Drilling the transom...

[halfmoa]

Re: Drilling the transom...

If you're that concerned about aligning the holes 90 degrees to the transom there's jigs for that.

http://www.sears.com:80/shc/s/p_10153_12605_00902540000P?prdNo=1&blockNo=1&blockType=G1

I've spent less for peace of mind...

Halfmoa

 

[tmcalavy]

Re: Drilling the transom...

Disclaimer: this might be dumb and wrong

on the three times I've hung a motor... I just hung the motor up, tightened the transom clamps and then did the thru bolts using the motor mounts as a guide... I have had no problem doing it like that...

No clamps on this beast...you have to drill holes from the template...just right...then install the hanger arms to the transom, then insert the 260-lb. beast between the hanger arms/keepers. Doing this alone so everything has to be right...no holey transom smeared with silicone in my garage.

 

[tmcalavy]

Re: Drilling the transom...

um yeah get a grip.... you got GREAT advice from several people and all you can say is that it isn't up to your standards on your (better than anyone else's) boat.... If that thing is so priceless maybe you shouldn't be too cheap or lazy to find a drill press and make a drill guide.... If anyone needs to rethink the way they behave on a forum it ISN'T us.

Besides I said rocket SURGERY not science..... that was funny and deserves a laugh

Good luck tho....

Like I said...if the shoe fits...wear it, er' smoke it on the water.

 

[zopperman]

Re: Drilling the transom...

No clamps on this beast...you have to drill holes from the template...just right...then install the hanger arms to the transom, then insert the 260-lb. beast between the hanger arms/keepers. Doing this alone so everything has to be right...no holey transom smeared with silicone in my garage.

Uhh WTF?! Any pics of this contraption?

 

[jacoboregon]

Re: Drilling the transom...

Sorry for the demeaning replies. Usually you'll get good advice, as you probably know, without all the snide remarks. Must be a bad day. The easiest, least expensive way to drill the holes at 90-degrees if you don't have a guide would be to make a 90-degree angle out of scrap 2x4's and clamp it to the transom, using it as a guide to run your drill against as you drill. One leg would be clamped to the transom and the other leg would stick out at a 90-degree angle. Just re-clamp it next to each hole as you drill.

 

[jacoboregon]

Re: Drilling the transom...

So the hangar is seperate from the motor? Can you clamp the hangar to the transom before drilling? Or are you trying to determine the correct height in which to drill? Do you have any rafters strong enough to hold the weight of the motor so you can suspend it next to the transom with a come-along or other hoist to get the height right?

 

[tmcalavy]

Re: Drilling the transom...

Yes the hanger arms are separate from the bracket. I am going to use an engine hoist to test engine height/position after I lay out the bracket template on the transom and mark the hole locations...then see how these marry up with the actual motor hangers/bracket. It's a longshaft outboard...needed for my boat...so I may wind up positioning the engine and hanger arms and then marking the holes and drilling. Based on advice so far, I plan to lower the trailer tongue to see if I can get the transom rake/angle plumb and then use a wood 90-degree guide as you suggested to guide the bit on the final pass. Plan to start with small bits and work up to actual bolt size. All this a bit at a time since I am working alone.

 

[Texasmark]

Re: Drilling the transom...

In all seriousness, if I wanted to mount an engine to a boat, I would position the engine where I wanted it, check the plumb with the keel, and with the engine installed, drill the holes and shove the bolts through with 3M 5200 or whatever was a good marine sealer, install the washers and self locking bolts and get on with whatever else I wanted to do. If I were a couple of degrees off TDC then so be it.

 

[tmcalavy]

Re: Drilling the transom...

Well to each his own...go for it next time you repower with an outboard.
I hitched the trailer to the truck today, rolled the outboard up to the transom on the engine hoist after marking the centerline of the transom and outboard bracket, scootched it a little to get the lines straight and found it will be exactly the right height as is...won't have to raise the brackets/hangers to have the cav plate even with the keel. Put the hanger supports on each side of the bracket, held them snug and traced around each hangar with a pencil...then used a black sharpie to mark the center of each hole I need to drill. Tomorrow I'll use a carpenter's square or the wood, 90-degree guide to step drlll the transom holes. Then it's bolts, nuts and sealant as needed. Thanks agagain for the positive suggestions...if I think about it, I'll post up a pix when I finish painting the Speedifour top cowl and get the motor hung.

 

[zopperman]

Re: Drilling the transom...

In all seriousness, if I wanted to mount an engine to a boat, I would position the engine where I wanted it, check the plumb with the keel, and with the engine installed, drill the holes and shove the bolts through with 3M 5200 or whatever was a good marine sealer, install the washers and self locking bolts and get on with whatever else I wanted to do. If I were a couple of degrees off TDC then so be it.

^^ That. What I said, just said better.

 

[smokeonthewater]

Re: Drilling the transom...

yep but some folks need to reinvent the wheel just to haul a trash can to the street.... I honestly don't understand the hostility from the OP.... Nobody called him any names or demeaned him and we had no way of knowing that he considered his boat to be special...... boats that cost hundreds of thousands of dollars have the holes drilled at a few degrees off every day and nobody complains.

