1969 Chris Craft Roamer Refit: Installing the Port Engine III

With the Cummins engine mounts modified to fit my boat, the original engine beds cut off and new ones fabricated, and the engine bilges clean, next I need to mount the new engine beds, paint everything, and align the engine and gear to the propeller shaft.

Epoxy thickened with cabosil and powdered aluminum make a robust bonding agent

Slather on the thickened epoxy and prepare to clamp

Clamp in place, then scoop up and redistribute the excess epoxy that gets squeezed out

I use the excess epoxy to smooth the stringers where I cut off the old engine beds. It makes a sticky mess, though…have to be careful where you touch.

Clamped and curing

Front engine beds get the same epoxy & clamp treatment

Next day, off come the clamps

With the clamps off, I moved the engine into position to mark and drill the vibration isolator holes.

Couplers aligned. It’s time to drill vibration isolator holes

After drilling the vibration isolator holes, I used my home-built gantry to lift and move the engine out of the way.

Sand the stringers and engine beds with 80 grit

Outside stringer has plenty of clearance for the gear cooler

Inside rear stringer/engine bed is drilled and sanded

Outside rear engine bed drilled and sanded

Paint one side of the engine bilge & stringers, then slide the engine over and paint the other side

Next day, Devoe 235 Bar Rust is cured

Note the epoxy coating covers the inside of the bolt holes as well as the exterior surfaces. I never, ever want to have to paint this bilge again. 🙂

316 hardware coated with TefGel to completely isolate the metals

I know…it’s probably overkill. But I really, really, really never want to have to do this again. Keeping corrosion from starting is much better than fixing corrosion problems after they’ve started.

Front stringers are ready

316 SS hardware augments the epoxy bond up front, too.

I don’t think I’ve mentioned it before, but I’m using ceramic bubbles as an additive to the Devoe 235 Bar Rust epoxy I’m applying in the bilge spaces. Ceramic bubbles’ claim to fame is that it toughens coatings and also has insulating properties that lessen condensation. I don’t know if it actually works or not, but I bought a bag of the stuff back in 2009 when I first sandblasted and painted the bilges so I figure I might as well use it up here. One thing I know the ceramic does is make the epoxy absolutely resistant to flowing out smooth. You can’t roll and tip to get a smooth, glossy surface with this stuff. It’s kind of similar to very fine, roll-on non-skid.

Ready to align, with a dial indicator on the shaft and a feeler gauge for the coupler

It took less than 15 minutes to align the shaft and gear couplers to within 0.002″. Then I installed the Globe Drivesaver using the hardware I bought to replace the wrong-sized cap head bolts that Globe sends out with their kit. Lesson learned: Do Not Buy Globe Drivesavers. Still…I own ’em, so I might as well use ’em.

Globe Driversaver hardware–the wrong stuff and the right stuff

The short bolts on the right are the ones Globe supplied that don’t fit this application even though they claim it does. The 1/4″ longer bolts on the left are the ones this application requires.

With the Drivesaver installed, I pressed the stuffing box and hose onto the shaft log

Here’s another one of those Harbor Freight tools that’s worth the investment: the hydraulic port-a-power. It’s got a million and one uses, and I think I paid $75 for the kit on sale using a coupon.

Cutting Teflon packing at an angle so the ends overlap

Three turns of packing ought to do it

Safety wire on the coupler bolts and this Port Cummins 6CTA is installed!

I lost one of the T-bolt clamps for my stuffing box, but I suspect I’ll find it as I install more of the engine parts (e.g. strainers, exhaust, etc).

Boom…engine’s in, don’t need a chainfall any more

Salon floors going back in

Breaking down the gantry

With the beam loose, off comes the trolley

And then there was one…

Salon steps back in place, port engine install is a wrap…for now

Getting the engines installed was a big priority for 2015 and I expected to have it done back in the summer. Unfortunately, when the boat next to mine blew up in July, it threw a wrench in my schedule. Even if that didn’t happen, Motion Windows messing up my helm window build would have kept me from splashing this year anyway. It’s always something.

Speaking of Motion Windows…

Next up on our 1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: Motion Windows’ Response

1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: Cummins Engine Install — Coating the Stringers & Final Fit

With the vibration isolator landing pads done and motor mounts modified, the last step to getting this engine resting in its ultimate location is to epoxy coat the stringers and do the final alignment.

New forward vibration isolator landing pads are on the same plane on both sides

After the last test fitting, once I had the gear and shaft couplers aligned to within 0.005″, I marked the holes for the vibration isolator bolts. After moving the engine out of the way with the gantry, I drilled an 1/8″ pilot hole then used  increasingly larger drill bits until I finally opened up the 1/2″ hole.

