Transom assemblies and engine room makeover

aero3113

@LaRea , maybe there’s a Teflon spray you can apply so nothing will stick or stain... hate to see it get dirty!

oscar1

it looks great

LaRea

The batteries are all on the starboard side, but I'm rearranging how they are laid out.  

Dream_Inn

That engine room looks amazing!!!!

I do hear you on the battery connections for the twin engines.  I think it goes back to previous owners disconnecting for winter and then reconnecting back (although I'm surprised Al never found it on your boat).  Both my starters are wired to the engines correctly.  Although, I've had the genny wired to the house batteries and switched it over to a starter battery.  Year's ago, on my dock neighbor's 390, I found the batteries to be all wired wrong.

rasbury

That is awesome. I wanted to do that when my motor was out but settled for a good cleaning and left it at that...wish I had done this too.

reneechris14

I will do the gray bligekote in the spring. Agree with @Dream_Inn people disconnect in the fall and don't make the wires. My 342 was right and I did move my gen to a start battery.

Liberty44140

Wow that bilge looks great, love the white. I have a white bilge now and love how clean it is, you will love it! Great lighting too 

davidbrooks

You're definitely going to need that touch up paint after you get the engines put back in. I was impressed with how good it looked initially also unfortunately it didn't stay that way for very long.

Aqua_Aura

Lay down moving blankets around the engine bay and it won't get messed up. 

mattie

How did the FlexSeal turn out? Assume you coated it as well??

Engine room looks awesome.

LaRea

The FlexSeal in the bilge is still curing.  Although their literature says you can paint it with any topcoat, they fail to mention that your paint will peel like a bad sunburn.  Before the engines go back  in, I'll coat it again to see if it sticks. 

Today I spent seven hours working on the wiring, turning mess into beauty.  Installed slotted cable trays.  Cut out the OEM wiring harness for speakers and lighting (because I've replaced it with modern stuff).  Reinstalled the battery cables in proper fashion -- NO MORE WIRES LAYING IN THE BILGE.  Sliced open most of the OEM wiring harnesses so I could route the ground cables to a unified ground bus.  Rinker must have had a blood-money deal with producers of zip ties and electrical tape.

When I finish this project, I'll pay for it by charging admission to see the engine room.  Mechanics will PAY ME to work on the boat.  I will also be younger, better-looking, taller and richer.  

LaRea

BTW, anybody got a good source for Bravo 3 SeaCore digital transom assemblies?  One source quoted me $6300 delivered to Virginia, which seems pretty good.  @Alswagg want to give me a quote?

Handymans342

I think you just increased the boats value. 

davidbrooks

BTW the only difference between digital and analog TA's are the sending units. If you find a good deal on the analog you can just swap out the sending unit from your old TA.

Dream_Inn

LaRea said:

BTW, anybody got a good source for Bravo 3 SeaCore digital transom assemblies?  One source quoted me $6300 delivered to Virginia, which seems pretty good.  @Alswagg want to give me a quote?

Hmm, you do know I have somebody.

LaRea

[EDIT:  The fuse block shown in this picture had to be replaced because it is not ignition-protected.  This photo shows a Blue Sea Systems 5035.  I replaced it with a Blue Sea Systems 5051.]

Progress!  The rewiring project is 90% done.  By the time I finish, every wire and cable in the engine room will have been re-routed, replaced or removed in the name of safety and maintainability.  

Originally, each starter battery had three things hard-wired to the battery: 

• DTS controller at the helm (40 amps)
• Trim pump (20 amps)
• DTS actuator at the engine (5 amps)

ABYC recommends connecting these loads to the battery switch, not the battery, so that's what I'm doing.  When I turn off the battery switches, it'll disconnect everything except the essentials (bilge pumps and Mercathodes).  

I'm rewiring the house battery with a circuit breaker that doubles as a cutoff switch.  All wires to the ground bus have been trimmed to length and terminated with proper heat-shrink ring terminals.  And everything is secured in slotted wire trays.  

I also rerouted the big battery cables to run along the transom instead of laying down in the bilge (another ABYC recommendation).  

Dream_Inn

ok, somebody is really going a bit overboard now!   Actually, I'm just so jealous!  That looks so awesome!

LaRea

Thanks!  I'm already into it for 60+ hours plus a ton of design work, and I still have a lot to do:

• Replace insulation on bulkhead and hatch cover
• Finish the plumbing
• Reinstall batteries, trim pumps, auto-pilot
• Service the generator and touchup paint on sound cover
  
• Service the engines (cleanup, paint, replace starters and all hose clamps)
  
• Install new transom assemblies
• Install engines

It's gonna be a long winter!  I need stuff to keep me busy.

oscar1

looks great

LaRea

Yeah, I suppose I'll recoup some of the investment when I sell.  In the meantime, I'll have a boat that continues to be reliable, and maintenance will be easier than ever.  

My problem is that I've spent too much time staring at pictures of yacht engine rooms!

Dream_Inn

Sorry, you kind of asked for it?  (& yes, it's a Fleming)

Handymans342

Dream_Inn said:

Sorry, you kind of asked for it?  (& yes, it's a Fleming)

That’s professional 

LaRea

That's exactly what I'm shooting for, but Mercruiser engines are black, not white!

Dream_Inn

I'm seeing the resemblance (in a smaller scale).  That nice white clean look that is shiny with everything tidy and clamped down.  I may just have to wait another 5 years for it on the next boat.  If I had more of the time, because I sure had the chances for all the times I've had my engines out.  But, not sure my mechanic would've let me have the time to do all of that in there.

Keep up all the pictures, it's gonna help me make it to March!

LaRea

Okay, here's more.  I'm rearranging the equipment on the starboard side.

The problem with the original layout was that the batteries were stashed way back in the corner, requiring a belly crawl over the engine to reach them.  Meanwhile, there's a space up front that is easy to reach, but it was occupied by the water tank -- which never needs maintenance.  So I moved the water tank to the back corner.  

Rinker's arrangement was good for simplifying assembly and making the boat more affordable.  Mine is better for the owner/maintainer because the batteries will be right there where I can reach them.  Believe me, hauling an 80-pound Group 31 battery out of that far corner was difficult and dangerous.  Now it will be easy.  

Before:



In progress ... the batteries will go where the tools are sitting, next to the shiny new water heater.  This arrangement does make the plumbing a little more complicated, but plumbing is easy with PEX tubing and push-fit brass fittings.  

Handymans342

I dont know who has more money, LaRea or his mechanic

LaRea

Hah, I wish I could afford 60 hours of commercial labor.  The mechanic helped me pull the engines.  The rest is DIY.  

Liberty44140

Those shark bites sure look pretty! Much nicer than flare plastic. 

rasbury

I really tried to clean mine up when the motor was out...but...maybe it's FL and the humidity/mold etc....it just does not stay clean. I'm scared to death to even touch the wiring as I'm afraid I would not hook something back up and spend the next year trying to figure it out...every thing is working so....

LaRea

I hear ya Ras ... I'm sure I'll have at least one electrical bug to chase.  

As I kept removing and labeling cable after cable, I started to realize:  it's not complicated at all.  It's simple components joined together in simple ways ... but there are a lot of them.