Email from Clyde on Engine Alignment

[bob mitchell]

Bob,

 

As long as I can remember I’ll never forget that time I was ordered! to put a NP on the railway car with no one their to catch the lines I couldn’t throw (I was alone on the boat).  The boss (who had a hauling gang on each of the other two railways hauling boats also) was just about jumping up and down hollering at me to “get that boat on the car!!” to the point that he spun on his heels and stomped off to the office.  I figured he was going there to get my last paycheck.  He came over to me later and said I was right, he wasn’t on the boat and couldn’t see my situation from my point of view (we actually went through that several times).  All of that to say “finish the apron before installing the engine,” and I still think I’m right.  You can still go a step at a time with new on one side and old on the other to hold the boat together.  But I can’t see it from your point of view, so do your thing; you are right.  I understand the timing of it all and the problem of epoxying in cold weather, and I think that’s the best reason for your process.

 

My recollection: The shaft alley (a plastic tube) was slid into an oversized hole and the stern bearing fastened to the deadwood (I think the tube was slid in attached to the stern bearing).  A wire was pulled tight from the stern bearing with some sort of cap or plug on the stern bearing with a small hole for the wire that held the wire centered.  The wire was centered some where, likely on the #21 bulkhead (my memory again; the bulkhead ahead of the engine).  I don’t know if specific measurements were used to locate the forward end of the wire or if it was by guess and by gosh, but they used a small turnbuckle to tighten it.  The inboard end of the shaft alley was then temporarily fastened in place with the wire centered in its end.  Remember? This end of the tube is in an oversized hole.  This end was stuffed between wood and tube with glass and resin to hold it in place, centered.  You already have the tube in place with the after end fastened to the stern bearing.  The forward end may still be attached to the old apron (hopefully).  If it is, somehow, maybe hanging (well attached) from overhead, attach the coupling on the shaft in the only place where it hold the shaft centered in the still well attached tube.  The only problem I see here is the stuffing box.  Some use a piece of hose between the tube and the stuffing box (which would allow it to sag down).  Others hard attached, immovable, in relation to the tube.  I go with the hose, but hope yours is hard fast.  The idea here is to fasten the shaft in position before the old apron is removed.  Or, if the apron has been removed you have that oversized hole there.  Center the tube in the hole to perfection or closer (or as best you can).  I think we talked about building the apron over the shaft way back when, and I expect you have that figured out now.  If you want my suggestions let me know.  The idea here is to center the shaft now and support its weight and hold it centered with some arrangement from above (as we used to say in Boy Scouts, get a “skyhook”) so you can build the apron below.  Sure do hope there’s some help in all that for you.

 

Aligning the engine was not my job and I only saw it at a distance (short, nonetheless).  The one thing to remember is that the job should not be considered finished until it’s in the water.  On the hard the keel is holding the boat up; on the soft (water) the boat is holding the keel up--expect some movement from hard to soft.  I think even with the stiff construction of the NP there was some movement.  I remember one time when I was on a boat when an alignment was being done that the guy doing the job said “well, four thousandth is close enough.”  Can’t remember if that was a Newporter or an oysterboat.  Those old oysterboats moved with every wave, so .004” was right on the money.