Why,oh why did VP(2003) design this

Bloody edit not working! Why did they not design a conventional front mount? The engine just sits in this arrangement, I can lift the engine front and the v rubber part lifts with the engine. So if inverted the front of the engine wjll fall out. It needs that saddle bracket underneath to connect the 2 sides or it will spllay out.
 
I think that the newness has worn off
I do not know where yours gave up the ghost. Hope it was not too far from a suitable port of refuge.
In 2018 I motored to Ostend as there was no wind. I then sailed to Breskens. Then motored all the way up the Dutch canals to Dordrech & back to Ostend. With no wind again I motored the 90 miles back to Bradwell. As I approached the pontoon the charging alarm went ( alternator belt went slack)& the engine started to vibrate. The front engine bracket broke & the engine dropped circa 1.25 inches, less than 100 yds from my berth. Somehow I felt that was just about the luckiest place possible.
A new one was a silly money, so I made one up, complete with alternator mounting. I only had to buy the rubber mounting below it which was twice the price of most other makes
being Volvo, I expect that yours will cost an arm & a leg as well. :oops:
 
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Originally the rubber and steel were bonded together, it's not meant to be like that. Volspec etc will cheerfully relieve you of lots of money for a new one.
 
Was wondering what possible reason VP had to design it that way? Surely 4 identical, conventional mounts would be simpler. Glued that block in, so no need to replace.
Invert the eng front, well suppose the back would invert too. Do you not have capsizes around Scotland? (strange thing to say) Anyway Not planning on that , but a spinnaker knockdown would do the same. The front of the engine just sits there due to gravity.
I did the gearbox spline modification, with the hex and the impact socket.
 
Not gravity, bonded rubber; the v-shaped steel section would have been thoroughly stuck to the rubber. Your mount is thoroughly knackered.
 
vic008 said:
Was wondering what possible reason VP had to design it that way? Surely 4 identical, conventional mounts would be simpler. Glued that block in, so no need to replace.
Invert the eng front, well suppose the back would invert too. Do you not have capsizes around Scotland? (strange thing to say) Anyway Not planning on that , but a spinnaker knockdown would do the same. The front of the engine just sits there due to gravity.
I did the gearbox spline modification, with the hex and the impact socket.
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'Conventional' mounts are glued together and fail just as frequently as the more convoluted ones do. They're regarded as maintenance items in the car world - I've changed two very recently.
 
In the days of my youth engines were bolted down to the bearers with bolts through hefty metal lugs and set on shims to adjust the alignment. The boat could be inverted without the engine falling out and a few did suffer inversion. But not many and designers along with builders adopted the flexible mounts incorporating bits of rubber glued to metal that are being described here. Such devices were first seen by me holding up the exhaust systems on cars, or failing to do so at embarrassing moments.

We have little or choice in this now. And as has been pointed out these mounts should be regarded as replaceable items that need renewed at intervals. Fortunately boats seldom invert, however eventually one will and the engine will break free and punch its way through the deck head, or whatever is normally above it.
 
anoccasionalyachtsman said:
'Conventional' mounts are glued together and fail just as frequently as the more convoluted ones do. They're regarded as maintenance items in the car world - I've changed two very recently.
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This is cross-section of the engine foot that came with my 20 hp Beta engine 16 years ago (Trelleborg Novibra RAEM60, I think they are still supplied).
Beta%20foot.jpg

While I am personally not very impressed by these feet, I think it is clear from the construction that the engine would not easily fall off if it were to be inverted.
 
vic008 said:
Bloody edit not working! Why did they not design a conventional front mount? The engine just sits in this arrangement, I can lift the engine front and the v rubber part lifts with the engine. So if inverted the front of the engine wjll fall out. It needs that saddle bracket underneath to connect the 2 sides or it will spllay out.
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There is nothing fundamentaly wrong with that design. If the original bond between the rubber and the metal had not failed the engine would still be held in place by that bond if inverted. Virtually all engine mounts in cars and boats use the same principle. Car engines are designed not to fall out if rolled over so the principle is well proven by testing.

Www.solocoastalsailing.co.uk
 
Bodach na mara said:
In the days of my youth engines were bolted down to the bearers with bolts through hefty metal lugs and set on shims to adjust the alignment. The boat could be inverted without the engine falling out and a few did suffer inversion. But not many and designers along with builders adopted the flexible mounts incorporating bits of rubber glued to metal that are being described here. Such devices were first seen by me holding up the exhaust systems on cars, or failing to do so at embarrassing moments.

We have little or choice in this now. And as has been pointed out these mounts should be regarded as replaceable items that need renewed at intervals. Fortunately boats seldom invert, however eventually one will and the engine will break free and punch its way through the deck head, or whatever is normally above it.
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Flexible engine mounts have been around for 40+ years without significant issues, these are common place on leisure engines (unlike the commercial world that I assume you are referring to). If there is a risk of inversion, captive flexible mounts can be fitted to most engines.

I think the whole talk of this is a bit farcical though, but does seem to be a PBO crowd favorite. Should the engine manufacturers fit captive mounts for the 0.001% likelihood that a vessel will invert? When the actual reality for any vessel that is unlucky enough to invert is that if the owner has not considered the engine mounts, then they probably haven't considered a hundred other things on board which are also likely to fly around.

If one is preparing a vessel to survive an inversion then fitting captive engine mounts would be standard practice - as would many, many other things that need to be done. I've worked in the machinery spaces on lifeboats, and supplied engines for military use in my former life, so have seen the modification first-hand.
 
Most resilient mounts are fail-safe these days, it's only the bargain basement ones that aren't; if fail-safe is a live concern the mounting points can be bridged with a short length of nylon webbing.
 
Moodysailor said:
Considering there are thousands of these engines out there, and very few, if any, reports of them falling out of boats I wouldn't worry about it ;-)
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Considering that being rolled is a relatively rare occurrence, the number of boats with this engine still cannot can be a testament to the robustness of this mount. Being rolled is pretty disastrous by itself, so maybe we just don't get to hear from those that roll and lose the engine as a result.
 
HissyFit said:
Considering that being rolled is a relatively rare occurrence, the number of boats with this engine still cannot can be a testament to the robustness of this mount. Being rolled is pretty disastrous by itself, so maybe we just don't get to hear from those that roll and lose the engine as a result.
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This was my point entirely. Being rolled is so rare, why should it be a concern for an engine mount?
 
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