the engine is back in C'est la Vie but work remains

Wrestling the new two inch engine exhaust hose into place between the water lift muffler in the engine compartment and thru-hull in the lazurette consumed the morning.  Fortunately, I did not pre-cut the 12.5 foot section of hose to match the 11 foot section that came out of the boat.  Using the longer, new section of hose I was able to run from muffler to thru-hull with out a joint or fiberglass elbow. This eliminates three joints and six hose clamps from the previous set up while allowing the hose to run higher and more center line to the boat  It is important to run the exhaust hose high and center line to  prevent salt water from running the system in reverse and damaging the engine.

engine compartment completed and ready for the engine install

With the muffler and exhaust hose installed the engine compartment is ready for the engine.

With assistance from the boat yard staff C'est la Vie's engine returned to the boat with a minimum of fuss.  So one month to the day the engine is back in the boat.

Tomorrow morning the mechanic is scheduled to align the engine and affix the new motor mounts to the engine beds.  Once this is complete I will begin running hoses and reconnecting wiring between the engine and the boat.

An "out of boat experience" for our engine

Today our engine had an "out of boat experience."  With the assistance of Mike from L&M Marine, we test ran the engine out side of the boat.

This required using our five gallon fuel jug as a fuel tank; pulling the starter battery out of the boat; running a hose into a 5 gallon bucket for the cooling water, and feeding the exhaust into the gravel drive.  Although a bit reluctant at first, after a nearly five month nap, the engine did run well.

Hopefully tomorrow, one month to the day that we hauled the engine, it will be back in the boat.  I'll let you know how it goes....

Engine Haul Project - week three update

Piece by piece the engine compartment is growing closer to re-installing the engine..

October 14 - still missing shaft, water lift muffler, exhaust hose, and engine

Installing the sound proofing took two days.  Installing the mounting boards and other engine components atop the sound proofing took another day.  Next up was a day devoted to installing battery shelves, installing the battery straps, wiring the four new Full River six volt house batteries into a 12 volt / 448 AH bank, and re-calibrating the existing Victron Energy BMV600s battery monitor.


Today I re-wired and re-plumbed the bilge float switches and pumps.

unique and reliable bilge pump system designed by previous owner

C'est la Vie's bilge pump arrangement was set up by the previous owner.   For a narrow, inaccessible bilge the system works very well.  The float switches are very high quality & reliable Ultra Safety Systems Pump Switches.    The lower float switch operates a remote bilge pump located in the starboard cockpit locker.  Since this pump relies on suction it has a scrum box in the bilge and a screen pre-filter in cockpit locker.  The upper float switch operates the high volume bilge pump located just aft of the switch in the bilge.  The upper float switch also activates the high water alarm. I replaced all the hoses and cleaned up the wire routing.

Installing the new cutlass bearing proved more challenging that expected. First the existing set screw is located directly below the bolt securing the shaft log to the boat.  This renders the set screw useless.  I ground down and sanded smooth the numb of the old set screw that extended into the log.  The best solution  for locating a new set screw was to drill into the solid fiberglass of the hull and tap a new set screw from the outside of the hull.

Tapping a new set screw in the shaft log.

The only time the set screw will need to be acceseds is when the boat is on the hard.  The only issue with locating the set screw on the outside of the hull is how to seal access hole to prevent water damage to the hull.  I'm toying with two options.  First inserting a rubber stopper and then cutting it flush with the hull.  Second packing some plumbers putting to protect the hex head of the set screw, filling the outer hole with low density filler, and then marking the location.

The cutlass bearing proved stubborn and consumed  few hours to coax into the shaft log.  With some assistance from the boat yard, we improvised a "puller" consisting of an all thread rod, two large washers, and two nuts.  This allowed me to press the cutlass into the log and then use a hammer and wood block for additional persuasion.

coaxing the cutlass bearing into the shaft log.  The small hole to the right is the set screw access.

Finally persistence won the day and our new cutlass bearing is in place.

new cutlass bearing and set screw in place.

 The rebuild kit for the drip-less shaft seal and the newly re-faced shaft couple are both in hand.  I plan to re-install the couple, shaft, and shaft seal tomorrow.  I'll re-install the prop once the bottom painting is complete

Little progress has been made on the engine itself over the last week.  The diesel shop installed new tips on the fuel injectors.  I've cleaned the heat ex-changer core and installed a new impeller in the water pump.  But, I am still waiting on the the mechanic to return with the other engine parts.  I've got about a 12 hours of work left inside then boat and then I'll be waiting on the mechanic and parts.

Oh, and since accessing the engine exhaust thru hull to replace the hose required removing the propane locker from the lazurette it seemed like the opportune time to paint the lazurette.  Now the bow anchor locker remains the lone interior area we have not repainted on C'est la Vie.

The stainless steel pendulum in the lazurette is for the Cape Horn Autopilot.  I elected not to paint the mounting pads for the autopilot.  These are wood cores fiber glassed in place.  The fiberglass is semi-transparent and allows visual inspection of the integrity of the wood core.

More images are available on our album devoted to this project - Engine Haul - fall 2012