1. Final engine bed fabrication.
2. Electrical installation
3. Controls and control cables
4. Exhaust system
5. Sound insulation
6. Propeller modifications

I have left these parts until after making the engine choice because locations for connections are engine specific.  I will now outline my plans for each of the sub-systems.  Then as I do the work I will document the actual installations.

1. Final Engine Bed Fabricaton

The first part of my rebuild was included the engine compartment floors and the lower parts of the engine beds.  I made the lower engine beds from 2" high by 3.5" wide douglas fir and lag bolted them to the floors.  I now need to build upper parts for those beds to allow me to simply set the engine down and bolt it to the beds.  To do that I will prepare an accutate drawing of the engine compartment and then use the engine drawings I have to dimension the upper beds.  I am also going to build a fiberglass pan to be fit under the engine to catch any oil spills or leaks to prevent having the engine compartment become oil saturated as it was when I started this endeavor.

May 28, 2011 - Since the engine arrived I have confirmeed the measurements from the engine with those on the engine drawings.  I used those drawings to determine the dimensions for the upper engine bed.  Yesterday I laminated the upper beds from douglas fir using west system epoxy thickened with 403 microfibers.  Today I cut the laminated beds down after making measurements on the lower beds and planed their upper surface smooth.

The picture above shows the upper beds ready for paint.  I will put three coats of Interlux Bilgekote on the beds and then bolt them to the lower beds.

June 2, 2011 - I have now finished painting the upper beds and they are ready to go in for their final test fitting.

Today I test fit the beds by clamping them into place and taking measurements from my reference, which is the top of the deck.  They came out within 1/16" of where I wanted them to be, which is perfectly acceptable since the engine mounts on the new diesel have just under an inch of adjustment range.  There is one final test to make sure they are right.  That is to lower the engine onto the new beds.

This afternoon I bought the wood and built the lifting frame so that I can move the engine.  The first step was to lift the engine off the shipping pallet.  That went smoothly.  The picture below shows the engine after I lifted it off the pallet with the lifting frame over it.  The frame is on casters so I can easily move the engine around in the cockpit.

After I lifted the engine off the pallet, I decided to put it on the engine beds to give them their final check.  Before moving the engine I set the engine mounts to the middle of their range and tightened the adjusting bolts.  Then I lifted the engine, rolled the A-frame over the engine compartment and lowered the engine onto the beds.

A couple of quick measurements showed that the gap between the two flanges is about 0.02" wider to starboard than to port, which means that I need to move the forward end of the engine about 0.25 degrees to starboard.  That angle translates to moving the engine about 1/8" to starboard at the forward bolt of the forward mount.  The vertical alignment is almost perfect.  Of course, once I bolt the engine mounts down the alignment will shift a bit, but adjustments to the engine mounts will then be adequate to get the alignment within tolerences.  So, the result of this test fitting is that the upper engine mounts are fine and ready to bolt to the lower mounts.  Tomorrow I will remove the engine, install the drip pan, which is ready to put in and then drill the upper engine beds for final mounting.  I won't install the mounts permanently until after I finish the sound insulation.

2. Electrical Installation

The electrical installation includes building and installing the battery box, installing a new battery switch and doing the cable runs from the batteries to the battery switch, the engine, the main distribution panel and the bilge pumps.  When I got Tortuga the batteries were located on the starboard side of the engine since that is where the starter was on the old Chrysler Crown.  However, the starter and alternator on the Volvo-Penta D2-40 are on the port side of the engine, so I will be locating the battery box on the port side.  I will be using three group 27 batteries divided into a two battery house bank and a one battery starting bank.  The batteries will be interconnected with a voltage sensing relay type battery combiner and there will be a conventional 1-2-both type battery switch to allow the two banks to be interconnected for emergency starting.  I will also install an on-off swtich between the house battery bank and the main distribution panel.  The bilge pump switch panel will be directly connected to the house battery bank.  I will also be installing a solar panel and regulator on the cabin top, which will be connected to the house battery bank to keep it charged to keep up with any bilge pump draws.  Finally, the electrical installation will include wiring in the engine control panel and also connection the automatic fire extinguisher's shut down circuitry to the engine control circuitry.