Rear vibration isolator landing pads spread the load

New Moroso 400w oil pan heaters should keep the engines toasty in winter

I’ve had these oil pan heaters for a while, so it was nice to finally install them. Truth be told I almost forgot about them (like when I left the washer in the aft stateroom head), so it was good that I remembered before bolting the engines down for the last time. After taking the pic above, I ran a bead of high temp RTV around the perimeter of the heater to seal the edge. The Cummins 6CTA marine oil pan made it a bit challenging to install since it doesn’t have a flat bottom. These heaters have to be in 100% contact with a heat sink or they burn up. Even little bubbles caused by a surface that’s not perfectly flat might cause it to fail, so I broke out the sander and knocked it back to flat and smooth bare metal. Why anybody thought it was a good idea to put the company logo on the bottom of the oil pan is beyond me but it’s gone now.  🙂 The heater pad seemed to conform to the shape just fine.

With the holes drilled and pan heater installed, it’s time to bust out the stinky Devoe 235 epoxy coating.

Rolled and tipped Devoe 235 epoxy coats the assembly

Devoe is super tough stuff, but it’s an industrial coating so it doesn’t roll and tip to a pretty finish. But for the engine room, I’m more interested in protecting the metal than super shiny gloss. In addition to coating the stringers and landing pads, I also put another coat in the engine bilges.

Devoe 235 epoxy-coated front stringer and engine pan

Epoxy coating is done. It should be adequately cured in 24 hours.

Tefgel on all 316 stainless vibration isolator bolts

Tefgel lubricates threads, prevents galling, and controls corrosion. With the inside of each bolt hole coated with Devoe epoxy, direct metal to metal contact shouldn’t be a problem. But Tefgel is cheap insurance.

Front vibration isolators…DONE!

Rear vibration isolators…DONE!!

Shaft alignment is within spec, but the DriverSaver hardware isn’t!

Having paid $300 for a chunk of rubber, I expected Globe to send the right size bolts with its DriveSaver kits. But they use 1/2″ bolts instead of the 5/8″ ones ZF used for the gear coupler, so I had to buy an adapter kit. But the bolts that came with the DriveSaver kit are so short that only one thread sticks out past the lock washer on the gear-side of the flange. Also, the instructions for these Made-in-America rubber donuts were completely wrong: the gear flange is male, but the instructions say it should be female, and the bolts are completely different from the male to female side of the Drivesaver. I emailed the company and showed them the problem. We’ll see if they respond.

Longer bolts on the gear flange side should solve the problem; prop shaft-side bolts seem fine

In spite of this latest minor setback, the engine is in its final resting place. I can wrap up the DriverSaver install when new, longer bolts arrive. So that’s a wrap for the heavy lifting.

Time for the gantry to get out of the way

I’m really pleased with all of the space around this engine. Maintenance should be a breeze (crossing fingers here).

It took less than 10 minutes to disassemble the gantry

I cannot tell you how nice it is to have floors back in the salon!

Et voila! Done! (sorta)

The fuel system is 75% done, since I ran the supply and return tubing when I installed the hydraulic steering. The electrical will be a good project for the winter or, more likely, next spring. I plan to install the other engine and wrap up the exhaust systems before winter sets in again. But for now, I’m calling the starboard engine install a wrap.

Next up in our 1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: The Aft Deck Hard Top (again)

1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: Cummins Engine Install – Shaft Alignment and Front Engine Mount

I’m getting closer to having the starboard engine and gear finally aligned with the prop shaft coupler. But even with the locknut removed from the front vibration isolator and the adjuster nut completely bottomed out, I still have a 0.005″ gap between the couplers on the bottom. So the engine has to drop even lower at the front, which means the front engine mount needs modifying.

Cut off the original engine mount landing pads

Weld in a 3/4″ spacer and new landing pad (the vibration isolator is installed upside-down)

With the 3/4″ spacer welded on top of the remainder of the 3/8″ landing pad that was still attached to the mount, the bottom of the new landing pad  is 1-1/8″ higher than the original. That should give me plenty of room to reinstall the vibration isolator locknut and still have lots of adjustment to lower the front of the engine.

Ready for paint

Reconfigured engine mount looks good

Vibration isolators land in the right spot and the locknuts are installed

When I lowered the front of the engine to align the prop shaft and gear couplers, it became obvious that something was hanging up. The rear of the engine went up as the front went down!

Need more material removed from the transverse frame under the oil pan

After trimming off another 1/4″ of material from the top of the frame I now have all the clearance I need to get the couplers aligned. But first, I need to center the prop shaft in the log and lock it down.

A hole saw and some scrap lumber make a jig that maintains shaft position

Clamps keep everything locked down

Aluminum scrap wedge from the transverse frame I trimmed works as a gauge

Insert the gauge…need to raise the shaft so the gauge goes in to the mark

I tried using a dial caliper to align the shaft, but it was a real pain. The tapered gauge approach worked much better.

Right to the line on the top left

Close to the line on the top-right…split the difference by moving the shaft left just a touch

Right to the line…the shaft is centered in the log

Couplers don’t quite line up longitudinally…the rear vibration isolators need to drop a bit

Nearly perfect fit.

