engine mounts

[Sailtime]

With the engine vibration hitting new highs and getting ridiculous it turns out one of my engine mounts has broken..

Can anyone enlighten me on the right engine mounts to install?

I figure I'll replace all of 4.. it's a 12hp Sole diesel.. I've spoken to Headland engineering in Brookvale - 4 of the original mounts will be around $400!

Wondering if anyone has recommendations for cheaper options.. if it's possible to use any mounts? or do i have to stick to the manufacturers recommended?

Cheers for the help
Shea

[Phillip]

That price sounds about right.

You will need to re-align your engine after fitting them.

[Sailtime]

yeah

is that better done in the water or out of the water?

I can do it myself right?

Cheers
Shea

[lockie]

Shea;

Around $100 each is about right. It's probably best to stick to the recommended ones, but if you're keen you can use selection charts from a couple of manufacturers to compare options. At the end of the day, they're all just two metal bits joined by an flexible bit, but the flexy bit comes with variable stiffness which you need to choose correctly for smoothest running. The main problem is to try and get the inevitable resonant point to occur down near (and ideally below) idle speed, but this is not always possible. Some of the vendors provide fairly comprehensive info so if you are inclined that way you can choose the right mount based on engine weight, speed, power and number of cylinders. If you pm me I can send links. I ended up buying Cushyfloats from a mob in NZ for the best price.

Watch out for mounting height: I went through quite a process trying to find ones short enough to fit into the limited space available. Best to avoid having to modify the mounting beds - big nasty job that needs complete engine removal. And you will certainly need to bone up on engine alignment. mKMounts can be done in or out of the water, but alignment must be done in the water, as the hull will change shape when floating.

You may find the biggest problem is getting the old ones out as the threads will probably be horribly corroded.

Cheers, Graeme

[lockie]

And also.....

Best to get ones that are designed to not let go if the boat inverts (some are not rated for this).

Also make sure the ones you buy are rated for thrust as well as torque, as opposed to just torque (like for a generator). After all, that's how the "push" from the prop gets transmitted to the hull to push the boat along! I did have one silly vendor recommend mounts that were not thrust-rated.

[Sailtime]

thanks for the input, here's an update on the engine saga

first of all we extracted the engine and stopped traffic with it sticking out of the boot of my brothers timeless hillbilly ford capri

engine in dinghy.jpg (1.64 MiB) Viewed 5654 times

Engine in capri.jpg (1.2 MiB) Viewed 5654 times

here's the engine, which has always gone like a dream and is now going to be turned into a red rocket
the coupling and everything looks great once it was cleaned up

Engine coupling.jpg (1.33 MiB) Viewed 5654 times

- it was suspended from the rear engine mounts by a bracket suspended over the bilge with the engine basically hanging off the 2 large threaded bolts you can see welded onto the rear of the engine

Red rocket.jpg (1.41 MiB) Viewed 5654 times

Here's the bilge which is going to get a good clean + service (one of the 3 bilge pumps needs replacing)

dirty bilge.jpg (1.01 MiB) Viewed 5654 times

Bilge.jpg (1.54 MiB) Viewed 5654 times

I'm keen for opinions on the engine mounts.. they're not looking like engine mounts i can find online. I don't want to have to modify the engine mount beds because that's gonna be a hassle.

Turns out one of the mounts was broken (rear port side) and the front starboard side had a dodgy bolt where it was fastened to the engine so I'm sure the mounts were the problem

[Sailtime]

Here's the front port mount - 2 x bolts snapped off into the mounting bed when i was removing it

Front port mount before removal.jpg (1.3 MiB) Viewed 5654 times

Front port mount 3.jpg (1023.67 KiB) Viewed 5654 times

Front port mount 2.jpg (1.33 MiB) Viewed 5654 times

Front port mount snapped bolts in mount.jpg (1.13 MiB) Viewed 5654 times

Front port mount.jpg (1.35 MiB) Viewed 5654 times

the engine mounts and everything look pretty DIY which I dig but not sure if it's possible to just use the same mounts? They look nothing like the mounts recommended by the manufacturer but to use those would require a complete modification of the beds..

here's the rear port mount which had snapped

broken rear port mount2.jpg (1.07 MiB) Viewed 5654 times

[Sailtime]

Here you can see the rear of the engine supported by the metal crosspiece which is on the rear mounts

engine in situ.jpg (962.28 KiB) Viewed 5654 times

front starboard mount

front starboard mount before removal.jpg (988.64 KiB) Viewed 5654 times

Front Stbd mount 3.jpg (1.12 MiB) Viewed 5654 times

Front Stbd mount.jpg (1005.93 KiB) Viewed 5654 times

Rear starboard mount

Starboard mount.jpg (777.37 KiB) Viewed 5654 times

All the engine mounts were secured into the engine beds with coach bolts.. is this sufficient?

Does anyone have thoughts on the suitability of these engine beds and are these engine mounts ok or are they dodgy?

I'd prefer not to get the mechanics/engineers involved cause they'll probably want to modify the mounts and beds etc and could be pricey..

sorry for the long post
shea

[Troppo]

Great post, Shea. Sorry, I can't help but I enjoyed looking through the pictures and reading your comments.

troppo

[Phillip]

Shea,
How do you do a shaft alignment, as there seems to be no adjustment in the front engine mounts and at the rear you only seem to have up and down?

That plastic seacock should be replaced with a bronze ball cock. A Top Hat almost sunk here when their plastic seacocks were sheered off by a loose battery when crossing the Laurieton bar.

Looking good to have all that sorted.