Diesel conversion project completed

[TopsailB]

It took some time, but not nearly as long as I?d expected to install a Yanmar 1GM10 in my CP23. And it wasn?t nearly as daunting as first imagined either.

Keith Scott at The Sailboat Company directed/supervised my work at his yard. The engine was sourced from an auto salvage yard (that?s a story unto itself) and required some top end work. Keith did some of it and I did some. It was a great lesson in diesel repair and maintenance. Disassembling the interior a bit, installing engine beds, mounting and aligning the engine and shaft were a bit tedious but not hard. Keith has done many conversions and is a great teacher.  Cutting a hole in the keel and installing the shaft log was a little unsettling but the glass work made everything look like it came that way from Com-Pac. Learning how to work with gel coat to repair the transom after removal of the outboard bracket will be useful for those dings that seem to inexplicably appear on the topsides.  Finally, installing the plumbing and wiring required contortion and expletives to complete, given the small working spaces.

All told it was a great learning experience and the boat sails markedly better with the iron off the stern and down in the bilge.

He has all the bona fides imaginable, and Keith Scott continues to be a definitive source for all things Com-Pac, IMHO.

[moonlight]

That looks like a great start.
Without confusion nor condemnation; why is there no strut/cutlass bearing?
Every shaft I have made, and that's plenty, the machinist insists on knowing the measurement from the back of the cutlass to the face of the engine coupler...
They use this number, and the shaft diameter, to determine the shaft length.
Because a high speed shaft (and you're close if you're 2:1 reduction and swinging up to 4000RPM), must be supported within 1.5x it's diameter from either end...
Otherwise, that prop slightly off balance is going to bend your shaft in pretty short order.
Then it gets "wonky".
And with a 1GM single cylinder, you're already on the edge of wonky as there's no balancing cylinder.

So I hope and pray that this thing doesn't sling you out of the harbor, but by the picture your prop looks 6 or more inches away from what looks strangely to be a stuffing box installed outside the hull, instead of inside???  Maybe it's just a goofy picture.  Or maybe my old eyes are telling lies.  Or???

[TopsailB]

Good questions. Take a look at the Com-Pac home page for the diesel option on CP23s.  The installation is the same as delivered new with parts and pieces sourced directly from the manufacturer. With over 50 hours on it and a two week cruise, it performs flawlessly.