Engine Mounts

The aft engine mounts are bolted through the transmission, so I can't just remove it without supporting the engine and unweighting the mounts first. I've been trying to think of how I could do this without pulling the engine, but haven't been able to come up with an acceptable solution without significant drawbacks.

The main problem is the weather. If it wasn't so cold, I could just remove the engine cover in the cabin, lay a 4x4 over the sliding hatch opening and use a block and tackle to lift it up. I still may use that technique today, but with the cold weather, I can't leave it like that while I have the transmission out. I could block up from the bottom, either to lift the engine or keep it there, but there's a plywood drip pan glassed in under the engine and there isn't a lot of space. The drip pan also makes it impossible to use the bottle jack technique suggested by Boston yesterday.

It's still too cold to do anything right now, but once it warms up a bit, I'll go ahead and take out the shaft. I loosened the prop last night, but didn't have time to pull the shaft. To actually take off the prop, I have to loosen the shaft and slide it forward, then I can slide the prop off and pull the shaft completely out -- my prop sits in a cutout between the aft edge of the hull and the leading edge of the rudder, so you can't just take it off (and can't just loose it either, which is a good thing).

Once the shaft is out, I'll have more room and can assess my options. I think I can get blocks in under the engine from the aft end to support her once the transmission is out. It just depends on how much room I have to play with, and I can't tell till I can get my head down there to look. If I can't get it out, I may be forced to let them pull the engine. However, I can get it ready for them today so all they'll need to do is actually pull it, but I really hate that idea.

The bright side of pulling the engine is that I can do a lot of pm while she's out, as well as clean and repaint the inner hull in the engine compartment. I was planning to do all of that in Houston, where it's warmer, but with the weather as cold as it is this time of year, another engine failure is not an option. So, it is what it is.

Also, I'm going to go ahead and remove the cockpit hatch latches so I don't get stuck inside while I'm working on it. It would really suck to freeze to death down there over the holidays. I could see that happening out in the middle of nowhere, but heck, from here I can see the Manhattan skyline.