Alignment

Thanks to this post I realligned my boat this past weekend. I thought the prop was hard to turn so I wanted to investigate. Sure enough, as soon as I detached the propshaft it was obvious that it spun easier when it was about 1/4" higher and 1/8" to the right. I moved the motor up and over and use paper as a feeler guage. I used a dial caliper and the paper was between .003 - .004. I played with it for about an hour and got it to where I pretty much couldnt get the paper in between the propshaft and transmission flanges anywhere around the whole circumference. Id say its within .003 is that close enough. Also, my shaft is now not perfectly centered in the log. It doesnt look like it will rub or anything. I have about an 1/8" clearance, but the prop spins much easier now. Is that O.K. ?????
Thanks for this post Eric, very helpful.
P.S. all my motor mounts were kinda loose, you guys should all at least check that. If they are loose you could be out of alignment.

like its been well foreplayed... of coarse the cutlass bearing needs to be lubed, sometimes the rubber causes tightness but it turns pretty easy.

alignment really is a crucial part of maintanance, it is as important as changing oil and include as a routine as if you were changing oil. Its funny how the transmission always is overlooked ill ask a guy about changing oil and he'll tell me yeah 2 times a season.....on the motor, what about the trans? he'll say he didnt think he had too

I had to use two hands to turn mine before, now I can turn it with one strong finger. In fact, if I flick it it almost spins another quater turn upon release. I could have made it spin even easier but the propshaft started getting close to the log. I am thinking its O.K. that its a tad off center. I might need to adjust my strut.

Should be using shim tabs to shim the strut, I would think washers would be way to big.

Ok I will put it on the "to do" list. This damn thing keeps getting longer but it's almost time to SKI.

Steve, you can tell if the resistance is the propshaft packing by taking off the hose clamps and sliding the whole packing assembly up the shaft a couple of inches. Then this wont be part of the equation. Then if you take a couple ore minutes and remove the four bolts hlolding the shaft to the trans you cann determine really quick how well you are aligned. It takes longer to remove all of the interior than it does to check all of this. Actually alinging it as Eric said could take a while. Took me about an hour of nudging this way and that. Thats not counting removing the interior and dissasembling everything and doing the reverse. I didnt have a helper so I was in and out of the boat a hundred times. Get a helper.

if you hit something that hard a bent shaft is inevitable, i would pull the shaft also and have it checked

you can check the shaft your self by following the gap on alignment, if the gap turns with the shaft then you know its bent, if the gap stays in the same spot then its mis-alignment. if you hit hard most definitly the shaft is bent. BUT....... you cant tell if you have a bend after the taper, truly the best way to check shafts is with a dial indicater mounted to a stabil place and check in 3 or 4 spots. or pull the shaft and put on v-blocks as i do (go to foam removal post and you can see)

I just want to make sure I'm understanding this correctly. If it takes two hands to move the prop around... something is out of alignment? It should spin easily with a strong finger or two?

Great topic, I just re-installed my engine in
my fish-nautique last week. I followed Erics instructions and I was disapointed. The shaft got hard to turn as soon as I tightened up the
four bolts. It looked at first like I had a bent prop shaft, but it was actually a small ding in the propshaft coupling face from when I drove a screwdriver between them to seperate the 2 halfs of the coupler. This wouldnt allow the coupling to mate flat to the tranny half.. A few minutes with a file and bingo. This is not the first time I have shot myself in the foot. heheh Just thought I would pass it on.

Good thread for me guys, it will help tomorrow when I pull the interior and get to all these parts you refer to (shaft logs, cutlass bearings, struts, couplings). Should be an interesting morning.
Eric or anyone else, if I find that the packing is too tight, is there something I can do to adjust it while the boat is out of the water or should I wait until I can run it in the lake for a test? The previous owner said he just replaced the packing.
I'm also going to drain and flush the tranny and change the oil. I thought I had read that 15W40 is the oil of choice for the 454's. Sounds odd to me? Any thoughts "87?
Thanks, Steve

Today was the first time I've had a chance to check out my boat since reading this thread. I'm struggling a bit as I have no point of reference (what it should be like).

I can rotate the prop with one hand, but it certainly will not spin freely, regardless of force. It seems to bind in the strut. There is a steady vibration as I rotate it by hand, accompanied by a fairly unpleasant noice. Not sure how much of that is due to the fact that it's out of water. I'm almost certain I need to check alignment, but I'm just curious if this is normal otherwise (assuming it needs to be adjusted).

Eric,

After reinstalling my motor I have to adjust the front to the port side slightly but I can not get them to move. I had to remove the rears and heat them to free them up but I don't think I can remove the front mounts without lifting the motor again. Any suggestions on freeing these things up.    I am sooooo close on the alignment a 1/16" up front will get me there.

Feeler Gauge:

got any reference material for an older boat than the one your showing here? say for an 83 ski nautique?