Wasn't there someone on the Northeast floatilla who is a metal artisan? I need steel cover plates fabricated to cover the holes on my main engine blocks where the raw water pumps go. I want to remove the pumps in the fall and reinstall them in the spring. This way I can remove my impellers so they don't take a set and I don't have to remove the pumps twice. We're talking 10 bolts, 3 gaskets, and contorting myself a lot. Remove the pumps, bolt on the cover plates, remove the impellers, bag everything up and re-install in the spring. Anyone know someone who can cut out the cover plates from templates I can make off of my pumps?
Wanted: Metal fabricator
- Thread starter JV II
- Start date
- Oct 6, 2006
- 12,153
- Boat Info
- 1996 450DA
- Engines
- 3116 Caterpillars
That was "masterfab". But sending Dale the pumps for the pattern might be more trouble/expense than it is worth to do this out of town.
Any local machine shop can do that out of aluminum very economically since they are not precision fit. Just take the pumps off, clean the gasket surface with acetone or lacquer thinner and put a piece of duck or masking tape over the hole to keep trash out. Then take the pumps to a nearby machine shop and ask them to make you some block-off plates. If I had the pumps I suspect I could make all 3 in 1.0 to 1.5 hours.
As an after thought, frequently, Vocational-Technical school love to have this kind of project as a teaching project for students. If you have a Vo-Tech school nearby, call the machine shop or metal shop instructor and tell him what you are looking for. The last thing I got some help with here only cost me the price of the metal because they had no source for raw materials. I just picked up a piece of the right sized metal at a machine shop .........cost nothing because it was scrap.
Good luck with it............
Any local machine shop can do that out of aluminum very economically since they are not precision fit. Just take the pumps off, clean the gasket surface with acetone or lacquer thinner and put a piece of duck or masking tape over the hole to keep trash out. Then take the pumps to a nearby machine shop and ask them to make you some block-off plates. If I had the pumps I suspect I could make all 3 in 1.0 to 1.5 hours.
As an after thought, frequently, Vocational-Technical school love to have this kind of project as a teaching project for students. If you have a Vo-Tech school nearby, call the machine shop or metal shop instructor and tell him what you are looking for. The last thing I got some help with here only cost me the price of the metal because they had no source for raw materials. I just picked up a piece of the right sized metal at a machine shop .........cost nothing because it was scrap.
Good luck with it............
Last edited:
skylark
Member
I would just stick a rag in the opening for the winter.
If your just looking for a steel plate you can have them water jet cut..if you have drawings or sketches just send a pm and I can get you a quote and make them up for you.
Skylark... That looks like the narrow up to the railroad lock on your sig pic... Crazy incredible boating country up there
Thanks Dan. I plan on removing the pumps late October. I can make cardboard tracings. I'll contact you if I can't find someone locally.
Carver370
Well-Known Member
- Mar 30, 2007
- 1,927
- Boat Info
- 2000 Sea Ray 400 Sundancer - Diesel
- Engines
- T-3116 CAT - 350 HP
Two questions, why remove them in the first place? Second, why not just remove the impellers and put the pump back on? Are you having the pumps rebuilt or?
Good questions.
You can't get the leverage needed to pull the impellers or reinsert them with the pump on the block. There is a mess of wires in a harness right in front of the pumps that would be more trouble to remove than it is worth.
Removing the starboard side pump is very difficult. There is about a foot between the engine and the fuel tank to work within. All work is done by feel because you can't get your head in that space. Getting leverage on the wrenches is not for the weak. It is one of those situations where you have to turn your ratchet one click at a time because of the space constraints. After spending 20 minutes in that space in a contorted position, you don't want to go back in to re-install the pump if you have to take it out again anyway. The pump weighs about 10 pounds and you have to line everything up perfectly to get the bolts back in. Throwing on a cover plate with a couple of short bolts will be a breeze.
See post #37: http://clubsearay.com/showthread.php/47619-Official-Cummins-QSC-500-Thread?highlight=qsc500
Last edited:
CAMELLA
Active Member
Why not just replace the impeller every year in the Spring? Which is what I do, my thought is it's too critical for the operation of the boat not too.
Are you leaving your boat in the water during the winter? If so don't you want the ability to move it in emergency?
Are you leaving your boat in the water during the winter? If so don't you want the ability to move it in emergency?
Last edited:
- Aug 17, 2010
- 1,160
- Boat Info
- 2005 Cruisers Yachts 500 Express
Zodiac Yachtline 340DL w/ Yamaha 40 hp
- Engines
- Twin 715 hp Volvo D12s with V-Drives
I can make them up for you if you like, just send me a PM. We are both in the Northeast, so we might not even be that far from each other. Let me know.....
Dale
Dale
The best price I can find for a QSC500 impeller is about $150. I can easily get three seasons out of my impellers if I take them out for winter storage and re-install them in the spring. Doing what I do is a $1,000 savings for essentially the same effort.
There is no moving the boat in an emergency with shrink wrap on, no dock space, and fairways barricaded.
Thanks Dale. I'll let you know. I will pull the pumps in late October or early November.