Now had he posted up with additional info that he wanted the holes to ba absolutely perfectly true just because it made him feel better then he wouldn't gotten the responses he got.... NONE of them were intended as insults but rather they (and you can ask the other posters to verify) were intended to ease his mind and give him the confidence to complete the job...... Heck, just look at WHO replied... we all do everything we can daily to help complete strangers because we have a real love for the sport.... We don't get paid and we don't owe you or anyone else anything... We just want to help and a little appreciation would be nice...

There are tools for this job that can be made or bought. trying to maneuver the boat so that the transom is vertical and use a level in the drill is a tough way to go. Surely there is SOMEBODY with a drill press around you.... heck walk into any machine shop with a block of oak and ask them to drill a hole in it for ya.... Hand the guy a 6 pack and shake his hand and you're good to go.....

 

[Scott Chinsota]

Re: Drilling the transom...

as i drifted off to sleep last night i thought...plunge router, that would yield a perpendicular hole. i duct taped a square to the hull to drill my drain tube. oh well...enough breath wasted here.

 

[mxcobra]

Re: Drilling the transom...

This Old Boat
By : Don Casey
"There are many great tools for boat building, A leval is not one of them"

 

[tmcalavy]

Re: Drilling the transom...

To each his own...I'm well on my way to being done. Thanks for the positive replies, he said with affected hostility...someone call the PC police, he disagrees with me.

yep but some folks need to reinvent the wheel just to haul a trash can to the street.... I honestly don't understand the hostility from the OP.... Nobody called him any names or demeaned him and we had no way of knowing that he considered his boat to be special...... boats that cost hundreds of thousands of dollars have the holes drilled at a few degrees off every day and nobody complains.

Now had he posted up with additional info that he wanted the holes to ba absolutely perfectly true just because it made him feel better then he wouldn't gotten the responses he got.... NONE of them were intended as insults but rather they (and you can ask the other posters to verify) were intended to ease his mind and give him the confidence to complete the job...... Heck, just look at WHO replied... we all do everything we can daily to help complete strangers because we have a real love for the sport.... We don't get paid and we don't owe you or anyone else anything... We just want to help and a little appreciation would be nice...

There are tools for this job that can be made or bought. trying to maneuver the boat so that the transom is vertical and use a level in the drill is a tough way to go. Surely there is SOMEBODY with a drill press around you.... heck walk into any machine shop with a block of oak and ask them to drill a hole in it for ya.... Hand the guy a 6 pack and shake his hand and you're good to go.....

 

[retiredfornow]

Re: Drilling the transom...

I busted a hole in a kitchen wall, back in '72 or so, put in a window, with the help of a few beers, and it was a 1/4 inch out of plumb. I saw it everytime I walked into the kitchen, but no one else could. It still bothers me to this day, and I sold the house back in '79. Some people are just perfectionists. Good luck with your project.

 

[NYBo]

Re: Drilling the transom...

We don't get paid...

WHAT?!?! You mean I won't be getting a check in the mail???

 

[halfmoa]

Re: Drilling the transom...

WHAT?!?! You mean I won't be getting a check in the mail???

If you guys got paid I'd owe a fortune by now...

 

[Frank Acampora]

Re: Drilling the transom...



I know that old Evinrude/Johnson system. I have an electric shift 60 with it. Two cast brackets attach to the transom and the engine slides down into them. Then, two cross bolts with unthreaded tips screw through and keep the engine from rising out. Perhaps it is visible in this photo.

I must say that if you have a mounting template, it is easier than hanging an engine and then drilling.

 

[tmcalavy]

Re: Drilling the transom...

Pretty close, but no cigar...right on the money except for the cross bolts. My brackets don't have those...they angle down and inside lower ends snug down over the transom plate on the motor. Got it all drilled and fitted today, using the step bit method you recommended Frank. The holes came out pretty close to where I marked them according to the template. Had to fit the motor to the transom using the engine hoist twice, once to get the holes for the starboard bracket right on the money...and again a few minutes later when the left bracket wasn't quite cooperating. Tomorrow I go and get the four bolts I need...used some surrogates today...and then button it all up with 4200. Then comes the fun of threading the wiring loom through a grommet in the splashwell, hanging the junction box on the transom down under the splashwell, routing the loom forward to the dash, and mounting the start and choke buttons there. Then the control cable fun begins...followed by tightening up the cable-n-pulley steering. Is that your 60 electric shift in the photo you posted...does it run/plane better with a whale tail?

 

[Willyclay]

Re: Drilling the transom...

Pretty close, but no cigar...right on the money except for the cross bolts. My brackets don't have those...

I looked at the parts catalog for your motor and the transom bracket clamps should have the cross bolts. The catalog calls them "lock bolts". Don't believe I would operate that rig without the lock bolts based on my experience with a 1962 Johnson 75 and a 1968 Johnson 100 that use the same transom bracket design. FYI, the 1968 version has height adjustment holes&slots in the clamps and I can verify they work on the earlier models because I swapped the 75 between three boats and had to use the 100's clamps to get the AVP height right on one. The locking bolts have the same p/n for both years. Also, when making those swaps and on/off of my work stand I found that engaging the lock bolts was much easier if the four main clamp bolts were slightly loose until the motor was perfectly set in place. Good luck with your swap!