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This is the third blog on my Riviera build. Below are links to the first and second blogs.

https://boatbuilders.glen-l.com/43852/glen-l-riviera-build-by-donald-collier-cookeville-tn-build-summary-part-2/

November 1 – November 30, 2019 – Started installing the gas tank. I ordered a Moeller 25 gallon inboard gas tank with the mounting clips. The clips secure the gas tank from moving but allow for expansion of the tank. I added tank supports to the motor stringers to support the tank. The tank mounting kit comes with adhesive rubber foam strips that were applied to the tank supports. Made a mahogany frame to secure the aft side of the tank mounting clips. The tank rear bracket was positioned to allow a straight mounting bracket to be used to secure the front side of the tank. The front tank bracket was bolted to the hull #2 hull frame. This will allow the bracket to be removed and allow removal of the tank if needed. All of this will be behind the rear seat which will also be designed to allow removal.

October 1 – October 30, 2019 – I ordered the propeller shaft from Glen-L. I used the drawing from their website to calculated and verify the length of the shaft. The shaft came well packaged in a wooden box. It was now the moment of truth to verify all the measurements. I slid the propeller shaft up thru the strut bearing to the motor. NOTE: Spraying the shaft with water helps slide the shaft thru the strut bearing. I also ordered the transmission coupling flange from Glen-L to mate the propeller shaft with the Borg Warner 71C transmission. The motor was located within an eighth of an inch of where it needs to be. I mounted the coupling flange to the propeller shaft and slid the shaft up the mating transmission flange. There is a pilot on the transmission flange and a recess on the propeller flange.

The motor I purchased came with the motor mounts attached. The mounts allowed for side to side adjustment of the motor as well as up and down. Each of the 4 mounts allowed side to side and up and down movement. I loosened up the mounts and moved the motor from side to side and up and down to allow the propeller shaft to engage the transmission pilot without moving the shaft significantly from side to side. Once the shaft flange pilot was engaged in the transmission flange but not fully seated, I used a feeler gauge to measure the gap between the propeller shaft flange and the transmission flange at 90 degree intervals. The gap measurements should be within .0015 of each other at each 90 degree interval. I moved the motor a little at a time until the flange gap measurements were within the .0015 measurement. This process took a few hours to complete. I then proceeded to lock down the motor mounts. One final check of the gap and it was good to go.

September 1 – September 30, 2019 – Ordered the rudder, tiller arm, and the steering kit from Glen-L. I have looked at other suppliers, but Glen-L prices are comparable or cheaper with excellent quality. I would definitely recommend the Teleflex Rotary Steering Kit with Inboard Mount from Glen-L as it comes with all the mounting and pivot needed to make it work easily. Installation was simple.

Before installing the gas tank, I installed the rudder thru the hull rudder stuffing box. I made a mahogany upper support to mount the upper rudder shaft support. As you can see from the pictures, the rudder ordered from Glen-l has a shaft length of a perfect length to allow the upper support to mount to the motor stringers with the bearing support on top. I also purchased the safety locking collar. For the tiller arm and the locking collar at the top, I marked the location of the set screws on the rudder shaft. I then drilled a pocket (3/16 diameter x 1/8 deep) in the rudder shaft for the set screws to seat. Doing this allows the parts to come apart easily if needed by not having the set screws mark the rudder shaft. The pocket also adds another layer of protection as the setscrew cannot slide up or down as it is seated in the pocket. I ran the steering cable down the center of the boat towards the front and made some clamps to secure it in place. Due to the extended length of my Riviera, I ordered the 20 FT long steering cable. I could have gotten by with 6″ shorter, but would rather have it a little long than too short. The steering cable has a minimum bend radius of 8″ so care must be taken in the routing to the steering location.

July 1 – August 30, 2019 – Ordered the exhaust hose and the exhaust thru hull fittings. I ordered the thru hull fitting from Buck Algonquin because the mounting flange is at an 8 degree angle which allows the exhaust inlet and outlet to be straight and not angled due to the curve of the transom. I used a 3-1/4 hole saw to drill the holes thru the transom. A lot of checking and double checking here before drilling. I located the exhaust fittings just above the water line (I hope) and opted not to use baffle mufflers (A boat like this should be heard :-)). The exhaust fittings are not permanently mounted yet, as I want to complete the final epoxy and varnishing of the hull before permanently mounting and caulking in place.

Made Mahogany exhaust hose supports. There is probably a better way to do it, but I like the look even though it won’t be seen.

May 13 – June 30, 2019   – Before completely covering the deck in the back of the boat, I installed the water pickup with valves and hose.  I didn’t like what I had in my previous post, because the water inlet hose interfered with the routing of the exhaust hoses. I used Mahogany to support the valves and water inlet strainer.  Installed a ball valve on each side of the strainer to allow cleaning the strainer with the boat in the water if needed.  Added a tee, additional ball valve, and a hose connector to allow a garden hose to be connected.  To run the motor with the garden hose, open the tee valve and close the valve to the strainer.  From the valve and strainer to the water inlet area, I used 1-1/4 schedule 40 PVC pipe with a flexible hose at each end to make the final connection to the motor and the water inlet fitting thru the hull. I used double hose clamps on all hose connections.  On the water inlet side, made a combination support for the exhaust hose and the PVC water inlet. I plan to add exhaust water temperature sensors as a precaution. See the pictures below for details.