Skip,
I expect some of the owners who have actually aligned their drive shafts
themselves can offer specific advice on this subject. I have not done it
myself, just watched mechanics on my WO do it and discussed it with them.
The critical alignment is between the V-drive and the propeller shaft. The
V-drive mounts are used to make that alignment. The alignment between the
transmission and the V-Drive is less critical as there is U-joint to
compensate for any slight miss-alignment.
So my understanding of the procedure is to first align the shaft to the
V-drive, using the V-Drive mounts, then make any adjustments that are
necessary to align the jack-shaft to the V-Drive with the engine mounts.

Regards,
John Stevenson
http://www.svsarah.com

On Thu, Sep 8, 2011 at 5:20 PM, skipmac wrote:

I am installing new motor mounts, cutlass bearing, etc so will have to do a
complete realignment. I know how to check the alignment but where I am
confused is the procedure for adjusting the motor mounts to move the
engine/transmission/v-drive to get the flange clearance to match.

Now I am the orphan child here with a 422 and not the 424 so my situation
may be a little different. 1984 model with the original W58, Velvet Drive
and Walter 26D v-drive. The question I have is adjusting the motor mounts.
In my boat there are 6: 2 at the front of the block (aft in the boat), 2
at the back of the block, and 2 on the v-drive.

Now I’ve installed engines and aligned standard straight shafts with 4
motor mounts but the 6 has me puzzled. After a bit of thought I decided
that the adjustment should be made at the four corners (front of the block
and v-drive) and adjust the middle pair of mounts enough to support the
weight in the middle.

After a few tries I finally got someone at Walter to talk to me and he said
based on the serial number that setup did not have mounts on the v-drive and
they weren’t needed. Since I had 6 mounts sitting in a box on the table in
front of me I was pretty sure the V-drive had a pair.

So, are the 424s shipped with 6 mounts or 4? If 6 how do you do the
alignment?

Thanks
Skip

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I can only speak to the drive train on a 1981 P-424. The engine, a W-58 sits on four engine mounts, The transmission is bolted to the engine and moves with it. There is a jackshaft from the transmission output to the Walter v-drive, The jackshaft has two u-joints, one at the transmission end that is exposed, and one internal to the v-drive. Our v-drive is a Walter RV-20, an earlier version than the 26, which might or might not be original to your boat On our boat, the v-drive is independently mounted from the engine on its own mounts. Only the v-drive is aligned to the prop shaft..
You did not say if the v-drive on your boat is independently mounted, or it is rigidly and directly bolted to the transmission but the designation, 26D suggests that it attaches directly to the transmission.
If the v-drive is bolted directly to the transmission, then I suspect that the entire assembly, engine, transmission and v-drive will have to be aligned to the prop shaft. In this case, you might need an experience pro to do the job.
Quent
SV Clairebuoyant #132

My experience is that no one knows anything about VDrives or that they’ve
heard of them and they think its odd we have them in our sailboats. I wonder
if there any shops in Portsmouth RI who worked on Pearsons a lot who might
have some insight to share on the phone. Maybe we need to make a list of
yards we’ve all used…

-p

—
s/v Deep Playa | Pearson 424 Hull #152 | http://www.DeepPlaya.com | @DeepPlaya

On Thu, Sep 8, 2011 at 7:07 PM, skipmac wrote:

Sorry. I forgot to mention that my v-drive is directly bolted to the BW
Velvet drive. No drive shaft to the v-drive so the whole package; engine,
transmission and v-drive are all one, big unit to align to the prop shaft
flange together. Therein lies the complication.

The other problem, I’m not sure there are any “pros” locally that have
experience in this rig and would probably trust myself to figure it out
better than depending on an inexperienced mechanic to mess it up.

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The engine, trans, v-drive configuration is not that strange – many
powerboats (Tiara amongst them) have the same arrangement you have.
Truthfully, the separate v-drive is the more strange installation. Many
mechanics I’ve spoken to don’t even believe it exists until I show them!

