Shaft Alignment

Careful measuring off the edge of the base, those castings are very rough. Bolt holes are a better reference, I've seen the base off by almost 1/4".

Remember that forcing the shaft into the center of the log doesn't mean squat. You need to judge where the shaft spins easily and align the powertrain to that point. The packing is attached with a flexible hose, don't forget- alignment at the log doesn't have to be perfect, but strut and powertrain need to line up.

TRBenj wrote: Careful measuring off the edge of the base, those castings are very rough. Bolt holes are a better reference, I've seen the base off by almost 1/4"..

   Looks like TRB understands castings.    ie. Casting was qualified for machining using the OD of the cutlass bearing bore in order to keep wall thickness consistent, then they aligned the fin part vertical. Didn't matter where the .rectangular portion ended up. Holes are in line with fin c/l and cutlass bore.    Time = $$ in machining

I removed it for two reasons.

1. The shaft was resting unnaturally far port with no outside force.

2. You could actually see the bend in the strut visually by looking closely.

I cleaned up the schmoo from the mounting surface of the strut and took several measurements from many different spots. There was a slight tweak in the alignment as well as a noticeable lean to one side. Plus, it explains the extreme deviation in the pictures above. There was not enogh play in the engine mount to correct for the gap.

Pete I didn't get a chance to measure like you said because I had already removed the strut by the time I ready your post. If the strut gets returned in the same condition I sent it out, I will have learned a $65 lesson. I don't think that will be the case but we'll find out in a week.

Think of the strut as 3 components: bore, web and flange. The bore holds the cutlass bearing. The flange attaches the the strut assembly to the hull. The web connects the bore and flange. It does not need to be perfectly straight. It doesn't need to straight at all!

Chris - Your boat is very lucky to have been rescued by you!

It is going to run like a sewing machine with all these straight parts.

SNobsessed wrote: Chris - Your boat is very lucky to have been rescued by you! It is going to run like a sewing machine with all these straight parts.

Thanks Chris. I still owe it all to you.

Gary they fixed it and it's in the mail.

So the followup / culmination of the project happened yesterday. I got the strut back from delta and losely bolted it to the hull. Right away the shaft fell centered in the log. I cut a small wooden V-block so I could keep it in position for the next step.

I got an engine hoist and a chain attached to the aft/left side of the engine instead of using a bottle jack. I had a few bottle jacks available, but none small enogh to fit under the exhaust manifold. The left engine mount was a piece of cake. All the bolts were exposed and easily accessible. Once I got it out of the boat, I put it in a bench vice and gave it some love with a ball peen. It broke free in 2 wacks. Oiled everything up and put it back in without and trouble.

The aft/right side mount is considerably harder to get to. The top attach bolt is no problem, but the bottom is insane. We ended up using a little stubby 5/8ths, a section of pipe, and a big a$$ hammer to break it loose. Then I used the stubby wrench to turn the bolt about a 1/16th of a turn at a time. Once freed, it was the same song different verse.

Everything went back into the boat nice and loose with the shaft still resting in the V-block. I tightened up the strut to the hull without 4200 to see how the alignment looked. There was slightly more than a .003" gap at the top of the coupler. I used the vertical adjustment jack screws to bring it down 1/4 turn. This put it right in the sweet spot with no gaps.

Lastly, I took the strut off and used the 4200 on the mounting plate. Checked the alignment one more time and then snugged the strut bolts to cure. Everything nice and straight with a brand new ARE shaft...........life is good.

On a side note, I can't even imagine doing all of this while trying to install a red hot interference coupler. ARE shafts seem to be the way to go.

I wish I could have gotten some pics but my phone is totally full and won't let me take anymore.

Chris

Chris,
Excellent!

Thanks gents! Again it all started with replacing the cutlass and here we are at the end of the rabbit hole. That's why this forum rocks.

Come on over to Milwaukee and ski the 176 with the A.R.E. !!!