BigSilverCat

In these pictures you can see the rear bell housing that is machined from billet. The oil coolers and water pluming to the engine are machined into them and if you notice the feet where it will drop down over a stud in the boat are all built into the housing. A benefit from a Duramax over a big block chevy is that the bell housing bolts all the way around the bottom. On a big block the bell housing only bolts half way around the circle which on heavy impacts puts a lot of strain on the bottom bolts.

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BigSilverCat

When we were in Jims freedom boat out in big water one of the things I always worried about was on the hard impacts the engine breaking the bolts that hold it to the stringers and the engine going out the bottom of the boat. We designed the front and rear housings to go out past the stringers on each side and sit on them with the aluminum angle that normally holds them up only holding them in place but not having to take the impact load. So I never have to worry about them falling out the bottom. It also puts the angle and bolts on the outside of the stringers where that is usually a empty wasted space and will give me more room in the center to run hoses, ect.

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midwest272

Incredible workmanship , I bet you leave a pile of chips behind on a few of these pieces ........good luck on your project it is really fun to follow.

AZMIDLYF

Neat idea on the stringer"s load carrying mounts. Your CAD guys must love you.

BigSilverCat

I told you this is a no holds barred build thread. Here is one of the problems we had. I was working with CMI to build the water jacketed exhaust. After going through design stuff on the computer with them I decided it would be easier and more accurate to get the engine and haul it up there and have them build the exhaust right onto the engine to make sure it fits. I spent a few days driving all over the country to get the engine and hauling it up to CMI. When I dropped it off I did not have a rear mount starter so we looked around trying to find one and they said they had one and would put it on and make sure it would clear. They would be done in 3 weeks. Several months later...They called and said they are done and fit good, I specifically ask if they cleared the rear mount starter good and they said yes The exhaust is shipped back with the engine. We open up the boxes and they look pretty good, except the flanges look like my grandma chewed them out of a piece of bar stock with her dentures. We go to put the header on and the hole in the flange to bolt it to the head is not big enough for the bolt to go through it? How did they have them on the engine when the hole in the flange is not big enough for the bolt? We drill the hole out to the size of the bolt and the hole is half a hole off to the side. After reaming all the holes a little bigger to get the bolts through them we cannot get any two to line up right. We had to machine out to the edge of the flange on some of them to get them to bolt on. Then we go to put the back turbo pipe on and it goes directly across where the starter would go. It is one piece and does not line up with headers. What makes me mad about this is I spent a lot of time driving around the country getting the engine and taking it to them to make sure they fit and they never bolted them to it. They were supposed to build them on the engine as a jig. I called a few times and they said to send them back and they would try to fix them but that it might take a few months to get to them. We had already modified the headers to fit even tho they really need a new flange welded on. But I am going to take the turbo up pipe over there next week and see if they can make new ones. And like I said I'm mad they did not try them on the engine after telling me they did, wasting my time taking it there but if they take care of fixing them I will be ok with it.

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BigSilverCat

A lot of work later you get something that looks like this. It's not exactly what you picture in your head when someone says Diesel engine.

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BigSilverCat

We have clear valve covers to see the rocker arms. Makes trouble shooting easier.

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BigSilverCat

Test fitting the engines in the boat. Notice all the holes around the front housing. We put several hole patterns to be able to build brackets off of for alternators, water pumps, ect.

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ApachePete

Typical CMI. Ordered new Big Tube headers for my Apache race boat. When they arrived, they wouldn't clear the gas tanks. Then they modified them, and they were only millimeters from a fuel block. Boom.

BigSilverCat

I made it back up here to skater at 3 am so I did not have time to make much of a dyno video but here is a start.
Tried to get it to show up on here didn't work?

https://youtu.be/DaHK7izbkm4