April 7, 2022

Holby 7

Thursday

With a few other small, just-added jobs to finish on another project, I stayed mostly away from the engine removal.  However, the owner was ready, should it be needed, to take more dramatic action on the engine removal, and we’d discussed the possibility (likelihood) of simply cutting out the fiberglass box into which the jet drive, and onto which the engine, was installed.  This box had to be removed anyway given the transom changes to come, and as the silliness of the engine removal dragged on, it seemed more and more practical to take this route.

With this in mind, I spent a little time removing some excess components from the jet drive unit to make removal through the hole in the boat easier, starting with removing the reverse baffle and nozzle, a matter of four bolts.

Next, I removed the trim plate from the aft end–four more screws:  Two machine screws at the forward end, and two bolts at the after end.  The after bolts supposedly were not threaded into the aluminum drive housing (secured with nuts and the two washers seen), but regardless they did penetrate into the housing, and these penetrations (whether threaded or not) were completely seized and the heads of the bolts spun off during removal, leaving short studs for someone else to deal with eventually.

Next I removed all but one of the screws securing the ride plate to the bottom–that’s the big plate covering the whole bottom of the opening over the bottom of the drive.  The final screw was seized in place (amazingly it was the only one), and I broke the only T25 torx bit I had on hand at the moment.  I treated the screw with penetrating oil and left it to soak.

Total time billed on this job today: 1 hour

0600 Weather Observation: 30°, mainly clear. Forecast for the day: Mostly cloudy, chance of showers, 56°.