engine

Ray & Anne's

Home-Built Tolman Alaskan Skiff

Begun: June 16, 2004

Engine	Page1 - Page2

Mercruiser Cummins 1.7 Diesel Stern drive Click here for specifications	Change of Plans After deciding to buy a 115hp Evinrude E-Tec two stroke, the 130hp came out. It was the same weight and just the right HP. Life was good, until I got a price quote. It was $1500 less than the Mercruiser Cummins diesel that was my first choice anyway. I prefer diesel for lots of reasons especially the "Spark and Go Boom" problem with gasoline. Even though sterndrives have their own set of problems and the installation is more trouble, I bought the thing. The motor weighs 495 lbs inside the hull and 120 lbs for the transom/outdrive parts. I got lots of ideas and opinions from everyone and decided not to do the big wood blocks but to use a painted mild steel bracket bolted to the stringers.
This is the opening in the transom that was too easy to cut and drill. I just hope it is in the right place.	Outside view of the outdrive pivot and lift.
The mock up below shows the original plan.	New picture! Below shows what is in place now and ready for the engine. The brackets are 1/4" mild steel painted and bedded in Sikaflex 291. The stringers, transom and bulkhead have several layers of glass and the whole thing is painted with Bilgecoat.
Dry Fit Time	The engine is on the way down. At this point it was really spooky to hold that much iron over the bottom of my boat. Then I thought it would be no worse fixing a big hole than building it in the first place. Beneath the engine is the engine mount, bolted on, and several layers of biax on both sides of the stringer for support.
This picture is looking forward down on the port side of the engine in the boat. The 1/4 inch steel bracket bolted to the stringer doesn't seem to be too out of proportion.	Looking like it fits well between the stringers. This dry fit was to make sure the engine brackets are in the right place. Having it in the boat also helps me to visualize the placement of all the things it takes to control it and feed it.
Since the engine is now diesel I had to add a return to the tank. I bought a gasket for the Tempo fuel sensor and made an aluminum plate for the return fitting. After drilling out the center hole and 5 screw holes, I made a "C" shaped backing plate with 5 tapped holes and a 6th tapped hole for a retainer screw. The backing plate was put inside the tank and secured with the 6th flathead screw. This opening allows me the option to clean out the tank in the future. Guess what the white string was for?	The dash is mostly figured out. The dash is plywood, glassed, coated with graphite- epoxy and sanded flat black. The the group on the right is my MerCruiser dash plus two fuel gauges behind the wheel and a rudder position gauge below center. Yet to add is a boost gauge Garmin 176C GPS Plotter and Humminbird 737 depth plotter are up on top.

Mercruiser Cummins 1.7 Diesel Stern drive

Click here for specifications

Change of Plans

After deciding to buy a 115hp Evinrude E-Tec two stroke, the 130hp came out. It was the same weight and just the right HP. Life was good, until I got a price quote. It was $1500 less than the Mercruiser Cummins diesel that was my first choice anyway. I prefer diesel for lots of reasons especially the "Spark and Go Boom" problem with gasoline.

Even though sterndrives have their own set of problems and the installation is more trouble, I bought the thing.

The motor weighs 495 lbs inside the hull and 120 lbs for the transom/outdrive parts.

I got lots of ideas and opinions from everyone and decided not to do the big wood blocks but to use a painted mild steel bracket bolted to the stringers.

This is the opening in the transom that was too easy to cut and drill. I just hope it is in the right place.

Outside view of the outdrive pivot and lift.

The mock up below shows the original plan.

New picture!

Below shows what is in place now and ready for the engine. The brackets are 1/4" mild steel painted and bedded in Sikaflex 291. The stringers, transom and bulkhead have several layers of glass and the whole thing is painted with Bilgecoat.

Dry Fit Time

The engine is on the way down. At this point it was really spooky to hold that much iron over the bottom of my boat. Then I thought it would be no worse fixing a big hole than building it in the first place.

Beneath the engine is the engine mount, bolted on, and several layers of biax on both sides of the stringer for support.

This picture is looking forward down on the port side of the engine in the boat. The 1/4 inch steel bracket bolted to the stringer doesn't seem to be too out of proportion.

Looking like it fits well between the stringers. This dry fit was to make sure the engine brackets are in the right place. Having it in the boat also helps me to visualize the placement of all the things it takes to control it and feed it.

Since the engine is now diesel I had to add a return to the tank. I bought a gasket for the Tempo fuel sensor and made an aluminum plate for the return fitting. After drilling out the center hole and 5 screw holes, I made a "C" shaped backing plate with 5 tapped holes and a 6th tapped hole for a retainer screw. The backing plate was put inside the tank and secured with the 6th flathead screw. This opening allows me the option to clean out the tank in the future. Guess what the white string was for?

The dash is mostly figured out.

The dash is plywood, glassed, coated with graphite- epoxy and sanded flat black.

The the group on the right is my MerCruiser dash plus two fuel gauges behind the wheel and a rudder position gauge below center. Yet to add is a boost gauge

Garmin 176C GPS Plotter and Humminbird 737 depth plotter are up on top.