[cdhickey]

It started as a simple Cutless bearing replacement… and turned into a full-on, transmission-back overhaul. I thought I’d post up my experience in case in can be helpful to anyone else contemplating the same.

After lift-out last fall, I noticed a little play in my Cutless bearing and added this to my list for replacement. My approach to a project of this sort is to always try the easiest option first, no matter how naïve that may be. Here are what the steps turned out to be:

1. Prop Removal. Wrestle and curse at removing my two-blade folding prop. The most difficult part proved to be removing the folding wings to give access to the set screws retaining the prop, as the pins just didn’t want to budge. PB Blaster, heat, and some gentle (and not so gentle) tapping finally broke them free. A few quick turns with a homemade prop puller (two small pieces of 2x4 and a couple of 12” threaded rods) and the prop came off without much trouble.

2. Remove Bearing – First Attempt. The internet (and dockside chatter) told me that removal of the Cutless bearing is theoretically possible with the prop shaft in place. I didn’t have access to one of the fancy tools designed for this purpose, so I tried a progressive approach of a properly sized tube and hammer, followed by a press rigged up using my prop puller. Neither resulted in anything other than frustration and distrust of the internet.

3. Remove Prop Shaft- First Attempt. So if we can’t budge the bearing with the prop shaft in place, it means the bugger has to come out. This is what I was afraid of, as I don’t have much room to work behind the engine and it looked like a rusted beast of a coupling. In what was probably the most laughably optimistic part of this whole project, I removed the prop set screws and gave the shaft a tug. If you listen carefully, you can still hear the angels laughing.

4. Remove Prop Shaft- Second Attempt. Okay, let’s get this done using the textbook method of pressing the shaft out of the coupling. I sprayed the coupling bolts with a bit of PB Blaster, and they came out without much trouble. However, because of the configuration of my stuffing box I could only slide the assembly back by about an inch- not enough to get a socket in there, and not enough to properly place any other sorts of spacers. I tried getting washers, dimes, bolts, nuts, and just about everything else in place, but it was an exercise in futility. Sigh.

5. Remove Prop Shaft- Third Attempt. Okay, so something is going to have to get cut here. Given the difficulty of removing my coupling, I wanted to make sure that the next time would be a bit easier and the split coupling from Moyer looked like a great solution. If the coupling was to be replaced anyways, I might as well sacrifice that to the grinder gods to get the shaft out. My first approach (don’t laugh) was my cordless Dremel and a pile of metal cutoff wheels. I made admirable progress with this, but couldn’t get fully through the flange. Next up was the trusty angle grinder, but I still couldn’t get fully through the flange because I was still less than an inch from the transmission output and was trying not to destroy the shaft in the process. I tried to use a cold chisel to open up the cuts that I could get, but still no luck. I came to the realization that trying to get the coupling off was going to result in serious damage to my shaft, transmission output, soul, or all three. Double sigh.

6. Remove Prop Shaft- Fourth Attempt. So my options at this point were limited, which made the choice easy- the prop shaft would have to be cut. Armed with an angle grinder and a bit of determination, the prop shaft was free within a minute and I felt like a God. Once I got it out, I could see just how scored it actually was, so it may not have been such a bad outcome after all.

7. Remove Bearing – Second Attempt. With the prop shaft on the ground and my credit card burning, I set out to do what I started- replace the bearing. A few hacksaw cuts and a bolt in the set screw hole managed to collapse the old bearing, after which it came out with a bit of persuasion from needle nose vice grips It was also at this point that a fellow C&C owner suggested that I could have just removed the strut. I went back a cried over the pieces of my broken shaft.

8. Install Cutless Bearing. I had officially crossed from the destruction phase to the rebuilding phase! With a bit of help from a threaded rod and washers, the Cutless bearing went in fairly easily. I’m getting good at this boat maintenance stuff.

9. Install New Stuffing Box Hose. With the entire arse out of my boat, I figured I might as well replace anything else that may give me grief. I don’t want to be doing this again any time soon. The stuffing box hose was of an unknown vintage, so I replaced it with some much better looking Buck Algonquin hose and clamps. I also cleaned up the stuffing box and put some fresh new packing in there.

10. Install Prop Shaft and Coupling. When the prop shaft and coupling were ready, I encountered the problem of trying to install the coupling on the shaft in very tight quarters. Through dumb luck, I managed to get the shaft lined up and pushed it into the coupling from the outside, adjusted the depth and torqued it up. Initial alignment looked okay, but when I went to bolt it in place I discovered that the flange on the Moyer split coupling is about ¼” narrower than the one it was replacing, and as a result the bolts were too long. I couldn’t find any stainless bolts in 3/8-NF, but I did get some Grade 8 bolts that were a bit shorter and made for a perfect fit.

11. Install New Prop. With everything else new and shiny, I decided to replace the old prop as well. I’ve been looking at the Indigo prop for a while, so this was the time to pull the trigger on that purchase.

So after about 6 weeks and $800, I find myself with a beautiful new drive train. Here are a few lessons learned for those bored enough to still be reading this:
- If I had my time back, I may have just tried to remove the strut to replace the Cutless bearing. However, with the condition of the stuffing box and prop shaft I may have ended up doing all this work in the near future anyways, so I’ll call it a wash.
- Cutting off the coupling to save the shaft is very difficult. It may be possible if you have lots of room and good access, but even then you’ve got a good change of damaging the prop in the process.
- The split coupling is a thing of beauty. I was a bit concerned about the fit at first, but when paired with the new shaft it was a perfect tight slip fit. Note that you may need shorter bolts, and the design makes it impossible to get a socket on the bolts- an open ended wrench will be required.

And here are a few obligatory pics: