the rough edges of the forward end of the prop shaft so it
didn't scratch the cutless bearing, and pushed it through the stern.
Went inside to install the flexible coupling. (I was annoyed that
the bolts supplied with the coupling were too long for the Beta and
would have cut into the Transmission housing. They have to be cut
by about 3/8"in length. I tried a hacksaw first (pain in the ass
in tight quarters standing on your head), then removed the coupling
and finished with a dremel tool with a grinding cut off wheel. Also
no nuts were provided, Just happens that the nuts provided tomount
the beta toits shipping crate fit,and they appear tobe stainless
steel,so I'm using them.
Installed the Volvo Penta "backjack" stern gland. What a simple
device! Seems a little slack to fit the Vega fitting, but I was
able to tighten it on with two hose clamps.
Removed the old Vega throttle handle. (This was tough, tried prying
with screwdrivers, didn't budge. Bought a small gear puller, but
the grips could not get behind the flange, finally used a 3' pry bar
and it came right off.
Drilled the Beta mounting plates and mounted them to the Vega
Bearers. (I used a small tabletop drill press, set up on my work
trailer for this. I thought it might be hard to get true holes with
a hand held drill)
With a 4x4 across the top of the companion way and a "come along" (I
guess this is a ratcheting cable hoist but I've always heard them
called come along) I was able to lift the Beta off the crate with no
assistance. (Lifted it up enough so that it could be tilted to pull
the crate from under it) I installed the adjustable feet on the
engine and then lowered it on the mounting in the engine by pushing
it with my knees while lowering it. (Helps having my electrical
panel removed and laid to the side at this point) No helpers need
yet except for the crane getting the engines in and out, but I did
get a couple of scratches on my interior woodwork.
I had a problem with the engine sliding aft. The bearers run down
hill and there was not enough friction on the motor mounts to keep
them from sliding. (I used WD40 to cool the drill bits when I
drilled the plates; maybe that was part of the problem) It was
impossible to align the engine with the engine sliding under it's
own weight, I tried inserting sandpaper between the feet and the
bearers, didn't work. After much swearing and gnashing of teeth, I
lifted the engine back out then put a 1" x1" piece of double sided
tape on each motor mount (that spongy stuff that you get with drink
holders etc. so you don't have to drill holes to mount it) It
worked. It provided enough friction to keep the engine where I put
it.
I got the engine reasonably aligned and then traced the feet on the
metal bearers.
Called it an end to a long hot, frustrating, day (9am to 7 pm with a
break for lunch.)
Sunday, Lifted the engine back out and left it hanging in the
saloon. Took the plates off so I could drill and tap them at the
drill press. Seemed easier than trying to do this inside the boat
and working around the engine. Lifting the engine in and out is
relatively easy for one person using a come-along.
(Note, I used 5/16" - 18 bolts (3/4" long) with a ¼" bit. for
attaching the motor mounts to the steel plates.(this after much time
spent trying to convert the metric bolt size and figure out what
English size drill to use., only to then realize that West Marine
only sells English size bolts anyway) This was my first time to use
a tap and die set. It's easy and now that I have it I can think of
all sorts of uses.
Re-installed the mounting plates to the bearers and set the engine
backing place and installed bolts in the newly tapped holes. It
was now unaligned slightly and would require more fiddling. All
this took an amazing amount of time and it was now 6 pm and time to
clean up head for home.
(About 8 hrs working less time for trips to West Marine for bolts,
(I broke one off test threading it into my second tap think it
still had some metal shavings in it.) and covering up everything
between intermittent rain showers.
I had hoped to be a little further along after the second weekend.
The whole deal may take me 4 weekends instead of three. We'll see.