Mercruiser engine mount sank

[truckermatt]

Upon getting ready to winter the boat. I have a heated garage so I was not worried. I was reaching for the drain plugs on port side and discovered bad news

The port side engine mount sank into the fiberglass.
The boat is a 1990 welcraft eclipse 186. 4.3l merc
I open the hatch each time we use the boat and didn't notice anything. Maybe it happen on the final trailer ride home. Who knows

Now it am contemplating my options. The boat runs greats and seams structurally sound.

Any thoughts.

 

[porscheguy]

I?ve got a 1990 196 eclipse. Mine is a foot longer. They added the length in the engine area. I?ll have to bite the bullet eventually and decide what to do about my wood issues. Unfortunately your mounts have decayed well past mine. If you search, a few years ago a 17 year old replaced the stringers and the floor on the same model. IIRC his was a ?89. He didn?t do the transom and engine mounts at the time. He dropped off the site, then came back to say he had to do the transom and mounts. Then he disappeared. Not sure how it went for him.

If they?re delaminating like that, it?s time to replace them. Probably best to do everything in one shot. (Transom, stringers, mounts, deck.).

Not sure where you?re located but I?d get it winterized. In the spring I wouldn?t run the engine until checking to see if it?s shifted with an alignment bar.

 

[GA_Boater]

Forget the alignment bar because it needs aligned and you can't align until the wood under the motor mount is replaced and possibly stringers, transom and if you have soft spots in the deck, the deck as well.

This is not a good sign of healthy wood in the boat. Maybe it's only the wood in the motor mount pedestal, this isn't usually the case.

 

[Scott Danforth]

welcome to the restoration forums.

now pull the drive and motor and proceed with your hull restoration.

plan on replacing the mounts, stringers, transom, bulkhead and floor.

you may get lucky and only the engine mounts are rotten, however dont count on it.

 

[truckermatt]

Thanks for the support. I will remove engine and drive a address the damage from there. I will create a thread in the restoration forum when I start

 

[tpenfield]

Looks like you'll be doing the restoration thing. A key thing to do once you get the engine out is to figure out where the moisture and rot is throughout the structure, then plan you demolition accordingly.