3. Controls and Control Cables

I have already bought a single lever engine control.  Now that I have made the engine decision I can buy and route the throttle and shift control cables.  I went with a single lever control because I like having one hand free to steer the boat.  There is also no risk of having the engine at a too high rpm setting when shifting.  Both the transmission control and throttle connection points are on the starboard side of the engine, which will require slightly longer control cables because of Tortuga's port steering station.

May 28, 2011 - I initially planned to mount the engine control on the starboard side of the existing mahogany engine control pedestal.  However, when I test fit the control it turned out that the control lever would hit the steering wheel when the engine was in reverse.  So, I built a 1.5" wide mahogany extension for the single lever control that will mount on the starboard side of the existing pedestal.  I put the final coat of varnish on that extension today and will mount it tomorrow.  Once the control is in place I will measure for the control cable runs and order the cables.

4. Exhaust System

The exhaust on the Volvo-Penta D2-40 is sized for 1-3/4" hose.  The existing exhaust system on the Tortuga is two and a half inch and consists of a Vernatone muffler and hose that is in good condition to the transom exhaust port.  The centerline of the existing two and a half inch exhaust port is about 3" above the old waterline and should be approximately 4.5" above the new waterline.  That puts the bottom of the exhaust port about 3.25" above the waterline.  I plan to retain the old 2.5" exhaust system.  In order to do that I have ordered the following parts: 1.75" to 2" adapter to allow a short piece of 1.75" hose to run from the exhaust elbow to the adapter and then a piece of 2" hose to run to the muffler.  I have ordered a 10" diameter Centek Vernalift waterlift muffler for 2" hose.  From the muffler there will be a short length of 2" hose then a 2" Centek fiberglass check valve to minimize the risk of back flow up the exhaust line getting into the engine.  After the check valve ther will be another adapter to allow connection the the existing 2.5" exhaust system.  The complexity of the system is largely due to the need to go from 1.75" to 2.5".

The picture above shows the vernalift water lift muffler.  It is screwed to two frames with #12 bronze screws.  Aft of the muffler there is a 2" Centek check valve which I modified so that the aft end of it fits 2.5" hose.  Aft of the check valve, the exhaust system uses the existing 2.5" exhaust hose and bronze thru-transom fitting.

5. Sound Insulation

The entire engine compartment will be boxed in with 3/8" marine plywood.  I will be putting a minimum of 1" of sound down composite foam sound insulation on both sides, aft of and above the engine and on the bulkhead that divides the engine compartment from the main cabin.  The goal is to minimize engine noise in the cockpit and particularly in the main cabin.

6. Propeller and shaft Modifications

The existing propeller is a 20" diameter by 15" pitch 3 blade 0.51 disk area ratio bronze prop.  There is some pitting on the outside edge of one blade and I need to repitch the propeller to be compatible with the new engine/gear combination.  The propeller calculations I have done indicate that I need to repitch the prop to 13".  So I will be removing the prop and taking it to the local prop shop where the blade pitting will be repaired and the prop will be repitched.

April 19, 2011 - Today I removed the prop.  I tried to remove the prop last Friday.  The nuts came off easily, but the prop itself wouldn't budge when I set a wooden block against the prop and whacked it with my 4 lb sledge.  Today I stopped by the prop shop and asked if there was a trick to getting the prop off.  The guys there suggested a puller, or failing that a "magic nut".  The magic nut turns out to be a nut sized to fit the shaft threads that has a piece of metal plate welded to one end.  The nut is screwed onto the shaft until the metal plate is snug against the end of the shaft, then you hit the metal plate sharply with a good sized hammer.  Being cheap, I decided to buy two 1"-8 steel nuts.  I put them on the shaft so that one was just a bit proud of the end of the shaft and used two big wrenches to firmly jam them together.  I then whacked the end nut with my 4 pound sledge and the prop broke loose on the 5th hit.  I backed the two nuts off and removed the prop.  The entire procedure took about 2 minutes.  Total cost for the two nuts was $3 at the local hardware store.  The prop goes to the prop shop tomorrow morning.

