Mercruiser front motor mount/alignment ??

[Marktwain68]

Hello, I'm new here I've read 100s of post I don't know if I'm posting this in the right place but it took me an hour to find a place to even post anything...lol

So I bought a 1968 mark twain for $200 (my first boat ever) it had the the floor tore out already and new stingers in it. But no place for the front mount to make a extreamly looong aggravating story short I put a 4 by 4 in found out the block was cracked had to put a new motor in I let a friend of mine do it.... He never took the out drive off just smashed the motor on the spline.... New coupler.... Now I've read everything step by step to do it right. (my self) I can't get it aligned I'm wondering how high was the original block the motor mount mounted to? I've raised and lowered and added wood and took away wood trying to align it and it just will not. I'm about ready to stick a axe in the side and call it a day....
Please help thanks so much Tonya 3.0 120hp mercruiser pre alph....... I think.:facepalm:

 

[Bt Doctur]

Re: Mercruiser front motor mount/alignment ??

Generally, and use that term loosely ,the valve cover is level. best to support the front of the motor with a hoist or hyd boom and check using an alignment bar. once close, measure to where the new wood wiil go and glass in place. Make sure you have up and down adjustment available with the front mount

 

[cavalier858]

Re: Mercruiser front motor mount/alignment ??

If you need dimensions let me know. I have a 1971 Mark Twain Cruiser 4 cylinder Alpha I/O

If you trash the boat kindly let me know as I am searching for the Logs, name tags etc for my boat.
I am almost done rebuilding it. 40 years old but a nice boat. My email is

 

[IdahoDoug]

Re: Mercruiser front motor mount/alignment ??

Just so you know this is going to be very difficult for a novice. With all reference points gone, you're essentially trying to create mounts for an engine that will precisely align it to an outdrive. That's actually quite difficult. You'll need the aforementioned ability to move a very heavy object in extremely fine increments until the rear of the engine is at the correct height. THEN you're going to have to build adjustable front mounts so you can fine tune the angle. That is going to take a lot of time and patience to do as the engine will have to be mounted perfectly in height, in fore and aft tilt, and side to side. From scratch....

So have at it, but you should know since this is the first time you've tried it that it will be a lot of work. And bringing this to a shop will probably get you a lot of shaking heads as they also contemplate the challenge of making new motor mounts from scratch with no reference measurements.

Go for it, but be reasonable in your expectations as to time, energy and frustration. Not much cost, but lots of time and patience. I'd consider buying a couple cheap kids toy lasers to use in getting things roughly lined up. Glue or tape them onto the engine.

DougM

 

[Marktwain68]

Re: Mercruiser front motor mount/alignment ??

Yes dementions or even a picture would be great please. I just need a close staring point.

 

[Marktwain68]

Re: Mercruiser front motor mount/alignment ??

Thanks so much. I've come this far... I've worked on cars since I was 16 that's why I chose the I/O... I can do my own electrical, plumming, washer, dryer ect ect ect repair. I have never met anything I can't complish....... Til the TWAIN. The motor has the front adjustable mount there I just need to build a new mount down where the stringers were the "bilge area. Thanks for your honest answers and thanks for not making me feel like a complete idiot. I will take some pics and try to up load today.
Headed out there, here goes nothing.

 

[Marktwain68]

Re: Mercruiser front motor mount/alignment ??

http://forums.iboats.com/showthread.php?t=325938&page=1

After raising the engine all the way and checking the alignment all the way down every quarter turn (took me all day) till the mount was just hanging and still scraping on the top of the tool I looked up back motor mounts. And I have them WRONG!!! in the thread above I didn't put in the "I" or the "G" in !!! So that's what I'm going to go do now, that should lift the back of the motor enough to probley give what I'm trying to achieve by lowering the front. The spring washer should lift the back when I put it in....... Right? I feel like a dummy.

 

[Marktwain68]

Re: Mercruiser front motor mount/alignment ??

Ok got the mount in and correct!!! It made a huge difference in how high the rear sat. The tool says it's good but when I go to put the out drive on there's resistance after the first o ring goes in... It goes in all the way right? Some people I've read said its ok to push it in a little other people say it should have no resistance. I didn't want to chance it because I don't ever want to do this again what are your thoughts? I've used ALOT of grease to get this dang thing aligned could that be stopping it from going the last 1/2in? Should I try to clean all that grease out of the coupler first then start new? Sorry for all the questions.
I'm almost there!!!!

 

[IdahoDoug]

Re: Mercruiser front motor mount/alignment ??

No problem with too much grease as long as the other end of the coupler is open, meaning the grease just gets pushed out the other end.

 

[Marktwain68]

Re: Mercruiser front motor mount/alignment ??

Ok, I figured I need to clarify for anyone with the same problem. If you do not have the back mounts correct you will never get it aligned right. You have to have the double wound lock springs in. As soon as I put them in and adjusted the front mount a little bit the tool slide in so easy it almost sucked it in. The out drive is now back on. She purrs like a kitten!! thanks so much for everybody's help. Now I need the adjust the throttle because when I push the shifter forward it loosely falls 1/2 way down. But I will start a new thread in the correct place for that.