January 17, 2019

Dharma Rose 33

Thursday

Next on my dwindling agenda was  to install the new shaft, which had recently arrived from the machine shop.  A bench-fit showed that the coupling was too tight a fit, so I cleaned up the inside a bit until I could slip the coupling over the shaft with acceptable ease.  I double-checked the length of the new shaft against my original measurements to ensure it was what I’d asked for (it was).

I slipped the shaft through the stern tube, and from inside the boat installed the packing nut over the end, then installed the split coupling and key, securing it with the shaft setscrew and the two coupling bolts to squeeze the coupling together.  With the coupling installed, but before installing the sacrificial coupling section, I completed the final engine alignment, adjusting the mounts as needed to bring the transmission and shaft couplings into alignment.  Once aligned, I tightened all the mounting studs and bolts to affix the engine permanently.

Now I moved the shaft back a bit to make space, and completed the installation with the sacrificial plastic coupling, which bolted between the shaft and transmission couplings to provide electrical isolation, a bit of alignment forgiveness, and as a failsafe to help prevent damage to the transmission should the propeller hit an immobile object.

I completed the installation with the new propeller.  This is a  Campbell Sailer size 11×6.

I tried the fit of a prop nut zinc assembly, but unfortunately there wasn’t enough clearance in the tight aperture even for the nut itself.

As a final step, I tightened down the stuffing box nut, tightening it more than would ultimately be necessary so that upon launching, there’d be no unexpected nor unwelcome surprises from the stuffing box; it would require proper adjustment at that time, however.

Total time billed on this job today:  3.75 hours

0600 Weather Observation:  6°, clear.  Forecast for the day:  Sunny, 16°