Indigo

[Baltimore Sailor]

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Bill

[marthur]

The Indigo Prop is very nice, Tom Stevens does an excellent job with his stuff. I know you guys will enjoy your new props.

Fortunately, I get plenty of power out of my A-4 on the Catalina 27 "June Bug," so I think I will be sticking with my Michigan Sailor:

[sastanley]

getting the nut off

OK, so I hauled the boat. My Indigo prop is screaming at me to get it installed.

How do I get the 34 year old broken cotter pin (which appears to be bronze) out of the hole in the end of the shaft?

My set up looks very similar to marthur's prop pic above, except that his is clean and you can actually see what you are doing. I've already managed to break off both ends of the cotter pin.

[Dave Neptune]

Stuck!

Shawn, if you can't "back up" the prop&shaft with something heavy and try a pin punch and a few solid blows. If it doesn't move try soaking the area with "Lime-away" or other similar bathroom scale product. You can try to "diaper" it with a baggie pulled up around the end of the shaft or patiently drip it in to the pins hole. It will eat away most of the corrosion and the offending pin should be easy to remove. You could also try using a bit of acid, the same stuff you would flush the A-4 with. Neither should hurt the shaft.

Careful if you use the hammer, when backing use something heavy and solid and have someone else hold against the shaft close to where you are working and strike solidly not necessarily "hard". You don't want to mushroom it.

You could also drill it out carefully if it is bronze, however if it is a stainless pin I would try the soaking method.

Good luck, David

[thatch]

Prop off, Prop on!

Shawn,
You should be able to use a drift ( normally a 1/8" will do) to drive out the broken pieces of key. It would probably be a good idea to have a second set of hands hold a buck (weight) on the opposite side to keep from banging the prop shaft sideways any more than necessary. Soaking the nut area with your favorite spray oil is always a good idea in areas like this. Next back the nut off a few threads but not all the way off. Leaving the nut loosley on the shaft will keep the prop from falling on the ground once the prop puller has done it's job. If the nut doesn't want to move then a nut splitter would be a better choice than damaging the shaft with excessive force. The most important part of the removal process is in finding someone with a good prop puller and the knowledge of how to use it correctly. Once you have successfully removed the old prop and cleaned the area use lapping compound to insure that the new prop seats comfortably on the shaft. The prop key should also be checked for clearance so that it does not keep the prop from mating to the shaft correctly.
Whew! Tom

[thatch]

Thank's Dave

Dave,
Thank's for the added "acid etch info". Most of my props are never on long enough for "critter growth" to be an issue.
Tom

[sastanley]

Thanks for the tips & ideas. I have a generic puller right now, and a buddy that has used it, so I'll have an extra pair of hands as well. I sprayed it thoroughly with PB Blaster yesterday before I left to give it a little time to work.

If I really get in a pickle, I may have to pay the yard to do it for me, since they will have better tools at their disposal, but my buddy is also checking to see if he has a drift pin small enough..

Guess I need to go search for 'lapping compound' to figure out what that is.

[marthur]

Shawn,

I just drilled out my cotter pin. I noticed that one end was cracked and it broke right off when I tried to remove it.

My shaft is bronze, but the cotter pin was probably brass (it was significantly softer than the bearing grade bronze shaft). After drilling 3/16" or so I noticed the gunk holding it in was mostly at the ends, so I drove it out the rest of the way with a small drift.

If you can't get the old prop off, somebody here would probably be willing to give it a good home

Good luck!

[Mark S]

If the nut doesn't want to move then a nut splitter would be a better choice than damaging the shaft with excessive force.

Amen to that. I found out the shaft can break with just minimal force.

Mark

[thatch]

Aw nuts!

Shawn,
I use the same type of lapping compound to lap valves with to "lap" the prop on to the prop shaft. The process, after locking the transmission in gear, is just to apply some compound on to the shaft, place the prop onto the shaft and rotate it several revelolutions while holding forward pressure on it. At this point remove the prop, clean the shaft and check for "sanding " marks which will show if the prop is actually making contact over it's entire surface. It is also good practice to check the prop nut for tightness after motoring in gear for about an hour just to make sure that things are still tight. This, of course involves putting someone in the water, removing the cotter pin and putting a wrench to the nut. This may seem like a lot of work but from what I hear the Indigo prop is worth the effort.
Tom

[sastanley]

sounds good Tom, thanks. The only valve lapping I've done is with my step-father's help in his garage, so I'll have to go pick some up.

I think my shaft is stainless, hence I thought the pin would be as well, but it just stretched a fell apart with pliers. - maybe the shaft is bronze too? We'll find out this week.

So, do marinas usually stock bronze/brass prop nuts & stuff?

[ndutton]

Shawn,

They're also known as castle nuts or crown nuts due to their appearance.

[sastanley]

Hi Neil, thanks. I am familiar with the term 'castle nuts', on tie rods & ball joints. It will probably look amazingly like one of those once I get it all cleaned up.

Do you know if our vintage C-30's have a stainless shaft? I assume I'll know here in a couple hours after I clean it up.

[thatch]

Should be SS

Shawn,
My 78 catalina 30 has a stainless shaft so I'm betting yours does too. You can always look inside at the stuffing box area for a cleaner piece of the shaft to verify it.
Tom