Strut

The strut holds the shaft in the proper place together with the axial bearing and the flexible coupling. Welded pipe to the vertical plate holds brass rubber bearing. The strut is bolted through the keel to the plate inside the boat. The critical part here is to align with the shaft to prevent side wear of the rubber and vibration.

Rudder

Bronze rudder made from 3 pieces. The rudder itself, gasket housing and a tiller. The housing is long enough. Double O-ring (greased) is on the rudder to prevent the water leak in the boat. 

Strut log welded

The piece is welded from a flat piece with oval opening and a pipe. Pipe is cut respecting the needed angle and than spot welded on the boat, checked and fully welded from underneath. Some grinding is needed to leave enough space for the shaft. The plate is to be drilled and attached to the boat using a sealant. Rubber gasket with O ring will be strapped to the pipe and connected to the cooling/lubrication.

Cooling water

Drilled hole is treated with epoxy to hide the grain of the wood fully. Than the sealant is applied for the pickup scoop. After tying it up to the boat the ball valve is fitted with a teflon tape and hose fitting. Hose connects the pickup to the water strainer. Clamps are not shown on the picture yet. Water strainer has to have enough capacity to fit the motor cooling water needs (here 100 l/min). Connect the ports of the strainer correctly. Special elbows might be needed according to your situation and space available. Blue elbows here are made from silicone but that is not necessary. Water strainer has to be located at least 150 mm over the water line.

Fuel tank completed

Fuel tank has to be certified. Fit the level sensor with a new gasket. Fill hose can be fitted with antitheft element. For the diesel use you will need two fuel lines, one for supply the other as a return line. The other hose (on the very left) is a venting hose that will lead overboard and will be terminated by an arestor. All hoses must be fuel resistant and doubleclamped for safety. All clamps must be stainless steel type. Fuel cap shall show fuel used. Fuel tank shall be secured in place with straps or brackets to prevent movement.

Steering wheel

The difficulty here is to plan ahead a space for the hydraulic (or any other) steering pump. They become very large in diameter and overall length and thus take up a lot of space on the dashboard. Drilling through the dashboard is an emotional and stressfull excercise. Check also the interpiece between the steering wheel and the hydraulic pump if you want to use automotive steering wheel. They just have different number of screws and different diameters. I had to adjust mine for the perfect fit. Plan the dashboard with gauges, hydraulic pump and steering wheel already during the early works on frames.

Exhaust line

The exhaust flexible hose is led under the motor stringers to the riser and the transom.

The riser made from pipes and elbows.

Exhaust line can be made as flexible hose from the exhaust pipe to the transom port through any silencers, cooling elements etc. If the exhaust cooling from the engine is efficient enough and the engine is over the waterline, only the riser is needed to prevent the inflow of water to the exhaust line. 

Later the green flexible hose has been changed to more rigid black widthstanding the high temperature. See newer posts (Mar/2017).

Cooling water pick-up

Water pickup consists of the pickup itself, ball valve and hose fitting. The pickup needs to be sealed with sealant around its base to prevent leaking.