I/O (Sterndrive) Conversion to Outboards

[aspeck]

Family friendly forum rules limit a public reply.
@Scott Danforth has you covered.

I googled it and learned that it was Religious and Cultural Heritage …

 

[tpenfield]

I googled it and learned that it was Religious and Cultural Heritage …

Good answer

 

[tpenfield]

Also, I've seen a fair amount of 'traffic' on FB Marketplace regarding the sale of the Mercruisers.

Thousands of views and about a dozen nibbles, but no hard bites. I think the engines will be with me until spring time, but probably a better time of year to sell as a re-power.

 

[redneck joe]

Is CL still an option?

 

[alldodge]

Thousands of views and about a dozen nibbles, but no hard bites. I think the engine will be with me until spring time, but probably a better time of year to sell as a re-power.

I hope your right, but I see salt water and Cats, the two things that would give me pause

 

[tpenfield]

I hope your right, but I see salt water and Cats, the two things that would give me pause

I think that someone who runs only in fresh water may be hesitant, but for those who run I/O boats in salt water, not so much. For the inquiries I've gotten, CATs and salt have not been a main topic of discussion.

 

[tpenfield]

More gusset cores . . .
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26 gussets in total (on the inside). There will be a couple more on the outside. Next steps are to glass all these things in. The gussets are intended to support (stiffen) the flange area around the structural members, as that is where most of the bolts will go.

The extension pod is getting heavy. So, I may weigh it after I glass the gussets.

 

[redneck joe]

What will the weighing do if not to your expected specs?

 

[tpenfield]

What will the weighing do if not to your expected specs?

It would tell me to add helium balloons to the inside.

 

[redneck joe]

Your man made vroom vroom noises will be interesting to hear when mixed with helium.

 

[flashback]

It's starting to look like it's been milled out of a solid block.! I bet it is getting heavy.

 

[tpenfield]

It's starting to look like it's been milled out of a solid block.! I bet it is getting heavy.

Thanks for the lead-in . . .

168 lbs as it is now. . . .

My calculations are 186 +/- lbs. more to go (354 lbs.), then there is the stuff that goes on/around the inside of the transom (50-75 lbs). So, it is pretty much on track.

 

[aspeck]

It would tell me to add helium balloons to the inside.

But just a wee bit of helium ...

 

[tpenfield]

Weep holes installed . . . before I forget to do them.


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I got some special tungsten carbide hole saws to drill through the bottom of the stringers. 6 holes total so as not to trap any water.

 

[Scott Danforth]

I got some special tungsten carbide hole saws to drill through the bottom of the stringers. 6 holes total so as not to trap any water.

sounds like a "hold my beer and let me dull them" event.

fiberglass and 17-4 stainless both dull bits and saw blades and hole saws in very short order.

 

[tpenfield]

sounds like a "hold my beer and let me dull them" event.

fiberglass and 17-4 stainless both dull bits and saw blades and hole saws in very short order.

The larger (2") hole really put up some reactionary torque . . .
The holes saws (tungsten carbide ?) worked really well. Nobody had to hold my beer.

 

[tphoyt]

I got a cheap set of those on Amazon a few years ago and for the price I’m still impressed.
I even got into a jam on a job in the middle of nowhere yesterday and didn’t want to make the 45 minute drive to get the right bit so I used it on tile and is zipped right it.

 

[tpenfield]

Mass production of gusset fiberglassing . . .

I have over 20 gussets to glass in. I tried a couple of them 'free hand' and the results were OK, but not great. So, I made a template on my computer and laid them out on a large piece of 1708 cloth.
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Don't tell anybody, but I lightly glue a sheet of plastic to the '17' (biaxial) side of the cloth, so the pieces stay together and don't fray during the cutting, handling, and wet-out.

Here is the 'master' sheet with all the gusset pieces marked.
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Then it was a matter of cutting out the individual cloths.
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I did the secondary stringer gussets (12 of them) fairly quickly and can get the others in the AM.