Engine Mounts

I am replacing old Crusader 270's with new Crusader 270's. I have removed the port engine and now have had a close look at the engine mounts and brackets. I will be reusing the brackets but want to replace the mounts. The old engines have single eye front mounts on the forward part of the engine. The rear is supported only by mounts on the transmission. These too are single eye mounts.

When I look at parts online I notice that the single eye mounts are consistently labeled as "front" mounts and those labeled as "rear" mounts have dual eyes. Should I be converting to dual eye mounts in the rear or just stick with the way it was and put single eye mounts all the way around? There is about a $230 price difference but I want to do it right.

Can't say I've ever seen a crusader install as you described, always with the double eye in the back (with an inline gear).

I'd say if the cost isn't too much, and the engine bed will accept them, the double eye setup will give you a longer service life. On the other hand, if the current single eye aft setup has been satisfactory, why question what has worked??? (i'd be inclined to dissect a couple of the old mounts to see if the rears have broken or have worn more than the fronts.)

How do you begin to assess wear on these types of mounts. I have had my engines out to do a few repairs and even 6 weeks ago to change a motor mount. I will note that with ME looking at the mounts, they are a threaded leveler mounted on a compression dampening donut. When I had loosened the thru bolts, the donut expanded when the weight of the engine trans v-drive was lifted slightly. Was it "good"?<br>
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The reason I had to replace one of the mounts was due to a broken plastic adjusting ring that I had broken by missing the hole when using the rod to twist the leveler. To answer the other question...my engine mounts are also backwards (as I know it) the double eye is on the front up by the U-cooler and the single is attached to the trans v-drive. It has been this way for nearly 30 years so it did not bother me to mess with it. Even when I was making new angle iron brackets last year when we had to change the drive damper, I seriously considered changing the entire set up to look like the pictures in the parts book but....as I had mentioned, this is the way I got it. It lives on.<br>
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The mounts are not all that expensive but what a difference in the ease of the twist on the leveler. The old one was a tad rusty but not enough to really think they shouldn't turn. It was my fault the plastic broke.<br><br>I should add that I am planning to take the boat to my house this fall and do the final finishing on the hull and my get enough ambition to re-paint the engine room....MAYBE. SHould that happen, of course the thought will haunt me again to switch the mount configuration

Thanks for your input.

Knuckle-
It is a 1976. So like your application it has been that way a long time and has apparently worked ok.

Makomark-
As far as the old mounts they are pretty corroded and beat up but appear structurally sound. They are beyond the point of being adjustable anymore and I would rather replace them.

Hi, I had to replace all the mounts for my repower and found this shop nearby. I live close to them so I was able to see the parts first. This shop does alot of repowers and they have a lot of take off parts. This might help you in saving a few dollars. http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/BORG...sories_Gear&hash=item20bc1c86fc#ht_927wt_1165 I redid both my motors and got trans coolers for $300 everything.

I have no complaints or problems. In fact, I was doing an alignment job when I broke the plastic ring as I did not have a good position on the rod and it slipped and broke the ring on one slot. I can only imagine the rubber donut looses it "bounce" ?

I strongly suggest the Crusader tool for adjusting the mounts. That way you can put a long extension with a 3/8" or 1/2" drive.

Much easier, the "rod through the hole" is a pain and it is easy to break the holes. On some boats you can't easily turn them this way because of the stringers.



Bob

Please, what the Crusader tool look like and where can I find one?

Thanks.

Jean

Yup....I would like to see that too....is there a part # ?

So I searched for a pic of the one I have and found this one, which looks even better.

http://www.jmsonline.net/crusader-tool-mount-adj-22165.htm

This looks like it locks into the slots in the mount. Mine has pins, which do the same thing but can slip out if you don't keep steady downward pressure. Not a big deal, but I would check this one out first. I'll look mine up too.


Bob