Mating the prop shaft with the engine

[ajgaines]

I am trying to mate the prop coupling with the engine. I know the tolerance is supposed to be. 003". For some reason with my setup the surfaces don't actually reach each other until the bolts are tightened down. All four sides come within. 025" of each other. The previous engine mounts are there and haven't been touched. It seems as if everything is in alignment and that if I tighten them down that it would work out alright. Anyone have a way for me to measure the alignment as I have a weird coupling that seems to make the suggested way impossible?

[ndutton]

As long as the measurements at the four cardinal points are within 0.003" of each other, you're good. For example, if the top measures 0.025", the bottom = 0.024", one side = 0.023" and the other side = 0.024" you are golden. The entire range of differences is less than 0.003".

[ajgaines]

So it's actually a bit more than .025. It's a big enough gap that it seems to change every time I measure it.. Not really sure how to get it accurate because of that. Also, any advice on where to get started with the alignment? The prop shift moves around quite a bit, is the goal just to get it in the middle of the travel? And is that just a visual estimate?

[ndutton]

I forget, are we in the water?

[GregH]

Can you describe more of what you mean when you say;"The prop shift moves around quite a bit..." ?