American Skier Project-ish

Just wanted to start off by saying thanks for allowing me to be on here even though I dont have a CC. I read all kinds of threads on here and have learned alot. I love the restoration threads. This is kind of long so if you dont want to read I have a couple questions at the end.

Ok so now onto my boat. Its not a huge project like most of you guys but here it goes. It started off that my boat was leaking through the stuffing box. All the packing was shot so I decided that I needed to repack it. So to do that I needed to take it out of the boat. I have the white plastic kind. So I loosened the hose clamp on the black hose and slid it forward.

This revealed that the shaft was down in the bottom of the shaft log grinding away at the metal. So that revealed that the motor has settled alot and had probably never been realigned. I have only used the boat about 3-5 hrs since I got it. I have been doing maintenance and using it at the same time.

So anyways to get the stuffing box off I had to take the coupler off the shaft. That was not too bad. Mine has the nut with the set screw not the brass nut with the cotter key. So since the coupler was off I and the boat was at about 900 hours I decided to replace the strut bearing.

This required taking the rudder out and the prop off to get the drive shaft out. I took the prop nut off and with a little wiggle the prop came off. I was like wtf thats not supposed to happen so I guess good thing I did that or something bad could have happened. Then I took the rudder off.

So I ordered some parts which included a new strut bearing, a new stuffing box( mine was missing a washer and was worn crooked), new gfo packing, and new rudder orings.

So now its time to get the strut bearing out which was tonights job. I borrowed a press my buddy made to press his out of his 99 SN. Ron Tannis the previous owner of american skier and ski boat guru told me to get a new blade for a sawzall and cut a slit in it and use a punch to drive it out. I figured I would try the press first because it would be less likely to tear something up.

So we started with the press and nothing moved. We bent the threaded rod a bit so we decided to use the saw technique instead. I got a new metal blade for it but I only bought the 6 in one. It was 4 bucks and the 8in one was 20 bucks. So I figured it would do. So we started cutting upwards so if we went into the strut it would have some meat up top and not weaken the strut like it would if you went down. Well it worked great but the blade would not go all the way through the strut it was not long enough. So we decided to cut from the front but the saw would not fit because the bottom of the boat was in the way. So I swapped the blade with a used longer one my buddy had. It was long enough but pretty dull. We cut and cut and cut and beat the bearing with a punch and repeat and repeat and repeat but it would not budge. We could not get it to cut through. So we decided to cut downwards because the saw would fit both ways and cut. So we did that and finally got it to cut mostly through and beat it out. It took along time.

So next I decided to take the gas tank out so I could have it ready to put the rudder back in and hook the tiller arm back up we realized to do that we had to take these side pads out. For you guys you dont really know what my boat looks like but they are kinda the sides of the back seat. So once those were out I could slide the tank out. I also decided to take the gunnel pads out to give more room and mine are kinda whimpy.

So here is my question. I may want to keep all of the pads out and the back one that covers the tank. What would be a good material to build a backing to cover in carpet to go infront of the tank so it would cover it? I was thinking 1/4 in plywood? What would you guys think. I wont be able to work on it til next week so I can get some pictures then.

Also my strut bearing tip is spend the 20 bucks to get a new metal blade that is long enough and you will have it done in like 10 min.

hacksaw blades are significantly cheaper than sawzall blades

No

The image simply captures the concept of assembling the hacksaw inside the strut hole. Hang the saw with the blade upside down (teeth pointing down).

Wish I would have found this picture first.

ok I'll be checking on April 27 for your results

Backfoot thanks a ton for the info. I have had multiple conversations with Ron about this and my boat. He has instructed me to take the shaft and lift it up to where it is centered in the shaft log. He says if it is easy to lift the motor settle if it is hard to lift than its the strut. Right now it is easy to lift. But we will know forsure when i put the new strut bearing in. The worn out one may be allowing the shaft to move more than it should allowing the lifting to be easy. He has instructed to me that if it is hard to lift that shimming the strut will be necessary. So far I have been following what ron has been saying. My boat was made by WESMAR so it could be put together totally differently than other AM boats

Thanks again for the info

and Hollywood i wish haha

Thanks for the link but I actually have seen it. Ron on the AMskier site has a good video also. His shows less the thought behind it but more on actually how to do it. They are both very good videos. I understand how it all works. One thing that makes me think it settled was that the top nuts on my front mounts were loose and above the actual mount a good amount. That would mean somebody loosen the nut or the motor settle down. I would think the motor settle down.

Had to do some digging to find some pics because I got a new phone. The pictures are when I first bought it this past September.



Here is a video of it running
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ybFDR1mLKfk

Well last night I put everything back together and it all went smoothly for once. I got the strut bearings in no problem, then I put the prop on and the coupler on. all with no issues. Then I got the rudder in. That was really nice to have two people for sure. I will be doing the alignment wednesday night.

http://www.ski-it-again.com/php/skiitagain.php?endless=summer&topic=Search&category=Parts_Engine&postid=36103

Does anybody know if these would fit my boat? The LT1 was a 350