Tuesday, September 16, 2014

Servicing the Drive Train

This section will include servicing the transmission, Transmission coupler, Propeller Shaft, Propeller and the cutlass bearings. The first step was to remove the propeller. I had the yard do this as I don't have a puller, and for an hour or labor, its well worth it. The prop was painted with anti fouling paint, a no-no in my book. I removed the paint before the yard pulled the prop. The lower cutlass can be seen and the bearing inside is worn out and needs replacement.




The above shot shows the transmission cooler, transmission, reduction gears, the transmission coupler and finally the propeller shaft. The cooler seems fine, east to replace later if needed. I tested the engine on the hard, but never put it into gear. I don't know anything about the transmission, so I will have it re-built at Federal Transmissions in Illinois. It is a Borg Warner Velvet Drive, 71CR Model 1017010. This is not in production but can still be rebuild and parts are available for now. 

This picture is looking towards the transmission at the rear of the coupler. In the foreground is the stuffing box nut. The coupler set screws are wired to prevent loosing up. Usually stainless aircraft wire is used. This appears to be standard wire as the rust demonstrates. 


This picture shows the propeller shaft, stuffing box, cutlass tube, water cooled cutlass and bearing. A lot has been said about how to remove the cutlass. Some say it is threaded to the shaft tube. There are tow flanges, one attached to the bulkhead, the other to the first flange. The first flange may be screwed to the shaft tube, but as it is in good shape, I have no need to find out. There are four bolts holding the cutlass on and I will remove them and see if that works. 


It was very easy to remove, in fact the bolts were hand tight. Not sure why. There was also no sealant between the flanges. Not sure at this point is there is supposed to be, but as water comes up thru the shaft tube, I would think sealant would be needed to keep water out of the bilge


Here is the cutlass removed with the cutlass bearing pressed out. I used a hydraulic press pushing towards the flange as the bearing can only come out one way due to a lip in the cutlass to hold it in place.  It is a 1 1/2 shaft or ID with a 2 3/8 OD cutlass. They name cutlass after fish, this one is called Flounder. it is supplied in a 6" length. for this application it has to be cut down to 3" to fit the cutlass. 


The lower cutlass was removed by removing tow nuts locked and wired to each stud. They were much too lose for my liking. The cutlass was easy to remove. 


Here is the cutlass flange with cutlass removed, again no caulk evident. 


This is the cutlass and cutlass bearing removed. This one was a bugger. It would not be pressed out as there was a lip holding the bearing in place which made it very hard to get a socket to fit on top to apply the pressure with the ram. In the end I had to go old school and use a sawzall with a 9" metal blade to cut the bearing in two pieces to remove. It was still hard to get out. I will press the new one in. Some folks put the new bearing in a freezer to help it fit, others use just the hydraulic press.  Parts are ordered. 

While waiting for the cutlass bearings, I removed the motor mounts. As you can see this one is cracked. One had a bold broken and the other tow I had to cut off when removing the engine. They sit on top of a fiberglassed stringer and help in place by two studs. 


The studs were damaged upon installation I believe. I speculate that the stringer is made of teak or mahogany and  they did not pre-drill. using two nuts in a locking fashion they were driven into the stringer. Several were bent like a lot of torque was used. 



All four are damaged and will be replaced. I will order them from American Diesel if they sell them. 


I took the propeller shaft and propeller to Kahlenberg in Tow Rivers, WI. They have been family owned for over a hundred years. Now known for high quality marine signaling equipment. I the past they built and installed the first diesel engines used on boats. They still work of shafts and props, so I took the 2.5 hour drive to get mine looked at. 





Maybe a little too big!


They hit something big!







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