April 30, 2011 - Today I got word that a propeller shaft coupling that fits the transmission on the Volvo_Penta D2-40 isn't available for a 1-3/8" shaft.  After a brief consult with my engine supplier, I decided to have the end of the existing shaft turned down to 1-1/4" for which a coupling is available.  I pulled the shaft today, which required removing one of my Racor fuel filters and cutting a clearance hole in the bulkhead to pull the shaft through.  After that the shaft came out easily despite being 7.5' long.  The shaft will go to a local maching shop as soon as the 1-1/4" coupling arrives, where the end of the shaft will be turned down and the coupling will be installed.

May 6, 2011 - The new prop coupling arrived yesterday,, so I picked it up and took the shaft and coupling over to the local machinist.  He called me this morning at about 8:30 to let me know he was finished.  Rather than turn the shaft down and mill a new key way, he decided to bore out the coupling and broach the keyway a bit deeper into the coupling.  When he finished that he installed the coupling and faced it to the shaft.  It looks great.  I picked the shaft up this morning and put it back into the boat.  Since I had the shaft out, I also repacked the stuffing box with Duramax Ultra-X packing.
 
 

After I put the shaft back in I repaired the hole I had to cut in the engine compartment forward bulkhead and then bunged 100 screws in one of the 22' bottom planks.

May 25, 2011 - I dropped the prop off at the prop shop on April 20, 2011.  The work required was to weld up the cavitation pits on the forward side of one blade then to repitch the prop and finally balance and sandblast it.  The prop shop scanned the prop to determine the pitch as submitted.  They then did the repairs, repitched and rebalanced the prop.  I picked the prop up on May 24, 2011.  The before and after results are shown in the picture above.  The following table shows the results of the before and aftwer scans of the blades.

The scan results show that the the prop the average pitch for the prop was about 15.3", but one blade was out by 0.3".  The prop shop didn't say if that was the blade with the cavitation pitting, but I suspect that it was.  Although I asked for the prop to be pitched to 13", the shop only took 2" off the original pitch, so I ended up with an effective pitch of 13.34".  Based on the prop calculations that result will be OK and should give me about a quarter knot higher top end while still leaving the boat very slightly under propped on flat water.  The propeller calculations with the new pitch yield a top speed of 9.17 knots at 3,200 rpms on flat water and 7.8 knots at 3092 rpms in rough conditions.  Both results are within the acceptable range specified by the engine warranty.  I will, of course determine the actual speed versus engine rpm curve after the boat is launched.  I will use those results to calculate an optimal pitch.  The prop work ended up costing $374, which is a bit more than I expected, so I doubt I will have the prop redone again unless the reality check suggests that the calculations were considerably off.

May 26, 2011- Today I put the prop back on the boat and installed the shaft zinc.  I set the prop up 2" aft of the cutless bearing housing which allows room for the shaft zinc and lets me remove the prop without moving the engine.  That gap is within specs for overhang on the prop shaft aft of the bearing.

7. The Actual Engine Install

May 11, 2011 - The engine arrived at the diesel shop tooday.  The mechanic will start it up and test run it tomorrow or Friday.  Assuming he doesn't find any problems, it will then be all mine.  It sure is pretty.

May 13, 2011 - Today the diesel shop started and ran thhe engine.  It is amazingly quiet even with no muffler.  You can hear it run in the short video at this link: http://www.todddunnmicroyachts.com/tortuga/Engine_running.mpg

May 19, 2011 - The boat hauler arrived at 10:30 this morning to collect my sailboat for launching.  Two hours later I was motoring out to my mooring in driving rain.  Once on the mooring I put the dodger on then headed back home.  On the way back I talked to the hauler again and we arranged for him to pick up the Volvo-Penta diesel from the diesel shop and put it on board Tortuga with his boom truck, which he had just used to step my masts as well as those on another sailboat he launched after he did mine.

