Motor Mount

November 15, 2014 Hours spent building to date: 338

Motor mount is in!

The engine mount is attached to two more heavy stringers that run about five feet in from the transom and form the sides of the motor well. They are 3/4-inch plywood, so the well assembly is 1 1/2-inches thick — pretty hefty to handle the two-inch thick mount.

Fitting and measuring the mount by holding it above my head while standing on my tip-toes wasn’t going to happen, so I wrapped a couple cleats in packing tape to make “ramps” at the correct angle, so I could slide the mount up into the boat and clamp it into place while making adjustments. Then, considering I had about $100 worth of plywood and epoxy invested in the blank for the mount, I made a plywood template by tracing around the well sides, stringers and keel. It fit right the first time, so I traced it onto the blank, and cut out the mount — very slow going through a two-inch lamination.

Ray came over to help me slide the mount up into the boat, while I handled the mount and its insurance policy — 316-stainless steel lag screws running through the well sides and two inches into the mount. I really trust epoxy, but not having the motor mount shake loose and put the engine in the drink will be worth (I hope) the jewelry-level price that West Marine charges for these things.

Then it was back to fairing to get the mount and engine sides perfect angled to accept the planking. I am really tired of fairing, and with a two-inch lamination to bring down, I decided to exercise the nuclear option of stock removal — a disc grinder with a wheel meant for metal. This tool will really carve through wood, but is so aggressive that it can really get away from you. I was grinding away on a thick piece of oak on the Jericho Bay skiff one day, when I lost my concentration for five seconds and was suddenly half-way through the planking. But I was extra-careful and finally, FINALLY the back half of the Tardis is as fair as it is going to get.

Short week, since I went with Molly on a business trip to Boston to check out the USS Constitution before she goes into dry dock for three years. To a wooden boat nut, Old Ironsides is a combination of Chartres, the Blue Mosque and the Taj Mahal, so I want to follow the project closely whenever I can get up to Charlestown.