I have pulled my 4JH2-TE from my
Columbia 43 and have it in my home garage for a
rebuild. I have a Walter V-drive and a Velvet Drive
transmission. I am sending the V-drive in for a
rebuild, and am replacing the Velvet Drive with a ZF 45 (much lighter, and a perfect replacement fit). When I pulled the
engine, it was impossible to remove the V-drive and tranny without first lifting the
engine. There is a large frame a few inches forward of the V-Drive making it impossible to pull the V-drive or tranny unless you
lift the engine first. Obviously, reinstallation will present the same problem.
I saw a Youtube video
of a
transmission replacement in a ski
boat. The engine had a trunnion mount that allowed the engine to be rotated up so that the transmission was accessible without lifting the entire engine. I want to put in something similar in my
boat. Explaining this is a bit tricky because I have a V-drive. When I use the terms "forward end" and "aft end" I am referring to the boat-wise orientation. So the forward end of the engine is where the transmission sticks out. When I use "front of the engine" and "back of the engine" I am referring to the engine-wise orientation. The transmission attaches to the back of the engine, which is at the forward end.
OK -- so what I want is a swivel arrangement for the engine foot/mount at the front of the engine (aft end). The idea is that with the engine installed, I can
lift the back of the engine (forward end) up simply by unbolting the prop shaft coupling, removing the nuts on the two engine mounts at the back of the engine (forward end), then lifting. The swivel foot/mount arrangement on the two mounts at the front (aft end) of the engine will allow the engine to rotate in the vertical plane without removing the mounting nuts. I can then remove the V-drive or transmission -- or get at the stern tube,
packing gland, etc. very easily. Of course I must first detach the gearshift linkage and throttle linkage
cables (and make sure my
fuel lines have enough slack).
If you have ever worked on a V-drive sailboat, you will know how difficult it is to reach the
packing gland: it's right under the engine, and almost impossible to
work on. This trunnion arrangement would solve that problem.
Attached is a
screen shot from the Youtube video showing the trunnion (ignore the pink circle). Anyone know where I can get these?