I'm Committed Now . . .

[SabreKai]

I finally decided to bite the bullet and put in an order for an new Beta Marine 1505 . It should arrive in about a month.

38 Beta Marine US Ltd. Distributors for Kubota based marine diesel engines and generators for sailboats, yachts and trawler boats.

In the mean time I have to strip out the old Volvo and drive train, and trash the entire engine room so I can rebuild the bearers, and fuel tank. Also rework the cockpit drains, and all the through hulls. OH yeh, I have to build a full size mock up of the engine and transmission to get the best possible fit under the cockpit with the shallowest shaft angle.

Right now I'm in the process of emptying out all the stuff on the boat so I have a clean sweep and can start gutting the main cabin as well. Might as well do all the trashing at one go.

It's sawzall time!


Sabre

[Unicorn Dreams]

We who own boats should all be committed.

Good luck and have FUN on your project..

[Target9000]

We made the same call. Still working on it! Also just FYI, we put a deposit down on the Beta38 about a month ago and it was backordered until at least next week. You might want to make sure its actually slated to come when you think it is.

[James S]

Big job, but once done you should be soooo happy.
Nothing like a clean sweep.

[SabreKai]

Originally Posted by Target9000

We made the same call. Still working on it! Also just FYI, we put a deposit down on the Beta38 about a month ago and it was backordered until at least next week. You might want to make sure its actually slated to come when you think it is.

I didn't realize you were going with a Beta. I ordered my through Stanley in North Carolina, he said 3-4 weeks. No worries if its a tad late, Gives me more time to gut the beast and clean things up.

I've been following your progress on your web site, its intrigued me enough that I may just start up a page myself. I used to have one but let it lapse some years ago, it was a semi commercial venture that bombed.

One thing for sure, you have much tighter quarters to work in that I do. Once I disappear the galley cabinetry, I can lay down flat on either side of the engine with oddles of space, and all around it once past the transmission. I did manage to get most of the junk out today, I'll have another go at it tomorrow before I toodle off to work. About the only thing I'm going to attempt to save is the table. Everything else, chart table, reefer, galley, and C shaped dinette are coming out. I'll leave the stbd settee, and everything forward of the main bulkhead.

Sabre

[SabreKai]

Originally Posted by James S

Big job, but once done you should be soooo happy.
Nothing like a clean sweep.

I'm looking forward to it more now, As I get to correct some of the really horrible mistakes the other guy made. Should be fun, once cleaned up and painted it should be very light under the cockpit area. I'm wondering if I should install a deck prism down there while I'm at it.

Sabre

[delmarrey]

The first one's always the hardest. After 3 one becomes fairly confident.

.

[daddle]

I blew my Universal engine on a Thursday, picked up a new Beta on Friday, worked all weekend and had her running the next Monday. So it can be easy. No SawsAll needed, but there was some trick welding of mounting brackets. Sorry

Yes, It can be very handy to make a jig that positions the prop shaft flange relative to the mounts. Very much easier than freehand measuring or a trial fit of the engine.

[Target9000]

Originally Posted by SabreKai

I didn't realize you were going with a Beta. I ordered my through Stanley in North Carolina, he said 3-4 weeks. No worries if its a tad late, Gives me more time to gut the beast and clean things up.

I've been following your progress on your web site, its intrigued me enough that I may just start up a page myself. I used to have one but let it lapse some years ago, it was a semi commercial venture that bombed.

One thing for sure, you have much tighter quarters to work in that I do. Once I disappear the galley cabinetry, I can lay down flat on either side of the engine with oddles of space, and all around it once past the transmission. I did manage to get most of the junk out today, I'll have another go at it tomorrow before I toodle off to work. About the only thing I'm going to attempt to save is the table. Everything else, chart table, reefer, galley, and C shaped dinette are coming out. I'll leave the stbd settee, and everything forward of the main bulkhead.

Sabre

At the very least post up some photos so we can compare notes! Look forward to seeing how it goes. I envy you space!

