17ft Sims Super V : Full Restore : Turbo'd Engine : 3 weeks!

[Gibbon]

Hi all, Ive been sent over here from another forum "sports boat forum" as they said you guys might like to see what we are doing.

I was going to transfer the whole thread over but, as this forum only allows 8 images a post, it will take me.... a while! (150+) images.

So, im just going to send you over to the the other thread if thats ok.

basically, it would be easier to click the link and read it, but if you feel you cant be bothered lol, then ill give you a quick insight to the project and it "might" help. Who knows.

So...... 5 of us decided 1.5 weeks ago that it would be fun to buy a speed boat for our Newquay trip on the 6th of august (2 days away!!!!). To cut a long story short, after looking at many, we won this on eBay, a 17ft super Sims V, which had been converted to a diesel (not what we wanted, although it didnt matter as by now we had plans for new engine).

We got back to the unit and started stripping it right away, and as we have gone along its now turned into a full restoration.

The power is coming from a new built Cosworth managed CVH Turbocarged RS engine. 250bhp.

It would now be alot easier, if interested to go read the thread.
The thread

Hope you enjoy it.

Andy

[Jon Holmes]

Very Interesting project.

Very best of luck lads, hope you make it.

[Carl_B]

What he said

[bonecollector]

fantastic thread
good luck

[scooby_hugh]

nice one cant wait to see her finished!! hats off to you

[Gibbon]

Thnx all, much appriciated. I to hope it all goes well!

Will know better ina few days!

Andy

[Jon Fuller]

Fun project! Should be lively.

Out of interest, did you remove the sterndrive to refit the motor?

I'm just wondering about the arrangement of washers and springs that go between the bell housing and inner drive bracket. Also, have you integrated a way of adjusting the height of your front mount? (for engine / drive alignment)

Not picking holes, just don't want to see you do all that work and have a failure, or aggro because of something you didn't realise was needed.

I only looked at the pictures on the other forum, so please accept my apologies if this has already been covered / discussed.

Hope you have a blast on the water.

Our very own 'Captain Chaos' could learn a thing or two from your pace.

Jon

[Gibbon]

Jon Fuller Fun project! Should be lively.

Out of interest, did you remove the sterndrive to refit the motor?

I'm just wondering about the arrangement of washers and springs that go between the bell housing and inner drive bracket. Also, have you integrated a way of adjusting the height of your front mount? (for engine / drive alignment)

Not picking holes, just don't want to see you do all that work and have a failure, or aggro because of something you didn't realise was needed.

I only looked at the pictures on the other forum, so please accept my apologies if this has already been covered / discussed.

Hope you have a blast on the water.

Our very own 'Captain Chaos' could learn a thing or two from your pace.

Jon

Hi Jon, thanks for the interest and no problem with the questions. The stern drive we didnt need to remove to change the engine, but we will be taking it apart to check the pump and give a quick service.

The Washes were literally last nights job. The whole measurment was done out of the boat, and when fitted last nite, we wernt happy with how far the spline was going into the gimbal (to far) and so, we added the washer spaces to push it out just a tad. This will later be rectified with another spacer plate.

As for alignment, the front engine mount (or nearest the stern drive) is the original one, so as for height that should be ok and the back mount (or nearest the seats) we made, and yes that is full adjustable.

Dont worry about picking holes, all advice welcome

Andy

[dacosta]

mmmmmmmmm Turbos.....mmmmmmm

[Jon Fuller]

OK, firstly, when I said front, I meant the fwd most mount in the boat (farthest from drive) in a Mercruiser fitment, the front mounts are adjustable (up & down) in order to achieve the correct alignment of the donkeys dick (splined input shaft on drive) and the receiving female spline within the rubber dougnut mounted on your flywheel. It is imperative this alignment is correct, or that rubber coupling will fail very quickly indeed.

The other comment re: washers & springs is refering to the method of attachment between the bell housing (flywheel cover as Merc call it) and the mounting bracket on the inside of the transom. The correct placement of these bits is again imperative in giving the setup any lifespan at all.

you really need to remove the drive (6 nylocks and remove hyd rams pin), then fit the motor, with the necessary spacers in place, then refit the drive, inserting the donkey's fella into the rubber coupling as you do so. If the motor alignment I spoke about is incorrect, that splined shaft won't go in.

basically, the vertical bolts that attach the bell housing to the transom assy have a series of bits n bobs on them, and most importantly, a curly spring thing that sits between the transom casting and the metalastic bushes in the bell housing (unless it's got the very latest metalastic bushes, which now have a longer nose on the lower part and don't require the springs). The springs when compressed are about 6-7mm thick, without them in place, your splined shaft and rubber coupling will be out of alignment by that 6-7mm (in sheer) which won't work.