Fortunately the rain stopped right after I got ashore, so the engine had a dry ride over to my house.  The boom truck with the engine on it arrived at my house at about 2:15 and 10 minutes later Tortuga once again had an engine on board.  The picture below shows the engine sitting in the cockpit.  Over the next few days I will finish putting the sound insulation in the engine compartment.  After that I will build an A-frame on casters to move the engine forward and lower it into the engine compartment.

June 2, 2011 - I did a test install today (see engine bbeds section above).  Here is the first picture of the engine sitting on the beds.  It looks great.  It is too bad that I have to pull it out to finish the sound insulation and installation of the battery box.

You can see the throttle and shifter cables at the aft end of the engine.  The service side of the engine is the starboard side.  Since I can get into the engine compartment behind the engine, it will be easy to change the oil and fuel filters.  The raw water impeller is at the starboard forward end of the engine and will be a bit tougher to work on, but still not all that bad since you can see it easily.

June 13, 2011 - The weather here has kept me from working on the boat for the last couple of days.  I got back aboard this afternoon though and finished up the engine compartment.  I have now put soundown sound barrier on all sides of the engine compartment, installed the steering and shift cables, put the battery box in, installed the automatic fire extinguisher and engine shut down system and plumbed in the raw water filter.  I have also permanently installed the engine beds and put the fiberglass drip pan in under the engine.  The picture below shows the engine room looking down from above.

I have to be away from the boat tomorrow, but expect to do the final engine install on Wednesday the 15th.

June 15, 2011 - This afternoon I installed the engine.  The install went smoothly except for two of the lag bolts for the forward motor mounts.  Those bolts turned out to be under part of the mounting flanges on the engine that bolt to the motor mounts.  I was just able to fit the 1/2" x 3" lag bolts under the flanges, but there was no way I could get a socket onto the bolt heads.  So I had to screw those two lag bolts in with a box wrench, which took a LOT longer than it would have if I had been able to get the socket onto the bolts.  Anyway, the engine is in and hooked up except for connecting the fuel input line, the final hose to the raw water filter and the hoses to the water heater.  I didn't connect the fuel line because I haven't pumped fuel through the dual Racor 500MA filters yet.  Before I do that I will have to put some fuel in the tank, since it is currently empty.  I will buy some fuel within a day or two to fill the tank.  After that I will pump fuel through both Racor filters and then connect the fuel line to the engine and bleed the engine.  I didn't connect the water heater because the engine came with plugs on the water heater ports.  When I remove those plugs the engine is going to leak antifreeze.  I decided to wait intil the engine was installed so that the antifreeze that leaked out would drain into the drip pan under the engine rather than onto the cockpit sole and then into the bilge.  Finally, I left the raw water hose off the strainer because I want to test run the engine while drawing cooling water from a bucket.  For that the raw water line needs to be in the bucket instead of connected to the strainer.

I have done the alignment, but haven't bolted the shaft coupling to the transmission's output flange because the bolts that came with the shaft coupling are about 1/8" too long.  I have ground two of them to the proper length, but still have to do the other two before I will finally bolt the two flanges together.

The picture above shows the steering station with its bronze wheel.  At the right you can see the single lever shifter/throttle.  Above the wheel you can see the control panel.  From left to right the controls are: top row - Fireboy automatic fire extinguisher control, engine temperature, tachometer; bottom row - windlass control, volt meter and engine start/stop panel.  The Fireboy control is connected to the automatic fire extinguisher and to the engine shut-down system.  If the fire extinguisher discharges, the Fireboy control will trigger the engine shut-down system and turn the engine room blowers off to prevent the engine and blowers from removing the fire extinguishing agent from the engine space.  The Fireboy control has a switch to over ride the engine shutdown, so you can restart the engine after a fire extinguisher discharge.  There is a circuit breaker for the windlass on the left side of the steering pedestal that can't be seen in this picture.