Alignment

Pete, is the boot on the shaft log just water line or some sort of ordinary hose?

Not much room to work with, with that prop puller. Maybe put a thinner nut on it to keep the prop from flying off when it releases? Once you get the puller tight, you should wack it with a big hammer to get it to release. The puller is not supposed to release it by just tightening it.

baumanmt wrote: I was told to take the rubber hose off at the Stuf. box to see if the shaft was centered.

Greg, if you mean what I said, I meant to remove the boot at the log so that it doesn't interfere with checking the line-up at the strut. The boot and stuffing box are a water seal and not structural; the boot will also develope 'memory' from being in a given position for a long time. This is why you may need to pop it off to center the shaft. See if your drive shaft is centered in the front and rear of the cutlass bearing at the same time.

Tim, here's a great spot for your diagramming skills!

brainard- I'm up in Whitefish, Mt. and build houses, it is year around, but some winters are tough. I had the puller on pretty tight and was heating it up. It was 30 degrees in my garage so prop and shaft are really cold, and I didn't want to heat it up so much that I hurt the cutless bearing? Do I tighten the puller nut as much as possible, and if so what is a safe way to stop the prop from spinning? Here is a pic of the puller I'm using. Thanks

saffer- I am by no means the expert on any of this, but I was where you are a couple of weeks ago. You do need the two couplings to come apart in order to check your alighnment and I dont think taking apart your stuffing box (brass nuts) will help with the seperation. You may let some penetrater soak in over night, and wait for Eric to respond. I was told to take the rubber hose off at the Stuf. box to see if the shaft was centered. Start at the first page of this topic (alighnment) and I think you will answer a lot of your own questions. I hope that helps.     BaumanMt

Greg (baumanmt) I just noticed that you are in northern Montana! Not to often that we get someone here from that area. My college days were spent at Montana State back in the early 70's. After graduating, I went to work at Chet Huntley's Big Sky. I worked there for a year and a half and then realized that working construction in the area was seasonal. In order for me to stay I would have had to find one of the rich ranchers daughters but that didn't work!! Came back home to the Midwest but certainly miss Montana.

Do get a prop puller or at least a gear puller that will fit. You want a constant pressure on the prop taper. Greg mentioned heat and that will work in combination with the puller. Don't slide hammer it.

i swear to you guy's, I had a PCM 1.23 with a completly busted off back end from the old slide hammer trick, its not a good idea,

Greg, I forget if you're in my neighborhood...drag it on by if you are!

Buffalo,
   I didn't mean to leave you out of the thank you , you have also helped me, so thanks a lot. I did get in there and start moving things around, but I have yet to figure out what size wrench fits those mount bolts (for up and down adjustment). I think it may be metric? It seems like my whole motor needs to be shifted over, you can see in the pic that the whole things is over about a 1/4 inch. I can move the driveshaft over to it, but I know that isn't the answer. Motor to driveshaft, not vise versa. Thanks Greg

Welcome Saffer- I too am a new SN owner and have had a ton of questions already, and I haven't even started my boat yet! The guys on this site are awsome! These guys are walking me through some of my projects and dont even give me a hard time when I ask stupid questions - ( which seems to happen often ). I'm not sure of your boat experience, but stuff does seem a lot easier when I read it here verses when I get out in the garage and actually try what I read. Eric and Brainard are super patiant and I thank them for that. I live in northern Montana and dont trust anyone with my moto or the new boat. Greg

I might be on borrowed time here so I'll make it quick, the couplings sometimes will rust together and may be tough to pry apart, it is imperative that you get these apart and check your initial alignment, the shaft must be centered going thru the bottem of the boat. at this point i would get all the bolts needed and installed and start by shifting the engine to its original perch, then start with youe align, this sounds like it will be an all day job but you must get this straightened out or many more major problems will arise   btw, in the background...is he doing what i think he's doing?

well the 1 1/16 didn't fit either, so it must be metric?

baumanmt wrote: Hey guys I got two wrenches both 1 1/8 and they are not a snug fit- what size are these four bolts? They are not metric are they? Sorry so stupid,     Greg

Greg, A 3/4" nut should be a 1&1/8" hex. How did you measure?

Eric, your right I'm shooting for perfect (.ooo) - Ended up not getting those 1 1/8 nuts loose- need to go get another wrench. Thanks

That all makes sense to me guys, I'm headed out to the garage now to loosen the other 4 nuts and start playing with it. I'm gonna get my alignment within .003 of each other and get my shaft to spin nice and easy- I'll keep you posted, Thanks again

your moving the engine to match the shaft not vica versa, when complete you can still have a good alignment at the trans end but look at the strut and make sure the shaft is going thru it concentrically, it is possible to have the entire package to one side and get a good alignment and the shaft may be cocked inside the rubber bushings and you will see this because it may squeeze the bushing on one side and 180 degrrees on the other side you may have a slight gap, so that means you would have to shift the whole engine towards the gapped side, if you dont understand maybe someone can explain it more clearly

Greg, get in there with some good wrenches and get the feel for it. You'll be adjusting the engine in 3D, so yes, you'll use all of the adjustments. Have you established that the shaft is happy where it is(centered in the strut bore)?

The good wrenches thing is because you may have some aluminum hardware and a cruddy wrench will do more harm than good. Mine is alum but is a different setup.