A-398

As you guys can see I have an extra weight added in the keel. After adding the diesel engine installation, should I remove the extra weight?? The weight of the diesel engine is around 150 lbs.

A few pics of the motor mounts glassed to the hull. I also put the engine in place to check the fit.

That little Renault is sooo cute! I want one I want one I want one!
I'd pull the lead out.

The lead was added by Pearson to compensate for the missing engine in OB model boats. Removing lead should improve performance without any downside.

You have an almost certainly guaranteed "squatter" - my vote is to yank the extra weight out. My lead pig currently lives in the bows in the chain locker to try and compensate for the squatiness. With that and a full water tank, I'm almost trimmed properly.

I did remove the lead weight, thanks for the information, it's weight was 110 lbs. Here's a few pics of how I aligned the shaft tube. I bolted a 1 1/4" dia. pilot on my plywood mock-up, in the location of the output shaft. With the mock-up clamped to the engine mount I then put the tube in place, sliding the tube over my 1 1/4" pilot. I also made a 3/4" plywood support for the tube inside the boat. The tube is glassed in place inside and out, and around my plywood support. I'll cut the tube off, about 6" inside my plywood support. My next task will be painting everything in the engine compartment.

Your alignment idea looks like a good plan. It is interesting to watch the creative ways people come up with to solve a problem. Keep up the good work.

Cutlass Bearing in place and new paint. Ready to install the engine, fuel tank, etc.

Man.... you must need sunglasses in that bilge :cool:

Looking good down there.

Mike,
That boat just keeps getting better! I had to go back to page one and take the tour again. Great work on your engine install. Your's are the first motor mounts I've seen that were more than 'islands' built up from the hull right below the motor. They look strong and secure, which makes sense considering there's a few hundred pounds attached to it and a rod that goes through the hull!
Cheers.

Thanks Tony. Because of the design of the Renault Engine, the motor mounts are kinda tall. The motor mounts are close to the centerline of the crankshaft. The mounts are very strong. They are made of 304 stainless, about 1/18" thick. I secured the weldments in place with (2) 3/8" and (1) 1/2" stainless bolts before glassing the bottom part to the hull. It fees like I could put a 1000 pound diesel on them.

Mike,

I love the way that painted engine bay looks and I'd like to paint mine the same way. How did you go about prepping that area and how did you paint it? thanks, Jon

Jon,
As fas as prepping the area to paint, all I did was wash it good with soap and water. I spayed it at first with a low pressure paint gun, and then rolled back over it for the second coat. I used an oil based industrial enamel from Lowes, Valspar was the brand, it dried hard and has a good finish.

Mike, thanks for the suggestion. I have painted a lot of my needy areas with a brush but I will probably get that LP spraygun to finish. I also plan to use the paint you used. I sure do appreciate your suggestion.

Here's a picture of my fuel tank. It's a Moeller 13 gallon fuel tank, it's 32" x 10.19" x 10.19". I made an aluminum cradle out of 1 1/2" angle, welded construction. The fuel fill is on the starboard side.