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  #105   IP: 174.235.143.248
Old 06-17-2018, 10:48 AM
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CajunSpike CajunSpike is offline
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Went down to the boat about 10pm. If working during the daytime was too hot, then lets try the night.

Setup small a/c in the door frame, sealed it off.
Put drop light around back side of motor. This left me see the coupling and bolts.
Put cushion over top of engine. All access was over the top of the engine.
Used oscillating tool to remove parts of the back wall. Was just thin fiberglass. This gave me enough room to put tools in that area.
Removed 1st coupling bolt by pushing fwd on one bolt and bwd on another bolt so shaft would not spin. Bolt had oil on it, not rusty. Was very tight but came loose.
Put the trans in gear to assist keeping coupling still.
Cut a bit more of the back wall as the edges were hurting my hands.
Removed 2nd coupling bolt by pushing fwd on one bolt and bwd on another bolt so shaft would not spin. Bolt had oil on it, not rusty. Was very tight but came loose.
On the last bolt, had to figure how to keep the motor from spinning. Even in gear it would still turn. Found the manual engine crank handle. Inserted it and used that
to stop the crank from turning. With that holding things still, was able to break free the 3rd coupling bolt.

To separate the coupling halves, I took a hammer and tapped gently. Rotate the engine. Repeat. Rotate. Tap. At some point the coupling halves popped free.

The last problem was not enough room to pull the rear coupling off the shaft.
Stewed on that for a while but went with the only option.
Removed all 8 engine mount to floor bolts. Not rusty.
Removed the water outlet hose. Just a clamp.
Removed the muffler bolts. Not frozen and not rusty. I was amazed about this but the bolts looked 'newish' instead of ancient.
Pulled fwd on the engine enough to move it about an inch.
That was just enough clearance to pull the coupling off the shaft, and it came free.
Looked back into the work space and found the shaft pinch bolt. Also found the shaft key.

With all the parts in my hand, it became apparent what had happened.

1)The shaft pinch bolt backed out the hole. The hole in the shaft pinch bolt where you wire it up was clogged and dirty. There had been no wire to keep the pinch bolt in place.
2)The brass shaft key was only about 3/4 of an inch long and intact. The keyway on the coupling is about 1.5" long. That key was way too short.
3)The prop shaft keyway was all the way back against the water seal. This means the shaft itself had move rearward at some point. When it did move backwards(not having a pinch bolt), since the shaft key was so short, it disengaged from the coupling.

This is why the coupling would spin but the shaft didn't. The shaft had backed out the coupling due to a missing pinch bolt and with the short key, was no longer engaged in the coupling.

All parts are undamaged.

So now:
Have to find a longer brass key. I figure 1.5" should work. Material is square brass rod 1/4"(3/16"?) wide on a steel 3/4" prop shaft. Know where to find some?
Have to install and wire the shaft pinch bolt OR replace the coupling with the moyer coupling.
Put it all back together.

Went to bed about 2am.
When I got up, I installed the pertronix kit and the moyer coil.
Obviously did not start the engine with it disconnected like it was.
__________________
Bill L.
1972 Ericson 27
Hull #61
Atomic 4

Last edited by CajunSpike; 06-17-2018 at 09:49 PM.
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