Raise the motor

[Wizard1]

Hey guys,<br /> I hve a 15' semi-V bottom alum boat and I have an 18 hp fastwin evenrude with the 22" leg on it. I've been told that the cavatation plate above the prop should be even with the bottom of the boat. At the moment the cavatation plate is almost 2"s below the bottom of the boat. I placed a 2x2 under the mounting bracket to see what I would end up with and found that the motor is almost dead even with the bottom of the boat but the clamping screws on the mount are very close to the top. The clamping screws have a 1/2" in diameter plate where they come in contact with the boat. The top of the plate on the screws is almost even with the top of the transom, around 1/16 of an inch. <br /> I have some square tubing available that is the same size as the 2x2. 1 peice is heave guage, about 1/8th inch, and the other is thin. Can the heavy guage tubing be attached to the transom in a way that would be safe? I would hate to have this motor come off while in the lake. Or should I scrap this idea altogether?<br />Thanks

 

[JB]

Re: Raise the motor

Outboard Non-repair topic.

 

[Paul Moir]

Re: Raise the motor

The old 18hp engines measure a little long in the leg compared to modern ones. Yours is in fact ment for a 20" transom. There seems to be two reasons for this - one is that the water pumps didn't draw very well, and two because the props didn't bite very well. You can try experimenting with higher positions; just make sure the engine still draws water at idle and full throttle. <br />You certainly can build up your transom to try raising it a bit at a time - just take the precaution to tie off the engine to something solid so that if does come loose, it doesn't go to the bottom. But try to build it up in such a way that it's unlikely to happen.

 

[dajohnson53]

Re: Raise the motor

I'd bring it to a welding/fabrication shop that has some experience with boat repairs and modifications (look in yellow pages or ask around for the "good" shops). This will probably be a fairly quick and cheap mod. to raise your transom a little. Or you can add a jack plate.