74 aristo 19 the bolt holes for the fwd. motor mounts are completely rusted out.

Joined
Jul 13, 2013
Messages
29
i just purchased a 74 aristo craft 19 with a merc 165. the old engine was scrapped due to overheating and po purchased a new marine long block but never installed it. the bouat has sat outside for several years and the two holes where the front of the motor mount to the deck are full to the top of rust. so my first question is can this be repaired by drilling and installing helicoils or will i have to replace the entire wood block that is bonded in there? if i have to replace the entire wood piece how do you get the finished depth correct to ensure the motor and outdrive are properly aligned. i have thought about intentionally setting them low and them shimming to correct for any misalignment.
 

ziggy

Admiral
Joined
Jun 30, 2004
Messages
7,473
Re: 74 aristo 19 the bolt holes for the fwd. motor mounts are completely rusted out.

bear in mind, what i got to say is pure speculation as i've not done a repair of this sort.
in another boat i did have the same scenario though. it was the start of the end of that boat. not my nineteen.

i think that there is a piece of wood mounted underneath the inner liner of our nineteens. right where the ft. mount is. i think this piece of wood needs to be replace. how i don't know though.

i think the rust you see is from the bolts

i don't think ya can use helicoils as this is glass and wood underneath in this ft. motor mount area. nothing to get a helicoil to mount to.

as for the correct depth. i would think this might be easier to accomplish with our nineteens as the inner liner is the right height. any minor variation in height ya should be able to compensate for via the ft. motor mount adj.

when done. be sure to use an alignment bar when setting alignment. it's the only proper way to align the engine coupler and gimble brg.

if ya get down to cutting this area of your boat up. post up some pics. i've never seen this area under construction.

maybe contact AristoCraft. surely they would know the proper way to repair this area. let us know for future reference here if ya find out how to do it proper.
 

aristocraft

Petty Officer 2nd Class
Joined
Mar 5, 2008
Messages
131
Re: 74 aristo 19 the bolt holes for the fwd. motor mounts are completely rusted out.

Ziggy, as always, is right on this. There is a 13'x13' square block under the deck right there that the bolts go into. But lets start here as i am a bit confused. Are the bolts still in the holes? you say they are full of rust, but not sure if you are saying that the bolts are still in there. If they are, use some of the different methods availiable to remove them. Once you get the holes cleaned out, I would then get to checking on the wood to see if it has gotten saturated. IF it is, then this is most likely because the foam under the floor is saturated, which intern rots out that wood block. if indeed this is the case, then you are going to need to replace the wood, and the foam at the same time by the methods that have been talked about on here. Once you pull the foam out of the boat, you can work the wood out and install the new wood.
However first things first, get the holes cleaned out and see what we are working with here.
 
Joined
Jul 13, 2013
Messages
29
Re: 74 aristo 19 the bolt holes for the fwd. motor mounts are completely rusted out.

false alarm on the engine mount holes. the boat has sat in a field in Indiana for almost 5 years and a small village of field mice had taken up residence inside it. the holes were full of dirt and mouse poop. the wood is not rotten yet but I did pull some of the foam out of the two round holes in the aft deck area. both sides were dripping water when you squeezed the foam.

on a side note. should I post each new question in a new thread or can I continue with new questions in this one since it was my thread to start with?
 

Bamaman1

Lieutenant Commander
Joined
May 15, 2011
Messages
1,895
Re: 74 aristo 19 the bolt holes for the fwd. motor mounts are completely rusted out.

Most motor mounts on the front of I/O engines use of wood lag bolts that go down through the fiberglass into what's hopefully strong wood. I assume you're installing another 165 hp Chevy motor in the same place. I have no idea how long the lag bolts should be, however.

If you have questions on Aristocrafts, call them in 770-475-5455. They're still in business building wooden boats and supplying parts and expertise for the popular model like I once had.
 

GA_Boater

Honorary Moderator Emeritus
Joined
May 24, 2011
Messages
49,038
Re: 74 aristo 19 the bolt holes for the fwd. motor mounts are completely rusted out.

Post # three is from Mr. Aristocraft :))). He is the guy to talk to and has kept the family business running. And keep talking to us too. :D

Chad - It's best to keep the questions in one place. Since you are going to be doing some resto work on the old gal, I would start a resto thread here: Boat Restoration, Building, and Hull Repair. Most of your questions will be generic to almost any fiberglass boat, so you get more exposure to to some great help. Be sure to post pics - they help a lot when describing things. Of course any A/C specific questions are best here in the Arictocraft section.

Welcome to iboats, the best source of boating related info on the Web.
 
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