But your idea of using the extreme forward and aft mounts to align the shaft
and then tighten the center ones is the best. The engine/transmission
certainly won’t sag as you do this.

Bob

On Fri, Sep 9, 2011 at 12:50 AM, Patrick “Peaboy” Walters <
> wrote:

My experience is that no one knows anything about VDrives or that they’ve
heard of them and they think its odd we have them in our sailboats. I
wonder
if there any shops in Portsmouth RI who worked on Pearsons a lot who might
have some insight to share on the phone. Maybe we need to make a list of
yards we’ve all used…

-p

—
s/v Deep Playa | Pearson 424 Hull #152 | http://www.DeepPlaya.com | @DeepPlaya

On Thu, Sep 8, 2011 at 7:07 PM, skipmac wrote:

Sorry. I forgot to mention that my v-drive is directly bolted to the BW
Velvet drive. No drive shaft to the v-drive so the whole package;

engine,

transmission and v-drive are all one, big unit to align to the prop shaft
flange together. Therein lies the complication.

The other problem, I’m not sure there are any “pros” locally that have
experience in this rig and would probably trust myself to figure it out
better than depending on an inexperienced mechanic to mess it up.

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Bob Fine
s/v Pelican
Pearson 424 Hull #8
http://thesailinglife.blogspot.com
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Yup, all 424s have the same arrangement. It’s actually a pretty good one
since it’s easier to align the v-drive than it is a whole engine and stuff.
The engine is just plopped down on beds and that’s it.

On Fri, Sep 9, 2011 at 7:59 AM, skipmac wrote:

Hi Patrick,

Sounds like a good idea. I have been speaking to another 422 owner that
had his engine pulled to reinforce the engine bed. So far his reports on
the mechanic’s work sound promising and I am waiting to see how he does on
the reinstallation and alignment. If it comes out well will report the
results here.

Meanwhile, do all the 424s have the separate v-drive connected to the
tranismission with a drive shaft?

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Bob Fine
s/v Pelican
Pearson 424 Hull #8
http://thesailinglife.blogspot.com
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Good article on alignment here:
http://www.dublerfamily.com/Regina_oceani/Manuals/Drive%20Train%20and%20Fuel%20System/GetInLine%20Alignment%20Instructions.pdf

Pete

On 9/9/2011 5:59 AM, skipmac wrote:

Hi Patrick,

Sounds like a good idea. I have been speaking to another 422 owner that had his engine pulled to reinforce the engine bed. So far his reports on the mechanic’s work sound promising and I am waiting to see how he does on the reinstallation and alignment. If it comes out well will report the results here.

Meanwhile, do all the 424s have the separate v-drive connected to the tranismission with a drive shaft?

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Of course… the boat needs to be in the water when you do this, not on
the hard.

Pete

On 9/9/2011 8:37 AM, skipmac wrote:

Hi Pete,

Already found this one and think it the best article on the subject I have read to date. Will be following these procedures for the testing and measurement steps, as soon as I feel comfortable about the procedure for making the adjustments on the motor mounts.

Thanks
Skip

petedd wrote:

Good article on alignment here:
http://www.dublerfamily.com/Regina_oceani/Manuals/Drive%20Train%20and%20Fuel%20System/GetInLine%20Alignment%20Instructions.pdf

Pete

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Skip
Alignment of the engine is not critical. Walter sells a small gauge that
measures alignment of the jack-shaft to the engine flange. When changing
mounts, you need to verify engine alignment but otherwise you should never
need to touch it. This is described in the walter manual.

The V-drive is aligned using the procedure in the walter manual. Alignment
is very critical. You adjust it left/right by moving it where it bolts to
the bed and up/down by adusting the side-mount nuts and tipping it with the
adjustment screws.

After reading the manual, let us know if you have questions.

Rich

Ah, this is an entirely different animal. This may explain 6 mounts, four
for the engine and two for the V-drive. I’ve never aligned a setup like
this but the process must be the same.

Rich