More stuff........................

Spent the day cutting, shaping and fitting the engine bearers, got the first pieces in and will move onto marking and drilling for the steel angle. Theres a few things i'm still puzzled over as the bearers are true and plumb in the horizontal and vertical yet the starboard bearer is 6mm lower than the port side - odd.

Still its better than the first attempt which was an engineered solution using 18mm marine ply, it looked good until i planed it then decided hardwood was the way to go. I went to my timber merchants and bought four metres of Sapele window board, whacked it all in a vacuum then got down to cutting and shaping.

Quite pleased with this solution but having used a ton of the stuff i'm almost out of epoxy again still its all in the name of progress, which reminds me i got the plastic tank dry-fitted to check dimensions and space - all went swimmingly although i had to build a plinth for it to sit level so the rather expensive wema sender will work.

To be honest I'm a bit paranoid about forgetting to fit things before the engine goes in as once its in it'll make fitting anything behind it almost impossible - better make a list i think.

Slowly slowly catchy monkey

As this projects default speed is glacial i was surprised to have fitted the stern tube in a little under two hours, I dry-fitted everything then cut the setscrews (threaded bolts) to length, figured out a method for each part of the job then went for it.

I found i'd fitted it a bit arse-about-face having seen the inboard end not quite plumb in the vertical it dawned on me that would have been threaded on after fixing the outboard end - no matter though. The fitting i had made is way bigger than the original add to this the massive fillets i created on the thrust bulkhead restricting the width and it was impossible to thread this on afterwards.

Incidentally when i removed the old stern tube fittings (just like the keel bolts) everything was just above finger tight & wondered why there was so much vibration coming from the engine last time it was used. Also there were no spreading washers on the backside of the bulkhead so the locking nuts were buried half deep in the plywood - not cool.

But as the pictures show all thats a thing of the past, (A4 stainless everywhere) next week i'll start laminating up a load of white oak to make the engine bearers and then its eyes down for the engine installation.

Shiny thing make it all better.........again.

I got a call whilst wedged into the engine bay this morning, gotta admit i couldn't be bothered to move so waited until i'd finished washing and sanding the epoxy to play back the phone message. Turns out my bits were ready to collect, these being the parts that'll allow me to fit my engine to the boat.

Having handed over my debit card for them to assault and batter i stood there drooling like a complete idiot over- lets face it lumps of metal - but being your typical magpie-minded bloke i find you cant beat a good shiny object to stare at and like that my bad mood of the last few weeks lifted.

Plus the fact i feel in some small way i'm getting closer to the prize, that being never having to squeeze myself into the engine bay ever again, all i need from here on in is to fit the bearers, fit the new fuel tank when it arrives and we're ready to go - hoo-feckin-rah.

If there was a downer it was finding one whole gallon of my famed concrete floor paint that i use for bilge painting had gone off so i'm hoping to get an order 24hr'd tomorrow to wrap up the engine bay by the weekend or at least be ready to glass in the bearers early next week.

I'm still sulking abit

But not as much - as i want this boat done now, so have reconciled myself to spending the money to get the bloody thing finished. 

I got back into the engine bay to start the final bits and pieces to prep for the installation not least of all repairing the thrust bulkhead which had come away from the heap of chopped strand that had previously kept it part of the boat.

The old stern tube cleaned up very well so I'll be re-using that but she'll get a new prop shaft, cutlass bearing and new inboard fitting to take a pss seal to get the engine in and aligned - you know the wallet can only take so much at once. 

Then todays work involved laying a coat of primer on the locker surrounds as i'm terminally bored filling and fairing them and had no idea where i was at with them, suffice to say they need more work but at least i can see where now.

Cheers