There is an alignment tool for checking / setting up the motor mounts. Maybe something could be fashioned to replocate this (not unlike a clutch alignment tool)

If you're not sure on the washers & springs thing, I'm sure we can get an exploded view posted on here for you to see.

It's quite a disjointed affair, and to an engineer who's not seen it before, it looks wrong to be honest, but it realy is important that you get it right, or it'll be misery I can assure you.

It wouldn't be at all easy to get the motor onto the spline and get these washers/springs in place with the drive fitted, hence my question. you really need to lower the motor onto the mounts/springs, then insert the drive once the motor is happily in place. (once motor is aligned)

[Gibbon]

Ok, well me being not the engineer of this project, ill pass this on. But from helping out, ill try and describe a bit more just to try and help things.

Ok the mount in question is adjustable in height and the donkeys dick is on a UJ and not in a fixed position.

And as it is at the moment, the spline shaft is in the rubber doughnut and fitted in fine (or seemed to)

Ill pass this on though and let them have a look.
Thanks again for info.

Andy

[Jon Fuller]

OK, it's your boat, but trust me, the height of the rear of the motor is very important, the splined shaft MUST slide in & out of the coupling with relative ease. (motor in, drive off/on) do it any other way at your peril. unless you have the latest metalastic bellhousing mounts, you must have the springs in place.

The UJ allows for trim & steering, but the shaft must not be in conflict (in sheer) with the coupling.

As I say, it's your boat, and certainly no skin off my nose if it all goes wrong, I'm just trying to help.

I would also consider looking for a variable pitch prop, as your turbo lag could cause problems getting on plane (assuming you have a prop suitable for the predicted top speed. 60+mph?) A prop suitable for overcoming the lag & getting on plane will probably leave you with a shed load of revs and limited top speed.

Jon

[Marinautic]

here you go

[Jon Fuller]

Originally Posted by Marinautic

here you go

Andy, Item 14 is the all important spring, described as lockwasher.

These springs only required with older style mounts.

[motorvator]

Spot on Jon,

http://www.sterndrives.com/engine_alignment.html

That's why they make these things.

http://www.mercstuff.com/images/modification.jpg

When you think it through they have wedged the engine back in with the shaft in place so you can guarantee that the gimbal bearing has shifted as well making it all look right till they start it up.

Think about why it's called a gimbal bearing lads

[Jon Fuller]

Originally Posted by motorvator

When you think it through they have wedged the engine back in with the shaft in place so you can guarantee that the gimbal bearing has shifted as well making it all look right till they start it up.

Edzackery. But I couldn't be arsed to try and put that in words. That was why I asked about the drive being on in the pics.

I've seen someone do the exact same thing with a yank thing with small block/Alpha. Rubber coupler lasted about ten minutes, lots of smoke & smell and a 400 quid bill..

[motorvator]

Jon, assuming they're out there now fashioning a broom stick handle to check the alignment, the next problem is prop selection.

I've never understood whether you can actually get the torque curve right on a smallish capacity turbocharged petrol to swing an ideal prop or not. No point having 250 hp but not being able to find a prop that allows a mix of pullout and holding the top end.

Still best of luck to them. I admire their effort.

[Jon Fuller]

Originally Posted by motorvator

Jon, assuming they're out there now fashioning a broom stick handle to check the alignment, the next problem is prop selection.

I've never understood whether you can actually get the torque curve right on a smallish capacity turbocharged petrol to swing an ideal prop or not. No point having 250 hp but not being able to find a prop that allows a mix of pullout and holding the top end.

Still best of luck to them. I admire their effort.

Originally Posted by Jon Fuller

I would also consider looking for a variable pitch prop, as your turbo lag could cause problems getting on plane (assuming you have a prop suitable for the predicted top speed. 60+mph?) A prop suitable for overcoming the lag & getting on plane will probably leave you with a shed load of revs and limited top speed.

Jon

Surface drive / super cavitating prop (cleaver) is the answer, but probably not with this application. Hence the suggestion of a vario.

Member 'JW.' on here had a variable pitch prop for sale some time ago, I tried to find the post to link to it, but failed.

Agreed, great to see someone doing something completely different. Hope it pans out well.

[motorvator]

Originally Posted by Jon Fuller

Surface drive / super cavitating prop (cleaver) is the answer, but probably not with this application. Hence the suggestion of a vario.

Agreed, great to see someone doing something completely different. Hope it pans out well.

Oops sorry Jon, now you've caught me out skim reading your posts

And if you like to see someone doing something completely different I can recommend Pashs thread as a quality read

[Jon Fuller]

Originally Posted by motorvator

And if you like to see someone doing something completely different I can recommend Pashs thread as a quality read

Errrrr, I think I've seen that one.

Just think how peaceful it's going to be from now on.