so.....

so, i was looking at my stuffing box and found the hose and clamps could probably use replacing. i have discovered that this will be more work than i expected.

my engine is still installed(a4) my original plan(lmao) was to undo the coupler loosen the prop shaft, slide it back towards the rudder(whick i have removed). loosen the stuffing box and remove from the prop shaft, slide the hose and the rust which used to be clamps off the shaft log and repl it, then assemble in reverse order.



well...... the best laid plans......

my prop shaft isn't sliding out of the coupler,any thoughts and ideas? i really dont want to remove the engine!

second, i noticed that my prop shaft is not in the center of my shaft log- which appears to be some type of fiberglass extruded tube. any thoughts and ideas?

i could really use some ideas from some of you that know more about this than me..


72 e 27 atomic 4 w/tiller

Getting the shaft off the coupler.

Dan, Try pressing the shaft out of the coupler in the following manner. Find a large (read tall) nut or two stacked smaller ones and place it/them between the coupler halves. Reinstall the coupler bolts and nuts and begin to uniformly compress the coupler halves together a little on one bolt, then the next, etc. Apply liberal amounts of Liquid Wrench or its equal as needed and the shaft should come off without too much effort. As to the shaft being offset in the fiberglas shaft log, it's probably OK as long as the shaft isn't rubbing against it anywhere and causing wear. All this assumes that your entire drive train is aligned as can be determined with a feeler gauge upon reassembly of the coupler. Go for it, Glyn Judson, E31 hull #55, Marina del Rey CA

Usually a clamp can be completely unscrewed and then wrapped around the hose and threaded back together. If you cannot get the old one loose it can be carefully cut off and a new clamp put in it's place without dis assembling everything. Edd

edd

the hose needs replacing.... there is no way around it, it was leaking slightlyand after further inspection it wasn't looking too healthy. i figure do it now while on the hard rather than have a problem on the water.

There's quite a lot about this process at moyermarine.com. Glyn's advice is excellent as usual except for the part about "without a lot of effort." Getting the shaft out of the coupler is probably the hardest thing I've ever done on a boat. It takes hours and hours of knucklebusting to press that shaft out of the coupler after it's been rusted on. I've done it three or four times in the 20 years I've had my 32 and every time it's been a horrible job.

My boat has a relatively small shaft, 3/4", which might make the process easier, but a V-drive so the shaft goes under the engine, making access particularly difficult. In my case I use a stack of dimes taped together as the presser instead of the nuts Glyn suggests because you can't always get a nut's worth of progress at a time, and a set of somewhat smaller bolts (and nuts) that fit through the coupling without engaging the threads on the engine side to prevent stripping the engine threads.

My advice would be to cut the coupler off the shaft with a Sawzall and replace it with Moyer's new split coupling in 3/4", 7/8", and 1" shaft sizes. Well worth $175. Search for "coupling."

http://www.moyermarine.com/catalog.htm