Busted motor mount

suparslinc · Nov 9, 2007

Wish I would have caught this when I bought the boat.

1987 wellcraft 210.

Whats your opinion? A little serious or very serious? Any fix or let it be?

deputysmarineworkstech · Nov 9, 2007

Re: Busted motor mount

If there is excess movement from the engine, repair of the mount would be suggested if I was working on the boat. But I would fix it anyway if it was my boat just for the peace of mind. Also how bad is it busted, it is hard to tell from the picture?

Lou C · Nov 9, 2007

Re: Busted motor mount

I hate to say it but that looks like rot in the engine mount stringer, the weight of the engine on that side seems to be collasping the fiberglass covering the stringer. A proper repair involves lifting the engine, cutting off the top of the glassed in mount and replacing the wood.

Don S · Nov 9, 2007

Re: Busted motor mount

Personally, I don't have a clue what you are talking about. What part of the mount, where is the break/crack etc. Nothing in that picture looks bad from this angle.

Lou C · Nov 9, 2007

Re: Busted motor mount

Cracked 'glass just above the edge of the mount, it looks caved in there.

f_inscreenname · Nov 9, 2007

Re: Busted motor mount

Get ready to pull the motor. Being collapsed like it is the mount is rotten and there is noting holding the motor down on that side. You are lucky its that side. If it was the torque side the motor would have tried to flip by now, Instead it's crushing the stringer mount and on it's way through the floor/hull.

Don S · Nov 9, 2007

Re: Busted motor mount

Ahhhhh, increased the size of the picture and it shows up very nicely.
Dead Stringers for sure.

Robj · Nov 9, 2007

Re: Busted motor mount

Pull the motor and start checking for rott. If you are lucky it is just your mount, but chances are it is your stringers too. Winter is the time to be fixing this kind of stuff. That boat is unsafe and I would fix it before I took it out in the water again.

Rob.

wire2 · Nov 10, 2007

Re: Busted motor mount

f_inscreenname said:
Get ready to pull the motor. Being collapsed like it is the mount is rotten and there is noting holding the motor down on that side. You are lucky its that side. If it was the torque side the motor would have tried to flip by now, Instead it's crushing the stringer mount and on it's way through the floor/hull.

You sure about that f? That looks like the port side, (by the vent tube at the transom). If so, the crank turns clockwise, engine torque is ccw, or up at that mount.
Not that it's very relevant now, it has to be fixed, regardless.

f_inscreenname · Nov 11, 2007

Re: Busted motor mount

Crank spins clockwise (when looking at the motor from the front). So it will push down on the port side and try to lift the starboard side.

a70eliminator · Nov 11, 2007

Re: Busted motor mount

f_inscreenname said:
Crank spins clockwise (when looking at the motor from the front). So it will push down on the port side and try to lift the starboard side.

I've never heard that, torque is always the port side. unless counter rotating engine. Never seen a torque strap on the starbird side there always on port side. I think you have it backwards.
Anyhow back to the original question, I think I would try and lift the engine a little on the port side, and mix up some epoxie resins and try to pour the mix into the voids below that mount, sort atry to build it back up.

tashasdaddy · Nov 11, 2007

Re: Busted motor mount

fix it right the first time. save the gimbal bearing, etc. the motor moving will miss align the outdrive.

wca_tim · Nov 11, 2007

Re: Busted motor mount

f_inscreenname said:
Crank spins clockwise (when looking at the motor from the front). So it will push down on the port side and try to lift the starboard side.

If the crank spins clockwise from the front doesn't it mean that "the boat" will want to torque counterclockwise (equal and opposite reaction), lifting the port side???

Think about those silly rides at the amusement park or fair where the buggy you're in spins when you twist the wheel in the middle ( say silly cause spinnin like that makes me turn green real fast). The wheel in the middle really doesn't turn, the buggy you're in does. If you try to turn the wheel clockwise, the buggy turns counter clockwise...

Bondo · Nov 11, 2007

Re: Busted motor mount

Ayuh,....... In My experinces,..... F_in is Right,.......

A SBC will Rise in the Starboardside,+ Drop on the portside from it's torque load.......

SuperNova · Nov 11, 2007

Re: Busted motor mount

f_inscreenname said:
Crank spins clockwise (when looking at the motor from the front). So it will push down on the port side and try to lift the starboard side.

The crank spins clockwise( as viewed from the front), the block will always try to spin the opposite direction (counter-clockwise) thereby lifting the PORT side. Torque straps are always installed on the PORT engine mount, Whether it's a boat or a car. What is crushing that stringer is after the motor picks up on that side and then slams back down.

If anyone owns a laterally-mounted engine vehicle (i.e. rear wheel drive) ,and I know there are some in here, If you care to verify this....just go open your hood, start it up and put it in drive...keep your foot on the brake and give it a little gas, see which way the engine lifts......for that matter it will probably lift the whole left front suspension. But I assure you...port side is what lifts.
--
Stan

wire2 · Nov 11, 2007

Re: Busted motor mount

Isaac Newton, (no relation to Wayne or Fig) figured it out a long time ago; "For every action, there's an equal and opposite reaction."
When the piston pushes the crankshaft cw, it also pushes the block ccw.

Give any single engine boat a good shot of throttle in neutral and the hull will tilt port up.

suparslinc · Nov 14, 2007

Re: Busted motor mount

I understand the whole torque side deal; what my picture fails to show is that the starboard motor mount is also crushed about two inches. Not as bad as the port side but still bad. If you notice the picture, it's clear some owner put a spacer below the port motor mount for a quick fix. I bought a rotten boat.

I personally think this is partially a bad design on the part of wellcraft having such a small mounting surface on top of fiberglass; still I don't understand how the entire bottom fell out on me this way.

I researched boats and still managed to buy the worst one in three counties.

My father, who knows something about fabrication, is going to contact a friend and ask him to make a sort of aluminum crutch, which will follow the contours of the engine compartment and distribute the weight and torque. Hopefully this will give me a couple of seasons. He also mentioned a sort of liquid metal that I've read about to fill in the rot after I drill it out like a cavity.

Hopefully I will get a couple of good seasons.

Edit: The gimble bearings were replaced two years ago, so that is one less thing I have to worry about. Besides the transom detaching.

Robj · Nov 14, 2007

Re: Busted motor mount

Regardless what type of bracket you build, if the mounts and stringers are rotten, they need to be replaced. That boat is unsafe and needs to be fixed properly. Look on the bright side, you will never buy a rotten boat again, we all learn from our mistakes, I did.

Rob.

Lou C · Nov 14, 2007

Re: Busted motor mount

I would not try to re-engineer what Wellcraft did, the best plan with the least unknowns is to pull the drive and engine, inspect the transom and all engine mount areas and replace the rotted wood. I hope the deck/stringers are not bad too. I went through the rotted deck/stringer issue on my FW and it was not fun, but I learned a lot. Now it's very solid and I'll run it as long as I can. BUT, the next one will be a nearly new late model, that's for sure.

45Auto · Nov 15, 2007

Re: Busted motor mount

My father, who knows something about fabrication, is going to contact a friend and ask him to make a sort of aluminum crutch, which will follow the contours of the engine compartment and distribute the weight and torque.

What structure are you going to distribute the weight and torque into? The stringers and transom are the primary load bearing structure of the boat. Would be bad to be out in the middle of a big lake when a storm comes up and you find out that rotten structure won't take the re-distributed load. Not saying it can't be done, just make sure that you are putting the load into something that can take it. Very often if the stringers are bad the transom is also.

Busted motor mount

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