Repowering Ford Lehman 120 in a 1979 38' Conquest Defever Trawler - removal stories?

[Mrs Higgins]

So far, this forum has been great! Bought a newly refurbed Ford Lehman 120 off our fellow TrawlerForumite Mr Mayon a couple weeks ago and he even delivered it from Washington to Santa Cruz, CA for a great price.

Now we are faced with the repowering process. Our mechanic has tasked me with searching the world for other people's stories of getting the old engine out and the new engine in. Having pulled off every part we can to get it smaller, he is currently thinking to carefully lift it out through the door with a backhoe. He thinks the angle on a forklift isn't going to work. But it'll be a very tight squeeze through the door no matter what, and the mechanic wants to know if anyone else has already gone through this and what they came up against... maybe we'll have to cut a hole in the ceiling and lift it up through the fly deck? Is there something we haven't thought of?

We're not 100% sure what kind of trawler we have, and a search of this forum shows we're not the first to encounter this problem! Our HIN starts with BLN - making it a Bayliner or a Bilnor (whatever that is). But the previous owner who donated it to us said it was a "1979 38' Defever trawler" and the model according to the registration is a "Conquest"... which does not appear to be something Art Defever ever built. It's a Taiwanese build by "Sea Chief", and might be a knock-off? But enough like a Defever to perhaps have the same issues with getting the engine out up out of the salon floor, and through the port side door (to the right in the attached picture).

 

[rgano]

It was clear back in 1987 when Admiralty Marine in San Diego took my port FL120 out the port side cabin door to bore the cylinders for a rebuild. They took everything off of it and used a forklift from the pier (boat remained afloat). I did not witness the event, but they told me that had plywood sheets to protect the teak door frames. Boat was a Grand Banks 42. That door was pretty narrow, and I am amazed the block fit through there.

 

[KnotYet]

There should be enough local knowledge and equipment in SC to make it happen.
Other rigs including an A-frame in the saloon should be able to avoid cutting the FB.

 

[nwboater]

So far, this forum has been great! Bought a newly refurbed Ford Lehman 120 off our fellow TrawlerForumite Mr Mayon a couple weeks ago and he even delivered it from Washington to Santa Cruz, CA for a great price.

Now we are faced with the repowering process. Our mechanic has tasked me with searching the world for other people's stories of getting the old engine out and the new engine in. Having pulled off every part we can to get it smaller, he is currently thinking to carefully lift it out through the door with a backhoe. He thinks the angle on a forklift isn't going to work. But it'll be a very tight squeeze through the door no matter what, and the mechanic wants to know if anyone else has already gone through this and what they came up against... maybe we'll have to cut a hole in the ceiling and lift it up through the fly deck? Is there something we haven't thought of?

We're not 100% sure what kind of trawler we have, and a search of this forum shows we're not the first to encounter this problem! Our HIN starts with BLN - making it a Bayliner or a Bilnor (whatever that is). But the previous owner who donated it to us said it was a "1979 38' Defever trawler" and the model according to the registration is a "Conquest"... which does not appear to be something Art Defever ever built. It's a Taiwanese build by "Sea Chief", and might be a knock-off? But enough like a Defever to perhaps have the same issues with getting the engine out up out of the salon floor, and through the port side door (to the right in the attached picture).

We repowered our Willard 40, replacing the Lehman 120 with a new American Diesel 135. The yard used used a front loader with forks to lift and pull it through the narrow aft cabin door. I would guess your mechanic will no difficulty doing the same. Good luck!

 

[Comodave]

If you strip the engine down it should fit through most doors. Generally the doors are about the same width in most boats since they have to accommodate people of different sizes. Reinforce the floors down to the stringers to support the weight of the engine. Then devise something to be able to move the engine around, dollies or an A frame and chain fall. On e you get it in through the door you will still have to move it around to get it into position. In our last boat I pulled both engines one at a time up and out of the engine room. I was going to replace the fuel tanks but my back went out so I just cleaned up the engine room wiring, paint, etc. i used a 6” I beam with a 6x6 post on the port side and a steel 2x2 square tube the starboard side. We pulled each engine and slid it over the other engine and set it down on some wood that was spaced like the engine stringers. It went very easy. Took 3 of us about 2 hours to pull the engine and about the same to put it back in.