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engine mounting points for an engine with saildrive

danielbeek

New member
Hello,

I hoping to get some advice on whether I can safely use just the front engine mounting points to attach to the engine brackets (the part between the engine block and the rubber engine mount).

I have a maranised Daihatsu 3 clyinder, of 993cc. It weighs about 85kg as basic engine, but has some additional weight (10kg or so) with heat exchanger and raw water pump added.

It is coupled to a ZF SD10 saildrive, which has a single engine mount at the far (rear) end.

The rest of the engine is supported on the two front points, which rest on engine mounts on a standard Nanni engine bed.

Currently the engine brackets (custom made by maraniser) are two pieces of flat bar (10mm) on each side of the block, that span from the front mounting points to the rear mounting points (each mounting point is four 8mm threaded holes in the block). Slightly off center (forwards) of the front mounting points, are tabs welded to the flat bar, that stick out perpendicular to the brackets. The outer ends rest on the engine mounts. There are signs that tabs used to be welded on the the rear of the brackets (just aft of the rear mounting points), but these were clearly removed as the engine uses the saildrive rear engine mount instead (ie brackets were made up with shaft drive in mind).

Question is, could I safely cut off the rear portion of each bracket (the flat bar that extends to the rear mounting points on the block)? In my opinion they do next to nothing to stiffen the bracket structure, & only provide additional contact points to the block. Would the four front mounting point bolts on each side not be enough? They are 8mm each, go maybe 15-20mm deep, and 45mm apart horizontally, and 60mm vertically.

Looking to save weight, and slightly improve access around the engine (ie can see more of the oil pan gasket).

Only doing this as bracket is out for unrelated mods anyway - namely bulky compressor bracket removal.

Thanks for any advice!
 
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