Engine Installation on the Far Reach

[John Stone]

Thanks all.

Today I did a little fairing around that stern tube so I’ll get a better smoother flow of water over the Aft end of the tube and donut zinc.

I made a small wood form I slipped over the temporarily fit bearing. I abraded the aft six inches of the stern tube with 40 grit then wrapped four layers of 1708 biaxial around it to give the aft edge a little more diameter to better match the diameter of the donut zinc. I covered it with peel ply. After it kicks I’ll pull the bearing and wood form. The next step will be to pull the peel ply and fair and grind the end of the new epoxy extension so there is a small gap to allow water to gain access to the bearing.

With that done I’ll measure and order the prop shaft.

I attached a few photos of the prop depicting generally how it will be positioned. The extended part of the bearing reflects the thickness of the donut zinc for measuring purposes.

Making progress.

[John Stone]

I popped the wood mold plug out of the epoxy lay up just before I left the boat today. It’ll need a day or two to fully harden. Then I’ll trim the end and complete the fairing. Once that is done I can drill and tap for set screws and install the bearing and think about the propeller shaft.

[wikakaru]

I think you are going to be happy with the way the water flows around that stern tube--much better than a traditional aperture.

The salutation "smooth sailing" really applies here...

--Jim

[John Stone]

Focused on shed building this week. Have been able to breakaway and get to the boat a couple times though. Experimenting with laminar flow. So, I epoxied on a little 1/4 fiberglass stub to the dead space behind the shaft log port side of shaft exit and secured it with thickened epoxy and a layer of 1708 biaxial on top and bottom. Will fair a little more today and probably call it good. Should reduce turbulence as water flows over trailing edge of the shaft log. Totally inconsequential but...why not. Can’t hurt. And I’ll enjoy the pleasure of sailing in light air visualizing the water sliding along the hull and over the shaft log.

I ordered the Vetus Sysco engine control (on back order) and a Vetus water-lock Muffler on Monday. Have been mulling over where to put the engine control. I want to make it convenient but want to avoid getting the sheets tangled in the throttle handle. I have some ideas....

[John Stone]

Sanded a bit more today. Looks good. I’m satisfied.

[John Stone]

The engine was just barely resting against the Soundown insulation. So, today I removed the bolts securing the feet and I wiggled the engine around and lifted the front end with block and tackle. I was able to push it over maybe 4-5 inches. Got the Soundown insulation out easily and cut the center section out about 16”x16”. Flipped it over and scrapped off the 1/2” foam on the back side Of the vinyl barrier. Sanded the vinyl barrier smooth. Taped the edges with the special tape as I did to the full size piece it is cut from. So the center section was reduced from 1” thick to 1/2” thick foam. Then reinstalled. So it is recessed 1/2” There is now an air gap all around. Looks good.

[John Stone]

Back to working on the 12x12 shed. Hopefully it won’t take me six years.... in the meantime the Vetus waterlock muffler and Vetus shifter arrived in the mail today. There is no escaping SS it seems. My friend Kaj managed to purchase a bronze shifter but had a lot of trouble with it. The Vetus is supposed to be the “cat’s meow” of shifters. Having a reliable shifter outweighs my dislike of SS.

I still have to sort out where to install the shifter/throttle. I have time to decide. A few days of work on the shed then shift my efforts back to the Far Reach.

[Jim Walsh]

Sew some elk hide onto that shifter handle.....perhaps something as simple as a coat of epoxy primer and paint on the exposed portion of the body would render the whole assembly unobtrusive yet retain the performance aspects of the stainless hardware.

Cerakote is another option. Used on firearms to obtain the wow factor.
https://www.cerakote.com/find-applicato ... arolina%20

[John Stone]

For sure I’ll baseball stitch a leather sleeve for the throttle handle. But I’ll probably learn to live with the 316 SS faceplate. It will compliment the Windvane. It’s got to have some company.

The ceramic cerakote coating sounds interesting though.

[John Stone]

I have been thinking ahead to the day when I will have to pull the cutlass bearing and replace it. I need a way to pull the bearing without removing the engine and driving the bearing out from the inside. A small custom puller easy to build and small to store would be good have on hand. This design is built around a 3-4” long 1 3/4” ID pvc pipe wrapped in biaxial with a G10 cap on one end drilled for a 3/8” threaded rod or bolt about 8” long. The other end of the bolts pulls a 1/4” thick G10 washer about 1 7/16” through the stern tube pulling the bearing out as it’s compressed against it. I’ll have to see if I can get the threaded rod and washer into the shaft log without moving the engine. I could pull the long end of the threaded bolt down the shaft log with a string then the run it through the puller cap and secure the nut on it.

Should work and would be nice to have on head ahead of time. Now is the time to fabricate it.

[John Stone]

Drilled and tapped for two 1/4-20 SS cone point set screws to secure the cutlass bearing. After drilling the holes and determining the hole depth I ordered the SS 316 set screws from McMaster Carr.

[Keith]

Hi John,

Just looking at your cutlass bearing puller sketches and would like to suggest that you should not weld the nut to the threaded rod as this would mean that it has to be pushed or pulled through from the inside. Instead just double nut it after it is through the G-10 washer. This will allow you to install it from either inside or outside.

Food for thought.

Keith

[John Stone]

Hi John,

Just looking at your cutlass bearing puller sketches and would like to suggest that you should not weld the nut to the threaded rod as this would mean that it has to be pushed or pulled through from the inside. Instead just double nut it after it is through the G-10 washer. This will allow you to install it from either inside or outside.

Food for thought.

Keith

Keith, can you explain what you mean? It seems to me the bolt has to be pulled through the shaft log from the inside so I can turn the nut from the outside pulling the washer and bolt head end toward me and extracting the bearing. What am I missing?

John

[Keith]

Hi John,

Yes, you should pull the cutlass bearing out by turning the nut on the outside and pulling the bearing aft. My suggestion was to give you more flexibility installing the puller tool assembly by not welding the nut on the inside end of the threaded rod. If the nut on the inside end of the threaded rod is welded then the threaded rod must be pushed through the G-10 washer from the inside. This may be difficult due to interference with the prop shaft flange that is connected to the transmission. If the nut is not welded to the threaded rod then it can be pushed through the tube from the outside then through the G-10 washer and nutted.

If you have adequate room to install the threaded rod (with the nut welded on) from the inside then my suggestion is moot.

Keith

[John Stone]

Hi John,

Yes, you should pull the cutlass bearing out by turning the nut on the outside and pulling the bearing aft. My suggestion was to give you more flexibility installing the puller tool assembly by not welding the nut on the inside end of the threaded rod. If the nut on the inside end of the threaded rod is welded then the threaded rod must be pushed through the G-10 washer from the inside. This may be difficult due to interference with the prop shaft flange that is connected to the transmission. If the nut is not welded to the threaded rod then it can be pushed through the tube from the outside then through the G-10 washer and nutted.

If you have adequate room to install the threaded rod (with the nut welded on) from the inside then my suggestion is moot.

Keith

Ok. I got it now. But that only works if the threaded rod is longer than the shaftlog plus the length of the puller cup. That would be about 42,” maybe a few inches less. So I’d have to carry a long threaded rod. But it would negate having to pull the short 8” threaded rod through the shaft log. Maybe I’ll do a test run.