1958 Atomic4 Overhaul .5

[ILikeRust]

Really ??
I thought that the reduction gear is a part of the transmission...

There isn't really a "transmission" in the A4. There's a clutch and a planetary reversing gear, which is activated with a band brake.

The tail end of the crankshaft goes into the clutch pack. The other side of the clutch pack goes to the output flange, which is bolted to the prop shaft. So when the clutch is engaged (by pushing the lever into "forward" position), the clutch connects the prop shaft to the crankshaft. So they turn as one. The whole clutch pack rotates with it.

When you push the lever to "reverse", it tightens the band around the clutch pack to stop it rotating. This causes the planetary gear mechanism to kick in, which makes the prop shaft rotate in the opposite direction. Due to the little planetary gears, it's not a direct drive, as it is in forward, and it reduces the RPM a bit.

[sastanley]

ILR, great synopsis..If I remember correctly, it is 1.4:1 in reverse. So if you can get 2,000 RPM in FWD you should be able to get 2,800 RPM in reverse.

[ILikeRust]

ILR, great synopsis..If I remember correctly, it is 1.4:1 in reverse. So if you can get 2,000 RPM in FWD you should be able to get 2,800 RPM in reverse.

Isn't that math backwards? When you say it's 1.4:1 in reverse, doesn't that mean that the prop shaft is rotating slower than the crankshaft? So if the engine is at 2000 rpm, the prop would be rotating at something around 1,500 rpm?

[sastanley]

Isn't that math backwards? When you say it's 1.4:1 in reverse, doesn't that mean that the prop shaft is rotating slower than the crankshaft? So if the engine is at 2000 rpm, the prop would be rotating at something around 1,500 rpm?

Yes, maybe I am not making sense. The engine is running faster than the prop. Thanks for keeping me straight ILR.

I like to give the old girl a little run like our buddy Daniel has done in his skiff at 3,600 RPM (!!) and run her up to 2,700-ish RPM in reverse as I back up into the slip just to make sure she's capable...she hasn't failed me since 2009.

[2dogsnight]

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-94dUutDl9WQ/WOLD6GsMWqI/AAAAAAAACJc/yun5ptR15vo1Hnkxlo_imy4jlHL3Kc5sgCJoC/w530-h297-p/17%2B-%2B1

working on getting new rubber house over the shaft....after turning the rudder I should get an access to pull the shaft out
.....in this posting I am more interested to figure out how to post pictures though.......I am guessing with this link posted, will give an access to check all pictures on my public Google account.....which is fine, but I would rather be able to post picture

[2dogsnight]

OK, figure it out the picture posting thing....

here is the packing box that needs new rubber house around it

[sastanley]

I see a pic of the prop shaft area inside the boat..looking good 2Dogs!!!. Depending on where you host the pics, sometimes you can use the {img}pic URL here{/img} but use square brackets instead of curley brackets.

however, MMI allows a very generous amount of pictures to be uploaded to their site directly as I suspect you have done for that #216 pic.

Make sure when you get that new hose on there you double clamp at both ends!

edit..let's try this...the pic link below is wrapped in the img tag as described above from your #215 post..let's see if this works!

[2dogsnight]

I didn't know about using two clamps on each side of stuffing box!!
.................here is a question: would be OK to drill a hole trough the rudder where my finger is pointing without compromising structural integrity of it ??
I need to pull the shaft out of the boat, or at least few feet out, to be able to put new rubber hose over the stuffing box.......and drilling the hole trough the ruder at the pivot point ( which is in the center of the boat as is the shaft) would allowed me to do that without taking the rudder or motor out....????

[ndutton]

Assuming the rudder is steel or bronze, I'd do it.

[2dogsnight]

Thank you Neil !
Will go scratch the paint to see what I have there....most likely it's a bronze

[sastanley]

I tend to agree with Neil..sorta...In either case, you need to be able to seal the hole so you don't get sea water filling up the rudder if it is foam/glass, or getting under the filler/paint in metal either.

But, your green paint picture looks like metal to me. Guidance from other metal rudder owners on the best way to fill and fair the hole might be needed.

Why can't you drop the rudder? Isn't there a simple 6" tiller under the floor board with its own stuffing box that likely needs servicing?

[ndutton]

I dunno about that guy in the picture. What's the butane BBQ lighter for?

[2dogsnight]

I didn't do any work on the boat because I had to work ......hahahah very funny.
Anyway, while working I had more time to think, and come to realization that I will need to remove the rudder because there is no room to install the propeller on the shaft.........rudder is too close to the end of the shaft.
So no need to drill a hole in the rudder - it will not help.
Check out the picture........
...and yes, it's not that hard to remove the rudder, has it's own stuffing box - I had to remove it to get the shaft out - serviced the stuffing box then already

[2dogsnight]

Little Bear on the water

[2dogsnight]

So finally after all these years I have my boat in the water. Motor started with no problems and off we went.
I was running it only at 1000 rpm and we were going 7 mph, at 1500 rpm the speed was 15 mph. I was not pushing it more then that, as it was a first run after replacing bunch of stuff mentioned here in this tread.
Overall I was pretty happy with everything about this boat and motor - there is still lots of stuff to do, but mostly cosmetics.
Here is a short video....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e4YBzAYFtnc