We got the old Detroit motor out and the new motor in. Due to our
intense prep the last couple of days the hoisting event went without a
problem. Not a hiccup at all. Well, there was one little hitch...
The guy with the Hyab showed up early morning, picked up the new motor off our cart and set it in his truck for added ballast, then swung the boom over to the boat and hoisted the old motor out as I guided it out the hatch from below and Richard from above. We previously lined all the critical edges of the pilot house hatch with some thin plywood and used up almost a couple of rolls of tape. These edges had high potential for damage and thought the added insurance was worth the work. A ding in the varnish can be repaired but the wood does not grow back if a chunk is torn out. It turns out we didn't even come close.
Once the old one was out and set in the truck, the new one was hooked up, swung around and dropped right in, also without more than a brush by a rubber hose. The crane guy was impressed how prepared we were. He was in an out within the hour (more like 40 mins). Our goal was to not disturb the morning guests at the little cafe's on the marina walk the truck had to drive past to get to us. We have been stressing over this for days. It was over now, we were all giddy.
It went so fast that the ONLY thing that we didn't catch till the truck was gone - We didn't fly out the old trans and load it in his truck. It was pushed back in the corner of the pilothouse(way too heavy to lift) and we kinda forgot about it. No big deal, we went old school and used the main halyard and hoisted it out ourselves and lowered the new transmission the same way.
We spent the remainder of the day doing the shuffle of the new motor down into it's bunks, had some precarious moments but recovered nicely. Now the transmission is coupled to the engine and some trimming had to be done to the ways where it all mounts. Richard whipped out his chisel and hammer and started banging away just like I imagine Noah did (but I don't think Noah was doing an engine swap). I was amazed how nice the oak timbers looked after all this time and still smelled like fresh cut oak after 89 years when I picked up a curled shaving. 
The other project on the agenda was to get off the seawall and back into our slip. We had not accomplished this due to the flighty winds gusting these last few days. A few big boats were due in and it was going to make things tough bue we were also kind of in the way where we were. When the water glassed out at 4:30 this afternoon all hands went into high gear. We had 3 guys moving around on the wall and docks, one extra guy aboard Astor, a guy in the marina push-boat, and I was in our tender. It was quite an operation of pushing, pulling, and a few tense moments when the breeze came back up but we got back to our spot and tied up all snug just fine. Not 10 minutes later a huge cruiser turned down our row and snuggled in right next to us. We were also treated to a very uncharacteristic thunder storm 20 minutes after that. I couldn't believe our awesome timing on that one. Thanks to the crew of the marina once again! The big cruiser kind of blocked our view, but that's Ok, we are a mess right now anyway.
7 comments:
What happens to the old motor and transmission?
Also---when the motor's pushing the boat, what part of the boat is taking the push? Is it that oak beam, or is the transmission bolted to something?
Wow! Your trip sounds so much more fun and interesting than my trip to Portland with my mother! Cant wait till paula joins you and we get some real tourist photos! Hugs from Cari in Cali
There is a guy that hangs around the dock here that said he wanted the old motor. I guess he works at the shipyard the next marina over and he was scrounging for his boss. When it came time for the real work he was nowhere to be found(did not offer to help) and when we started pulling parts off and setting them on the dock he just left them there. So as to not upset the other dock neighbors we kept most of the pile onboard (which was inconvenient for us). We moved over to the seawall(which was a sign it was happening soon) and he never came around. We loaded the old engine and parts on the Hyab truck and paid him to get rid of it.
Not until we were all done and I even carted the old trans up to the workshop (because we forgot about it) did the guy come around kinda bummed. I don't know what he was thinking. Did he want us to deliver it to him too? We told him he could put his name on the trans if it was still up there.
The old engine was pretty whupped. We weren't being too nice in taking it apart either.
I also asked about where the thrust load was.
Apparently the transmission is built for that. It essentially goes right into the mounts and the beams you see.
Granted, it's not much but it all has to go somewhere. It also has to take full revere every now and then too!
Don't worry Cari. I'll switch this blog over to a travel event here shortly.
I'm just dumping in alot of time into the boat while I can. It's all appreciated.
Thrust load. That's the term I didn't know....Under sail, I suppose it's the mast and cleats that take it. Was there an engine in the original build, or was it a retrofit? What # engine is this for her?
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