[SabreKai]

Got a note from Stanley today, my engine is supposed to be shipped to Canada on the 5th of August. Still have plenty of time to rip out the old one and pull the rest of the junk out. I finished pulling out all the gear on the boat, only thing I left is tools and implements of destruction. Tomorrow, (today actually, its 0146 as I write this) I'm going to get going on the tearing out of the interior so I can get at the engine and its bits.


Sabre

[James S]

Take care that you don't loose to much of the hulls shape when you remove the interior if it includes bulk heads/stringers.
Also the the motor to shaft log alignment will change from the boat being out of the water to in the water....it can be a lot.

[Play Actor]

For what it's worth, our blog gives a fairly detailed description of our do it youself repower this past winter. Although we went with Yanmar, lots of the issues are generic. Hope it might be of use to you.

We took extra time to get everything just the way we wanted it, and we're reaping the dividends every day. Wish we had done it years ago.

Good luck!

[Danibug]

Originally Posted by SabreKai

Got a note from Stanley today, my engine is supposed to be shipped to Canada on the 5th of August. Still have plenty of time to rip out the old one and pull the rest of the junk out. I finished pulling out all the gear on the boat, only thing I left is tools and implements of destruction. Tomorrow, (today actually, its 0146 as I write this) I'm going to get going on the tearing out of the interior so I can get at the engine and its bits.


Sabre

That is very exciting. We are on the downslope in our project. The motor shipped and will be here next week sometime! I hope to be back in the water in 30 days! We'll see

[SabreKai]

Originally Posted by James S

Take care that you don't loose to much of the hulls shape when you remove the interior if it includes bulk heads/stringers.
Also the the motor to shaft log alignment will change from the boat being out of the water to in the water....it can be a lot.

Hull shape isn't going to be a problem here. All the interior is 2x2 and 2x4 framing bolted to the 3/8x 2inch steel frames. None of what I am removing is structural so the demolition is going along pretty quick. I am trying to be as kind to the parts I want to keep but the original fitting out used a lot of hidden fasteners. I puzzled over the dinette for about 3 hours, removed every screw I could find and ended up just wrenching it away from the floor beam. After I flipped it upside down I found that the routed verticals had been screwed to the wood floor beam and the dinette stand assembled over top of the screw heads. So be it. A lot of his work was done with screws only, no glue so its coming apart easily. Except where he did use glue. I have to wonder about the thought processes. Non essential areas are easy to expose, take some screws out and off pops a panel. Essential areas like the tanks are glued n screwed. Go figure.

As for the alignment problem. I will be making up a jig to replace the bearers, shaft log and prop strut tube all at the same time. So once the bearers and strut tube are welded in place, I can weld the shaft log sheeting in place around the shaft and then cut out the section in between and minimize the shifting.

Sabre

[SabreKai]

Originally Posted by Play Actor

For what it's worth, our blog gives a fairly detailed description of our do it youself repower this past winter. Although we went with Yanmar, lots of the issues are generic. Hope it might be of use to you.

We took extra time to get everything just the way we wanted it, and we're reaping the dividends every day. Wish we had done it years ago.

Good luck!

Just finished checking it out and it pretty much confirms my thoughts on how to proceed. Sadly my mast is down. Having the boom handy for the lift would have been nice but I have to come up with a gantry. Even the forklift with extensions on won't make it to the hatch as mine is off to the starboard side and naturally, the only clear path I have for the lift is on the port side.

But, I have found a trucking company that has masses of 4x4 timber left ever time they unload at a certain factory, (something about the shape of the cargo) and they said I can take as much as I want. I'll be getting some strap steel, nuts n bolts and an 11 foot chunk of Ibeam to make up the gantry which should allow me to lift it up and out, then slide it along to port and over the side. From there the fork lift can have it. If not I'll just unbolt the thing into pieces.

Yours looks like an MD-17c. If so I have the same green monster. Fortunately It appears that the new engine geometry will allow me to shove the whole thing right up under the cockpit and out of sight from the main cabin. Its shallower and has the shaft offset quite a bit less than the Volvo does.

Sabre