Reinell with rotted motor mounts

[jmprnbr1]

I have a 1996 Reinell 18'6" with rot in the motor mounts. I had the boat professionally inspected and the transom and stringers do not show any signs of rot. The floor is good, my only issue is the motor mounts and only the top of them. My question is, does anyone know of a good technique to repair these without pulling the motor at least to get me through the season? Thank you

PS I know it may not be ideal but will do more in depth repair in the winter.

 

[Maclin]

Welcome Aboard!

Assuming you have an I/O drive...You would need to remove the outside drive at minimum. Then you could lift the front of the engine a few inches without hurting anything at the backend. I do not have any experience with the actual repair, do not know if that will be enough room.

You typed in "mounts" so kinda sounds like you have a V6 or V8 and not a 4 cylinder? If you can take some pics so we can see what you are up against, that could help. You will not be able to post pics until you have 3 posts in, so post back with what all info you can about the model of the drive and engine, recent history of the boat and build up your post count.

You will need to also remove any "boat" that is in the way as Bondo would say.

Good luck! I hope the inspector is right about the rest of it

 

[jmprnbr1]

Thanks for the tips. Yes it's an I/O drive merc 4.3. I will try and post a couple pics soon and appreciate any good info.

 

[Scott Danforth]

removing the motor is the prefered method for multiple reasons:

• its faster (because you can actually get in there to work. removing the motor is about 45 minutes at best
• its easier why try to work around a motor and take 20 hours to do a 2 hour job
• it make glassing the repair easier
• you have to remove the drive and re-align anyway

 

[Maclin]

jmprnbr1 Have you looked thru the Boat Restoration, Building, and Hull Repair topic section. Many topics in there will show work like this, what was done that did not work and what worked. I expect this one may be moved there to get more lookers.

 

[Maclin]

Another reason to do all the work with the engine out: If the boat was run much with the motor mounts being able to sink or move around then I would replace the engine coupler as well, as it has very likely seen some abuse that may cause a premature failure.

 

[JASinIL2006]

When I was restoring my boat, I was really apprehensive about pulling the motor. Turns out it was one of the easier parts of the project. I am a pretty handy DIY guy, but by no means am I a mechanic or even a half-way experienced wrench-puller. Pulling the motor really isn't a big deal and as others have said, it will make replacing your mounts a LOT easier.

 

[Dave-R]

One of the first boats I had to replace the floor in was a 1996 Wellcraft Excell. I pulled the engine as all the others suggest and then found both sides of the motor mounts were rotten. They were both like pieces of a 4X4 with fiberglass covering them . I drilled into the top of them and dug out all the wood completely out. Then in the holes that I drilled, I poured in I think the same fiberglass material they use to repair transoms. Worked out great. My Nephew still has the boat to this day. I can't remember the product name. Maybe someone here knows what it's called. Not that big of a deal really. Not sure if the solid pour in stuff is better or worse than glassing in say a piece of mahogany. Dave-R