outonsafari

iTrader: (4)

i have 4 aluminum gusseted engine mounts (for pedestals) they are 5x5 x1/2 6 inches long. anyone w/ an 80's scarab these are the front mounts that the pedestals bolt to.
i have 4 billet solid pedestal mounts (cp performance)

the plan is to mount the engine forward of the transom using a bravo drive-line minus the shaft (coupler to coupler w/ vibration dampener in between.

so there would be a pedestal on all 4 corners of the engine

the pedestals would allow me to align the engine with the boat in the water same way you line up an inboard. i believe alignment might be a tad more critical coupler to coupler

problem is the stringers on my boat are 34 inches apart rough on the fly math says i'd probably need 8x8x1/2 aluminum angle that is gusseted.

anyone point me in the right direction, to have these fabbed up

it's decision time ( on the drive line or on the transom )

typed this up quick and next week i'll re up the membership so i can hopefully get some pics of this setup, maybe that would help if you guys could see what i'm talking about

thanks, dan

the idea here, using solid pedestal mounts is i have no overhead crane,
but w/ block crank flywheel bellhousing w/ output shaft, i can line up the engine
mark the mounts drill and bolt to stringers and be dam close.

once the engine is ready to go in i have access to a forklift,
and w/ the pedestals i can fine tune the alignment

i just don't have access to hang all day and line up for offshore plates

i know i'm not explaining this right and pics are worth a thousand words

ezrizer

Where are you located?

outonsafari

iTrader: (4)

32905, palm bay florida.

this weekend i'm going to pick the engine block up w/ the harbor freight shop crane and bolt on the front mounts, bell housing and rear mounts with the angle i have and get a width measurement so i know exactly how big the new angles need to be. plus i'll be able to get a pic as well

outonsafari

iTrader: (4)

so basically the angle that i have is good out to 31 inches and i need angle that is good out to 34 inches plus wiggle room for adjustment 8x8x8x1/2 looks to be enough.[ATTACH=CONFIG]557544[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]557545[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]557546[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]557547[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]557548[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]557549[/ATTACH]

sutphen 30

why not just call http://www.mcmaster.com/ and have a couple of 1.5" thick blocks(as spacers) of aluminum sent to you.and just use longer bolts.
and if theres a cnc machine shop near you,,you may be abler to buy some scrap to do the job.

underpsi68

I buy 6061 aluminum through ebay. You can't beat the prices and you can get just about any size you want.

ezrizer

"8x8x8x1/2 looks to be enough"

You'll have to find someone with a pretty substantial machine, 1/2" takes a lot of heat. My 250 amp machine struggled with 3/8. Although using 1/2" I wonder if you really need the gusset. 1/4 yes, maybe 3/8 but 1/2 might be ok by itself. I want to say my Eliminator used 3/8 angle with no support, it was either 4x4 or 6x6.

PARASAIL941

I believe building up the stringer would create a stronger , less flexible finished product. Hanging all that weight that far from stringer will create quite a bit of leverage on mount. Ideally, you want pedestal as close as possible to stringer , so load is pushing down on mount , not trying to pull it away from stringer. Good Luck!!!

Mbam

Don't take this wrong but that seems like a lot of work to go through. You really don't need much of a crane to lift the engine. When I did it as a kid used a come-along and a 4x4 over the rafters in the garage ceiling. If you have a way to set the engine in the boat you can probably throw a 4x4 across the gunnels and use a come-along to carry the weight.

And are you sure you want to move the engine that far forward? And as Parasail points out mounting like that puts a bending moment on the stringer.

outonsafari

iTrader: (4)

exactly the input i was looking for,

parasail, the engine stringers are 2 inches thick (how it was built) so i don't want to add on, your right, the pedestals should be close to the stringers, and yes the leverage thing has me concerned enough to think about just going on the transom.

mbam, not at all, i appreciate all input especially from the known pros. the distance forward is within 1 inch of where a transmission engine would be located, my thinking is balance.
hanging the block from a wooden beam across the gunnel is a good idea, but thinking that boats flex, if i went with solid pedestals and this drive line, once in, i could put the boat in the water and reckeck/adjust alignment at will.
if i went front and rear offshore plates and alignment was good on trailer but out in the water i'd be screwed, and since there is no give on the driveline coupler to coupler i figured alignment would be more critical

thank you