There’s a 0.003″ gap on the right side of the coupler, but that’s well within tolerance for the DriveSaver. I still have to drill the holes for the vibration isolator bolts and then use the gantry to lift the engine out of the way so I can coat all of the bare aluminum with Devoe 235 epoxy. When I put the engine back in place, I’ll close up that gap. The hard work on this starboard engine install is just about a wrap. It’ll be much easier doing the port side now that I know what to do.

Next up on our 1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: Cummins Engine Install — Coating the Stringers & Final Fit

1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: Cummins Engine Install — Spacers II

In my last article, I wrote about the second step in the process of  installing the Cummins engines into my Roamer. I came up with one plan for engine beds that didn’t work out at all, then cut up one of the beds to make spacers that should work just fine. But then I realized that the top of the stringer on one side isn’t square to the stringer upright, which complicates things just a bit. Just when I thought I’d worked around that problem, another one jumped out to bite me.

Up front, the vibration isolators are totally bottomed out

I even had to remove the locknut (lower left corner of the picture above) to lower the front of the engine far enough.

At the back, 1-1/2″ thick spacers put the engine at the right height

Perfect fit…zero gap at the couplers

But then, I checked the clearance under and around the engine…

There’s less than 1/8″ between the oil pan and one of the frames

There’s also zero clearance between the gear cooler and the top of the stringer. I need to move the engine out of the way and make some space.

Gotta love that gantry!

The gantry is absolutely the best tool I’ve ever made. Moving these one-ton engines around by a couple thousandths or a couple of feet is a one-man job.

Jigsaw makes quick work of the frame

That little wedge I cut out of the aluminum frame to make room for the oil pan will come in very handy in my next article.

Sharpie mark on the stringer marks the line for the fuel cooler

I need to cut the top of the stringer along the line I marked with a Sharpie so the fuel cooler bracket at the top of the pic above will fit between the stringers.  These coolers are notorious for causing installation headaches, and I’m experiencing that personally on my boat. Either way, it’s nothing that a gantry and jigsaw can’t fix.

Just like the front, the inner stringer isn’t square at the back

I’ll square that up the spacer when I finally install it in the next step.

The spacer is looking good…but..oh jeez.

I was so focused on the gear-to-prop shaft coupler gap, and centering the engine between the stringers, and trying to figure out what to do with the front motor mounts that are bottomed out, and the inner stringer that isn’t square to the upright frame that I totally missed the HUGE problem in the pic above.

The prop shaft coupler and gear coupler are perfectly mated, and the propeller is the exact distance it should be from the aft-most strut. But the 1/2″ bolt that will secure the rear vibration isolator to the stringer lands in the middle of the transverse frame behind the gear. That frame is welded to the engine-side of the upright stringer and the piece of aluminum angle in the pic above that forms the top of the stringer. There’s no good way to drill a hole through the stringer that won’t put the bolt and nut in the middle of that upright frame or the weld that holds everything together.

A pic from my last article shows the offending frame–how did I miss THAT???

I can’t move the engine back so the bolts clear the frame, since that would require pushing the prop shaft further out of the boat, which would put the propeller hub 2″ past the aft-most  cutlass bearing. I can’t pull the prop shaft further into the boat, because that would put the prop too close to the aft-most strut. The prop shaft can be shortened, but it’s already machined and installed. I could also have a new set of motor mounts made (which is probably what I should have done from the beginning). All of which reminds me of something I wrote about before: the butterfly effect, and how little tiny things that happened a long time ago can cause ripples in time that wind up kicking me in the balls years down the road.

I was originally going to order the prop shafts after the mechanic installed the engines, so I’d know exactly how long they needed to be. I fired the mechanic after he didn’t get the engines installed for several months back in 2012, but I’d already ordered the prop shafts based on his measurements. If only we had done things per the original plan…

While mulling over what to do about this new problem, I kept working on the spacers.

Epoxy + cabosil + atomized aluminum powder glues spacers together

Shopsmith 12″ sanding disk smooths the bonded aluminum

Nice radii on all sharp spacer corners

Good lookin’ spacer, ready for install

As I was finishing up sanding the spacers, an idea from years before came back to me. I remembered that in my original plan I was going to use DriveSavers to isolate my prop shafts from the gear. DriveSavers are basically industrial strength rubber donuts that isolate prop vibration, provide drivetrain protection in the event of a prop strike, and they break electrical continuity between the hull (via the engine & gear) and the prop shaft and prop, which is even more important on metal boats than on other hull materials. Far more important, though, was that DriveSavers generally require the engine to be moved forward or the prop shaft to be cut by about 1″ to make space for the rubber donut. In my case, they’ll permit me to move the engines forward far enough for those aft-most rear vibration isolator bolts to clear the upright frame, plus provide all of the benefits that originally convinced me they were something I needed on my boat.

We’re back in business…I think.

Next up on our 1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: Cummins Engine Install –DriveSavers & Spacers