Need Saltare Engine Photo

[86 Saltare]

Can anyone share a photo that shows the rear view of a Saltare engine/transmission. Im nearing completion of a stringer/floor replacement. I reinstalled my engine and am in the process of reinstalling hoses and wiring. Primarily, I need to see the mounting location for the transmission heat exchanger and hose routing. I haven't been able to find an obvious location. Any help would be greatly appreciated. JK

[Salty87]

this is the only shot i have at work but i can take some later. did you want a close-up of the mounting area?

http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a10/salty87/edeloverviewin.jpg

[Salty87]

PS. the intake hose is off in that picture.

so, you just re-did your flooring, huh? i saw a few pointers on another thread about foam...

i'm going to start in the next couple of weeks. my starboard stringer is mush and i've had a leak back there for years so i'm expecting a big job.

care to share what you did and what you'd do differently? here are some things i'm wondering:
-did you have a garage? where did you store the top portion of the hull? on sawhorses or what?

-anything surprising about taking the top off?...areas that were connected that took you a long time to find, trouble with the rub rail...this is a big hull to split! i'm guessing that the playpen and built-in cooler will go with the top half along with the dash and windshield...is that correct?

-what about lifting it off...did you rig up some pulleys or can a group of guys do it? seems like the gunwhales are too high for people to lift it off...

-any materials or tools that you found particularly good or bad?

any insight you can give will be greatly appreciated.

kevin

[86 Saltare]

Thanks for the photo, looks like it must attach to the bell housing with that twisted clamp that I’m glad now that I didn’t straighten out. If you get a chance to photo your heat exchanger installation, I would greatly appreciate. Also could use a view of the wiring at the relay on the back of the engine. My wiring is a mess of multiple splices…..

This was my first experience with major boat repair and just as with most other projects that I get involved in, I totally underestimated the amount of time involved. First of all, I didn’t have a garage at home to work out of. A friend let me store the boat and work outside his boat shop. Sounds good, but the boat repair shop is about an hour away from my home. This project involved replacing about 80% of the stringers, bilge doublers at strut and rudder, transom doublers at swim platform mounts, and floor. Seat bases are next.

I elected not to remove the top of the boat, rather, I cut off the bottom 6” of the inner wall. I saved the pieces that I cut off to splice back in. It was my feeling that the upper structure would help minimize any warping of the hull.

Working under the port side glovebox area was very difficult with the top of the boat attached, but stringers in that area were in pretty good shape. I’m installing a mod to the exposed fiberglass area between the front and rear seats by adding side pocket storage. I’ll cover any exposed splices with carpet or valence at the side storage.

Initially, I planned to leave an edge band of original floor around the perimeter of the rotten portion, then splice the new floor section with 4” wide doubler strips below the joint. I found evidence that this method was used previously (less the doublers), but this time the edge of floor was completely rotten.

You’re correct that most all the interior fiberglass components (including the playpen, dash, windshield and glovebox sub-structure) are all integral parts of the top of the boat. The built-in cooler is removable, mine was held in primarily with silicone and also a single screw just aft of the inboard dash support leg. The screw is hidden behind a piece of interior trim.

I’d suggest working only one stringer at a time, if you get into a major rebuild, to minimize any warp. One regret is that I didn’t fully check entire stringers for rot prior to starting a repair. I found myself trying to minimize the repair by working an obviously rotten portion up to a spot that I thought was solid only to find another completely rotten section 3’ further down the same stringer.

Rather than using true marine grade plywood, I used MDO plywood as a cheaper alternative for stringer material and floor panels. I’m told that it will hold up nearly as well, hope so! I bonded the plywood stringers to the bottom of the hull with “West Systems” epoxy mixed with micro-balloons (forms a thick paste). I used thick fiberglass mat to cover the stringers, the thick mat is cheaper by weight than thinner mat and cloth. The thick mat can easily be peeled into several thinner pieces if needed. Find a composites supplier to buy your mat, cloth and resin, you’ll use more than you think. You’ll find that you can get the mat or cloth to “wet out” consistently if you paint on the resin with a brush then roll with a plastic fiberglass roller (1” dia worked best).

Good luck with your project. Hope this helps. JK

[Salty87]

thanks, that's good stuff. how about pulling the engine, any surprises there?

here's a few pics...
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a10/salty87/884b9ad6.jpg

http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a10/salty87/P1010001.jpg

http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a10/salty87/P1010004.jpg

[86 Saltare]

Thanks for the photos, they’ll be a big help. Removing the engine was surprisingly easy. Fortunately, I had access to an overhead hoist. After disconnecting bolts, wires, cables, and hoses I was able to back under the hoist, lift the engine and pull out from under it. Take lots of photos, primarily of the wiring. It sure would’ve been nice to have a plug at the end of the wiring harness. My biggest surprise was finding one engine mount structure broken loose from the bottom of the hull. JK