Ford Lehman 2712E & ParagonPSeriesE engine supports

[moseriw]

I do have a big problem. We got a rope in the screw. The engine went 2 inches to stern and all engine supports are broken.


So I need to replace them and I do not have a clue where to get them. My contact is lancing marine in brighton but they do not have a single one.


Sorry, I do not know how to upload pictures and I can not reach my webserver from the boat.

[moseriw]

Ok got it how to post the images:

[skipperpete]

Ouch, that’s messy, did you take much water through the shaft seal?
Its an easy fix though, just unbolt the base plate part off the gearbox and take the bits to a welding shop, they should be easily able to fabricate one out of mild steel. Avoid just welding up the broken ones.
I wonder how much damage and flooding would have occurred if you had a dripless seal on the shaft, the bellows aren’t really built to take a hit like that.
When you get the engine re mounted, do a runout check on the shaft, it took a lot of energy to snap those rear mounts and its possible the shaft is bent.

[moseriw]

Thank you for your hints. No water through the shaft and I do have a good old stuffing box but all engine supports did not make it. Even a part of the engine has to be replaced as one of the supports is cast iron too and damn, it is the timing house which has a crack too..

I lifted the engine, dismounted the belt pulleys and within the next two day I will replace the timing house... if nothing els is broken. The broken supports will be fabricated as you said. Well I'am a DIY since I was twelfe and rebuilt a vintage car of 1944 that was cutted in pieces when I was seventeen.

The main problem is Croatia - Dalmatia. 3 mechanics looked over the engine and not one reckoned that the gearbox supports were broken. The most usable one works until 1 am and sleeps until noon, the other one is 74 years old and the third does not want to do it as the work is to heavy for him. Well I am 63 and I am going to repair it myself. Last year the shaft was changed from a parted one to one part. The most usable one hat 40 hrs work to do. It took one and a half years until he finished.

It is a total mess here... Well, I am looking forward to leave Croatia in 2024 and the important port for the next repairs will be Almerimar, Spain.

Well, lets see what is coming next. As the shaft is not centered I can not turn it so I hve no idea if the gearbox is OK. Got to be checked when the engine is rebeded.

Big mess as my project for this whole year is the rebeding, rerouting and rechaulking of the 40 year old natural teak deck that has 10 mm left.

[skipperpete]

Glad to hear that there was no flooding. I was hoping that the front brackets just sheared the bolts and not broke the timing case. You might be lucky with the shaft, I repaired 2 similarly damaged engine installations where the gearbox was torn apart and the flywheel housing broken off and neither of those incidents caused a bent propshaft.

[moseriw]

Gosh, heavy "gearbox was torn apart and the flywheel housing broken off" How did this happen? Collision with a tank or train in fulls speed?

What the previous mech did not do... I will try to install sort of a hardy-plate as predetermined breaking point. Within the last two decades I had about 3 times a rope in the screw but I have no idea how this could have happened. Maybe too much rpm as at my 3 times the engine was idle but gear in.

[skipperpete]

The same as what happened to you , a rope around the propeller shaft. It’s amazing how much power can be developed as the rope acts as a threaded puller

[moseriw]

Do you have a hint for me about a predetermined breking point like a hardy-plate?

[skipperpete]

There are several types of polyurethane couplings often called “Drivesavers” that are supposed to break in the event of a prop strike or prop hookup, Polyflex and R&D are two specific brands that are readily available and I’m reasonably sure that either of the 2 would have saved your engine brackets , particularly the R&D.
Did your engine mounts ( silentbloc) also get damaged or is your engine solid mounted?

[moseriw]

Wow, I think this is it: https://www.pyiinc.com/flexible-shaft-couplings.html
Thank you!

[Novena]

Hello,

We have exactly the same problem and are a kind of stranded in Ibiza right now trying to find a replacement timing house as welding seems to be impossible on the island… where could you find a replacement?

Maybe you have any other suggestions as it’s really a shiddy situation…

Thanks and best regards,

Tanja