Engine is Installed

Ok, the installation process started a week ago. A friend of mine helped me lift the engine into the back of the boat with a forklift. After a little alignment work we got the back bolts in place and the front mount sitting on a temporary board. Next I purchased an alignment tool online and started the process of aligning the gimbal bearing with the engine coupler. Learned a lot here. First attempt nothing worked. Jacked the front of the engine up and down. Nothing !!! So I added some spacers under the back mounts. Nothing. So I took all the washers and spacers  out. Now things sort of aligned. So I added a spacer, but only half of what the double wrapped spacer would do (3/32") instead of 6/32. Now all of a sudden everything fits together !!! So later I found it in the manual that cutting the double washer in half is acceptable. Anyway, discovered that the front mount as built would not work. Madea wider one that lined up with the existing holes in the stringers. Put it all in place and bolted it down. Engine still aligns !! Now we are ready to install the out drive.

Gimbl plate is now populated

Last night installed the trim tilt pump, trim sender, shift reverse lock sector and plumbed everything up. Then I installed the battery and turned on the power ! Purged the hydraulics. Lots of old brown stuff came out of the system. Flushed it with new synthetic hydraulic fluid. Cycled it many times, watched the rams go back and forth. Finally today I installed the exhaust tube. It just fits. I think the transom is absolutely as thick as it could possibley be without causing a problem. Anymore and the tube would not have installed. See the pics below;

Trim Pump

Trim Sender

Time for an engine

Gimbal housing installed

The following sequence of photos shows the installation of the transom cover plate and gimbal housing.

This photo shows the cover plate installed on the back of the boat and the stern primed for painting.

And after paint

Everything is ready to go

And here it is installed.

Used 3M 5200 to seall everything up. This is awsome stuff. You can litterally glue everything together using this stuff. It comes in a tube and applies like normal painters calk, however, it is actually a single part polyurethane sealant / adhesive. Once it is together its not coming apart. When you look at the plate to hull joint it looks like it has been welded instead of screwed and bonded. Great stuff.

Transom is cut

So the buddy making the aluminum cover plate finished up and delivered the plate. After a little trimming it fit around the gimbal housing with no problems.

Using the template installed on the stern, I marked the holes and then started cutting. Here are the end results

Now for the moment of truth, does the gimbal housing fit?

And from the inside with the inner transom plate

So now all I have to do is start painting everything.

Drilling transom

The drill template is here. Installed it and all the alignments checked. Drilled first hole last night. Rain started so that was that. Hopefully complete the rest tonight.

Bolting in transom plate

Not going so well. Plate bolted in nice down where the engine will eventually mount, however, at the top there is a gap. Thinking about using an expanding foam to fill it for a good fit. I am not worried about the engine loads, but I am worried about that very stiff transom plate flexing the stern seperate from the stern.