Engine Template (Beta 38)

In the early evening I set out to release the recently laminated mast compression block from its clamps.  As can be seen below, there was ample squeeze-out of the thickened epoxy binding these laminations together.  Over the next couple days, I will take time to clean up the surfaces and then bond two layers of 1708 biaxial cloth to further prepare for its installation.  As fun as that was, the primary focus of today's work was to build a template of the proposed engine installation - Beta 38.

First order of business was to deconstruct the pallet I had around the shop over the last couple of months.  The pallet delivered a load of meranti, and while it was not cabinet or marine grade plywood, it was good enough for an engine template.  

I started by ripping the board down to a more manageable size, with a width sufficient enough for the maximum dimension of the engine.  Next I found what would be the center line of the shaft / gearbox output - I struck this line down the length of the board.  Next, I found the maximum starboard dimension from the center line at ~9" - happens to be the air filter.  Alternately, on the port side, I found the maximum dimension to be ~10.5" - the alternator.  So from here, I had the maximum width of the engine, and struck two lines the length of the board to represent these measurements.  I then rip cut the board along these two lines, arriving at a width representative of the engine's overall width.

I then found the location of the center lines of the flexible motor mounts, roughly 8 and 1/8" from the shaft / gearbox output center line, and struck two lines the length of the board.  From the aft end of the board I measured and found the locations of the centers of the four flexible motor mounts, and then pre-drilled the board to secure the four blocks shown below and which represent the motor mounts. The Beta motor mounts have a vertical adjustment of roughly 1" - from 65mm to 90mm.  The blocks used to represent the motor mounts were cut at 3", or a the mid-point of the adjustment range.  Using the mid-point of the adjustment range in the template process, after finding the engine's future resting place, would allow for fine-tuning of the engine's actual installation. 

The template with "motor mounts" attached.

With the 'motor mounts' secured, I turned my attention to securing two blocks, forward and aft, to accept a string that will eventually be run from the shaft log and which will represent the shaft itself.  The center point of the shaft happen to be 3.1" below of the bottom surface of the engine template.  The bottom of the engine template represents the bottom surface of the engine feet - the engine feet are essentially angle irons which secure the engine to the flexible motor mounts.  It is worth noting here that the center point of the shaft / gearbox output is the datum from which all other measurements are taken.

With the engine template constructed, I'm looking forward to finding out if the factory engine pan is a "go" or "no go."

Total Time: 3 Hrs.