34 cat engine forward mounting questions
 

I'm trying to figure out how i can mount the motors forward.What is used to couple the motor to the drive?Do you do away with the coupler?Rear engine mounts?Can you buy the required parts?Help please..

Here's a pic of the boat i'm rigging.

If it is an I/O application.....
Mercury sells all the parts, mounts, etc... Driveshaft may have to be custom built depending on the length.

Is that an outboard boat? If so, you'll probably have to redo the stringer system in the rear to accommodate a mounting system. The drives you use will dictate how the rear mount is configured. If what I'm seeing is a molded-in well for the outboatds, that's probably going to have to be removed. If you mount the motors too far forward, it's going to shift the center of gravity drastically and make the boat lethally dangerous at speed.

It was an outboard boat.Will be cutting away the well and installing all the necessary glass needed.I am unsure as too mount the motors at the rear or move them forward.I will be using XR drives.How do you couple to the motor?

The Bravo doesn't use a transmission. There is a coupler that bolts to the engine flywheel and a bellhousing that bolts to the rear flange on the engine. On the back of this bellhousing is the rear mount- it engages the inner transom assembly of the drive. The front mount would be any standard offshore-style mount that would bolt to the pads on the sides of the block.

I would speak to the boat's manufacturer or maybe track down one that's rigged with I/O's and check it out.

Who built the boat? Looks like an Apache.

Just Curious... What make of boat is that? What size?

Thanks
Don

Guys thanks for the input.I have done/rigged/fitted heaps of Bravo style motors/drives with the rear mount sitting on the inner transom plate.I just need to know how to couple them when i forward mount the motors.The splined shaft of the drive normally fits in to the coupler.But what do you do if the space between the 2 is say 30"?The boat is what we call over here a Victory cat.It's a 34 and i'm planning 2 x 632's to start with before switching too a set of 525's and running in our Supercat class.I currently run my Eliminator 27 in Production Unlimited.If your interested in our offshore racing check out www.aopc.com.au . This boat is fully rigged for clamp on's,actually 2 x 300's and it ran a few races in our Supercat Outboard class.

Couple more.Let me know what the hull reminds you of.

As I stated earlier Mercury has everything....
The rear motor mount will fit between the block and flywheel
Mercury makes a kit for a bravo driveline setup I bought them for a 36 Spectre I had built.
Do you have access to Mercury parts?

Yes if i know what i need.How does the coupler work?Normally the rear mount height is fixed because it sits on the transom.I understand the engine mounting bit.Just unsure how to couple it.Motors aren't in yet.

If the rear mount sits between the block and the flywheel does that mean i don't use the flywheel/mount cover with the factory rear mounts?

Get on one of the parts sites and look up the parts for a bravo motor staggered setup. Once you see the parts, you'll figure it out.
You'll need front and rear full motor mounts.
The bell housing holds a carrier bearing that connects the driveshaft to the flywheel.
There's another carrier bearing on the transom plate.
I've also seen custom setups where a U joint is bolted directly to the flywheel. These flywheel flange/U joints are found in the jet boat section of marine parts catalog. The bell housing is then used to just hold the driveline cover. You dont use a rubber coupler with this, so I'm not sure how well they work.

Fastlane, Here's a picture of my 34 DCB cat. Hard to see but it may help. Eric