Ummmm.... Where did my engine mount go?

[Matt Cawthorne]

I had my engine pulled last year. While it was out I decided to grind away a little of the fiberglass that was holding down the engine mounting frame. On one side of the engine the longitudnal tube that was glassed into the hull was.....gone. That is right, the vertical webs that stuck through the fiberglass ended in a heap of corrosion debris. I made a template that locked into the top of the engine mount pads and into the engine compartment so that I could get a new engine mount back in the same place. Then I removed all of the covering fiberglass and pulled out the mounting frame. The first pictures is what was left of the port side.



I made a replacement and glassed it in. It would have been nice if I could have found a galvanizer locally who would take on small jobs, but not finding that, I gave the interior the linseed oil treatment, an argon purge and welded the tubes shut. It was cleaned and painted with spray galvanizing and then coated with bilge paint. The second picture is the installation minus the new through hull, new insulation, and freshly rebuilt engine.

[John Stone]

Nice job Matt. BZ.

[Carl Thunberg]

Just another caution for our aging boats. This is another example of an inaccessible area that is inherently difficult to inspect. I had a similar issue on my former CD30 where the mild steel bracket holding the steering quadrant suddenly snapped due to corrosion. We were in close quarters on the starting line of a race when it happened. The takeaway is, no matter how uncomfortable or inaccessible the area may be, inspect, inspect, inspect, and then whack it with a hammer.

Very nice job on the repair! Too bad it was necessary.