Prop, Shaft, Coupling, Drippless Stuffing Box, Cutlass Bearing
For the running gear we changed it all. The old shaft was the correct size at 1.5", but it was bronze and Cummins said we had to go to stainless. Since we were replacing the shaft I couldn't decide where exactly to stop so we ended up;
Installing a new prop, mid bearing, changing the stuffing box to a dripless system, and replacing the cutlass bearing.
Heres the new prop;
Heres the old prop. Incredible as it may seem this is the original prop.
I found the markings on it. Felt a little like Indiana Jones on some archeological expedition when I found it.
In this picture you can see it was a 20 x 20 RH, and then at some point the pitch was changed to 19.
Its a little tough to see in the pictures but in the upper left hand corner of where the markings are is the date 1978. The 19 is greenish colored.
I found some other numbers here, but I have no idea what they mean. I must say I was amazed a prop would last 29 years.
Here is the old shaft, and the old coupling;
Here is the old coupling, no easy matter getting it off!
Shaft, sans coupling;
Heres the mid bearing waiting to be bolted in with the new shaft. I heard a rumor prior to installing this mid bearing they could be difficult to get on, and like most rumours this one was spot on. We had to do a lot of work polishing the shaft to get it on.
Heres the rudder hole that is used to get the old shaft out and the new one on. The old shaft got bent when we installed the new engine. When we were lowering the motor in, at some point it must have caught on the old shaft coupling. I left it in to give us a good guide as to where to place the engine. Well two snafu's arose from that. One, the shaft just would not come out so we had to cut it all up. Two, we installed the motor mounts to low because the shaft by then was bent downward unbeknownst to us at that moment.
The stern tube was removed in order to remove and install the cutlass bearing. Kind of interesting how this works, theres a metal shim thats shaped to the trailing edge of the keel.
Heres the tube and the shim.
Heres the new cutlass bearing installed in the tube.
Heres the hole for the famous mid bearing.
Heres the new mid bearing.
Heres some contact info for the mechanic that did this portion of the job. I was a little leary of the shaft/engine alingment portion of this so I got some professional help.
