re:older boat new motor

[joe van]

The marine dealer said they would mount my new motor. went to get my boat and motor today when I got to dealer he said it was done so I paid for motor and went to hook up boat and noticed that the motor was not level on the transom they put a 1 inch piece of channel as a spacer and had it on top of the screws that hold the trim to top edge of transom. The channel sat out of level so motor was too.Problem the drilled the transom and installed safty bolts and the clamps of motor well port clamp is 1/8 inch above edge of transom and starboard clamp is 1/4 inch above edge of transom edge.well now I have holes that are not level andseems as the motor is to high. The cav plate is level to boat bottom. If I drop the motor down say 1/2 inch so clamps are fully on the transom and drill new holes may cav plate would be a little low would this be a problem ?the dealer said they would fix it friday but I am not sure if I want to let them .I live in brainerd mn and if any recommendations for a good dealer. probably just do it my self.

[REW]

Joe,
Why don't you just take the boat out and give it a go.

Even if the motor is mounted slightly out of plumb, it is normally not an issue. It is an appearance issue, but it normally doesn't cause a performance issue.

If the appearance bothers you, by all means have the installation changed.

The problem with the motor being off by 1/4 inch, it is tough to fix without moving the motor sideways and or offsetting the motor someway. It is rather tough to just re drill one set of holes 1/4 inch higher or lower.

I do agree that it is the fault of the dealer.

Maybe, the best deal would be to have the dealer but a new boat under the new motor and have it installed correctly. This would pay for your time and trouble for the incorrect install.

The issue that you might have is that due to the incorrect holes, and if the holes are not repaired correctly, you may have the transom rot out due to the problem.

Good luck
REW

[REW]

Joe,
By the way, what is the boat year brand and model on which the new motor was mounted?

REW