Engine alignment and stringer Q's

[XJBones]

Well all was going fine with the floor replacement plans. Old floor is out and awaiting a new 3/4" Marine ply replacement, but I found one of the engine support stringers is toast. It appears Sidewinder did a piss poor job of glassing things no one was going to see and gaps in the resin and mat allowed water to get to the left stringer. At least the right one appears dry and solid. The Sidewinder has two short motor stringers that go from transom to a bulkhead just in front of the motor. From the front of the bulkhead the boat has a single stringer along the keel and two small 2x2 mini stringers running from just inside the front of the motor stringers forward about five feet.
I cut the bilge side of the glass away from the bad motor stringer in preparation for the R&R but haven't separated the stringer from its glass on the opposite side. The stuff I cut away separated from the stringer very easily.
How does one go about aligning the motor mount on the new stringer?
Is there a jig, or does one have to be built before the old stringer is removed?
Can the motor be set off the pump and remaining motor mount attachment point and the new stringer drilled? Can I bond the new stringer to the old glass that will be left from the outside of the stringer when the wood is removed to facilitate alignment of the stringer and motor mount, or do I need to cut it all away and start fresh? Finally what is the best wood for this project? It seams that pine would be too soft to support the motor, but around here anything else will be special order so I need to know what to get before going to the yard.
Thanks,
Bones

[76elimspecial]

I Replaced Both Stringers. Then Set The Motor Off The Pump Using A Caliper. Once I Had It In The Right Position I Marked The Mounts Onto The Stringers, Pulled The Motor And Drilled For The Mounts.

[watergun4u]

I would do just what the post before said, thats the easy way to do it, and it works out perfect, just set the motor in use the other mount on the other side mark your spot on the new side and remove motor and drill new mount, no biggie!:D :D :D

[Crossbow_CA]

The EASY way is a bit of a misconception. I didnt have any previous holes to guide me as I changed from Olds to Ford with the new stringers, and it was a B*itch to get it all in and lined up. I used C clamps to hold everything in place while I made the minor adjustments before scribing and drilling.
http://img403.imageshack.us/img403/3595/newjetboat018yu6.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
Dont forget to set the angle, I was told it's better to use the carb plate than the valve cover like I used :confused:
http://img403.imageshack.us/img403/1064/newjetboat015ed4.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

[jet454boat]

wat angle do you want i will be putting in a chevy instead of a ford... sorry to hijjack

[BrendellaJet]

the best way to do this is via the crankshaft centerline. If you have a spare block, or know somebody who has one, give em a case of beers and have them help you out with this. Next you have to come up with a shaft that will both A) fit snug in the mains(2.65" I think?) and also over the pump shaft once you ar ein the ballpark(1.375 on mine).
I used some 2 inch, .25 wall aluminum pipe and made some adapters to slide it through the mains. Then I got it in the boat and eyeballed it to get it close. I had some 1.4"PVC that slid over th e pump shaft and, while not a perfect fit inside the aluminum pipe, It was close, and once it would slide into the pipe I knew I was really close. Voila, drilled my holes and was done with it. Im within 3 degrees for sure. & since my pump is set back and I need a driveshaft made, Ive got some margin for error(about 12 inches distance...)

[XJBones]

Well here is where I'm at now. Part of the transom was rotten due to capping that was crap. It had let water in around the rub rail screws that seeped into the un-glassed top of the wood along the port side of the transom.
http://images22.fotki.com/v757/photos/4/42106/4894386/DSCN2534-vi.jpg (http://public.fotki.com/Bones/misc/rebuild/floor-and-stringers/dscn2534.html)
The floor was worse than I thought. It has been removed completely.
http://images111.fotki.com/v742/photos/4/42106/4894386/DSCN2535-vi.jpg (http://public.fotki.com/Bones/misc/rebuild/floor-and-stringers/dscn2535.html)
And then the port side stringer damage.
http://images19.fotki.com/v284/photos/4/42106/4894386/DSCN2537-vi.jpg (http://public.fotki.com/Bones/misc/rebuild/floor-and-stringers/dscn2537.html)
I built a Jig so that I could re-drill the holes for the motor mount when the new stringer went in. It will also align the stringer for initial glassing. It uses the front mini stringers and two holes in the pump intake for its alignment.
http://images20.fotki.com/v373/photos/4/42106/4894386/DSCN2541-vi.jpg (http://public.fotki.com/Bones/misc/rebuild/floor-and-stringers/dscn2541.html) http://images115.fotki.com/v684/photos/4/42106/4894386/DSCN2542-vi.jpg (http://public.fotki.com/Bones/misc/rebuild/floor-and-stringers/dscn2542.html)http://images111.fotki.com/v741/photos/4/42106/4894386/DSCN2553-vi.jpg (http://public.fotki.com/Bones/misc/rebuild/floor-and-stringers/dscn2553.html)
I will drill the mount alignment blocks using the original motor mount holes as guides so the new holes will be in the same location on the new stringer relative to the pump.
http://images114.fotki.com/v648/photos/4/42106/4894386/DSCN2545-vi.jpg (http://public.fotki.com/Bones/misc/rebuild/floor-and-stringers/dscn2545.html)
I'm working on a way to lift the boat's stern off the trailer for the stringer replacement, but with the transom damage I'm not sure I can pick the boat up. It's not a flat bottom to begin with, and the 4' stringer is far from full length.
http://images19.fotki.com/v359/photos/4/42106/4263299/SW4-vi.jpg (http://public.fotki.com/Bones/misc/the-boat/sw4.html) http://images115.fotki.com/v662/photos/4/42106/4894386/DSCN2544-vi.jpg (http://public.fotki.com/Bones/misc/rebuild/floor-and-stringers/dscn2543.html)
http://images12.fotki.com/v237/photos/4/42106/4894386/DSCN2551-vi.jpg (http://public.fotki.com/Bones/misc/rebuild/floor-and-stringers/dscn2551.html)
Just thought I'd throw out an update
Bones

[maxwedge]

Cool thread. Your 'winder is lamanated exactly like mine was, except somehow my engine stringers and were still solid as hell. It certainly wasn't because of the beautiful glass job Sidewinder did. Looks like they laminated most of the boat with the heaviest woven cloth they could find that unfortunately wasn't wetted out real well. I think the engine stringers survived mainly because they were covered in rubber backed shag carpet so most of the water ran off that and rotted out the forward floor and stringer instead.:D
Hows the center stringer on yours? Mine seemed pretty solid because the heavy cloth was still there but the wood was really pretty rotten and delaminated most of its length underneath the glass.