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AQ130 Transom Shield Crooked?

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mmccarty

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I've been working on a circa 1970 17' fiberglass runabout with with an AQ130 drive. A cousin of mine picked this up at at an estate sale for $400 and asked me to get the engine running. I got the engine running well, but had to tell him that the transom, floor, and stringers were completely rotten. (He's an 18 year old that had no clue what he was looking at). We tore it all down and replaced all of the rotten wood.

We put the transom shield back on today, using the original holes in the transom skin as a guide, but now that it is all sealed up and bolted tight, it looks like it is mounted slightly counter-clockwise on the transom, maybe an 1/8 of an inch out. Is there any reason that it would have been mounted that way originally or did we actually get it on there crooked? We drilled the holes in the same spot, the bolts fit the holes well, and it slid right in place without any of the bolts binding like a few holes may have been askew. I find it hard to believe we drilled 6 holes that were so misplaced that it would have bolted up an 1/8" out.
 
I got the engine running well, but had to tell him that the transom, floor, and stringers were completely rotten


it may have to do with the repair
 
Just wondering if there was any reason that it may have been originally built that way. I suppose these things are meant to be mounted plumb with the boat. I'll have to hang the leg on there and see how much of an issue it is. I don't think it was due to the repair. The rear skin stayed on the boat. We replaced the transom wood and glassed it from the inside. We used the original holes in the skin to drill for the transom shield. I guess something was a bit off.
 
I'm by no means an expert, but I cannot imagine that it being off by 1/8" is going to affect anything.
 
Is the boat perfectly level it could easily be a inch cocked on the trailer but I agree with am_dew. Maybe loosen the shield bolts and see if you can tweak it and reseal?
 
mmccarty said:
am_dew, Do you have pictures of your boat? Sounds like the same thing I am working on. A 1970 17' Delta.
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Sure, here you go. My dad bought this boat new in 1972 as a Father's Day present to himself and my family, He always took great care of it and he gave it to me about 20 years ago. I repowered it with a rebuilt AQ130C shortly after. Other than new upholstery, carpet,a bimini top, and a few other things, everything is still pretty much like it was in 1972, including the trailer. It's still running very strong and has greatly exceeded my expectations (knock on wood).
boat.jpg boat_tahoe2.jpg BoatonTrailer.jpg
 
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Here are some photos. Mostly buried in the garage with some photos I took of the new transom and floor.

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It was pretty neglected. Hard to say it's history. I'm in SW Wisconsin, and it was purchased at an estate sale here where it sat in the back of a garage for 20 years or more. It has a California registration number on it, but was last registered in WI in '91. The trailer has California plates that were last registered in 1979. It has long been rotten. The transom shield bolts were sinking into the transom and somebody had stacked a 1/2" of washers on each bolt to try to tighten it up and had caulked a large gap between the shield and the transom. My cousin and his mother kept telling me to caulk it up and put in the water, but I told them the motor would likely rip out the back of the boat. When we started digging it into it didn't take much to disassemble... I sliced through the fiberglass skins with a utility knife and we pulled out the transom, floor, and stringers as wet handfuls of rotten wood. The flotation foam was completely saturated and weighed a couple hundred pounds.
 
I was able to put a name to the estate sale and looked up the fellow's obituary. He was a local attorney that grew up in this area, but lived in Palo Alto, CA from '62-'80 until he moved back to this area. It's likely he was the original and only owner of the boat until he passed away two years ago.
 
Looks like some nice glass work good job. I doubt there will be any issues with keeping it the way it is it looks like the cavitation plate is real close to level. Ricardo will know better if you need to tweak it to make it perfect. My old carpet boss had a saying if you want perfect hire a guy named Jesús.
 
kimcrwbr1 said:
Looks like some nice glass work good job. I doubt there will be any issues with keeping it the way it is it looks like the cavitation plate is real close to level. Ricardo will know better if you need to tweak it to make it perfect. My old carpet boss had a saying if you want perfect hire a guy named Jesús.
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Thanks. I think it's an illusion due to a crooked rub rail. The rub rail doesn't follow the seam line very well. I just used the drain hole in the stern as a sight and I was looking directly at the centerline of the leg.
 
kimcrwbr1 said:
Looks like some nice glass work good job. I doubt there will be any issues with keeping it the way it is it looks like the cavitation plate is real close to level. Ricardo will know better if you need to tweak it to make it perfect. My old carpet boss had a saying if you want perfect hire a guy named Jesús.
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Thanks. I think it's an illusion due to a crooked rub rail. The rub rail doesn't follow the seam line very well. I just used the drain hole in the stern as a sight and I was looking directly at the centerline of the leg.
 
We'll be putting the engine back in soon. Before the boat was disassembled, I had rebuilt the carbs, fuel pump, and water pump to get the engine running again, but didn't look at much else. Is there anything in particular I should check or would need attention before I put it back in?
 
New PDS bearing, seals and crosses (u-joints) What condition is the pilot bearing for the PDS in the flywheel, is the damper plate in good condition? Is the water fitting on the intermediate housing in good condition and are the bellows in good condition? Just make sure everything is good up to the drive.
 
kimcrwbr1 said:
New PDS bearing, seals and crosses (u-joints) What condition is the pilot bearing for the PDS in the flywheel, is the damper plate in good condition? Is the water fitting on the intermediate housing in good condition and are the bellows in good condition? Just make sure everything is good up to the drive.
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I'd replace the water neck fitting and bellows just because they are normal maintenance items. Same with the water inlet hose from the water neck fitting to the transom plate and the one going to the engine. I would also take a very close look at all your fuel system hoses and fittings. If the hoses are OEM, they're not compatible with modern gas with alcohol in it. I would just replace the hoses and also install a modern, spin on fuel filter. Why take a chance when things are easy to replace while you have everything apart?

Would also perform the outdrive leakdown tests recommended in the manual. Better to know about leaking seals now instead of finding out down the road.

I'm a fan of the Hot Spark and Pertronics ignition conversions. It's another one of the one time fixes you can perform that greatly reduces future maintenance.
 
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Run it and have fun!

If it bothers you, stiffen up your cocktail! :D


OK..... all kidding aside, it would bother me as well.


If not too late, pull the shield from the transom.
Try to round-file the 6 mounting holes in CW direction that would allow the shield to rotate CW until plumb.


Keep in mind that the "fat O-rings" create the seal at the carriage bolt "shanks".
These must become "compressed" and squeezed down on the shanks as the shield pulls tightly against the transom.



.
 
Thanks for the replies. I replaced the PDS bearing and seals. I went to mount the engine today and realized I should have a new rubber exhaust connector. The Volvo Penta part is $111.00... for a 7" piece of rubber tube. Is there anything else that would be appropriate for the application? I don't suppose a piece of radiator hose would suffice...
 
I did get the engine back into the boat today. I guess I'll have to unbolt the exhaust neck to put the rubber exhaust connector in place later. As far as everybody's recommendations go, I did chamfer the bolt holes in the transom for the fat o-rings. I put in a Pertronix ignition and coil a while back. I replaced the PDS bearing and seals and filled it up with grease. The crank pilot bearing and damper plate were in good condition. Have new bellows to put on. Still have to get to the u-joints and the plumbing...

Here is a photo of the engine from this morning. Hosed it down with Super Clean and a pressure washer and sprayed it with Chrysler Blue engine paint.

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