CD27 YSM8 Engine Mounts and Cutlass Bearing

[atcowboy]

Hello!

I've managed to push my little cape dory from Dutch Harbor, RI down to No Name Harbor off Key Biscayne, FL. It has been quite an adventure.

I find myself in need of new engine mounts. I am here looking for brand recommendations. Since it looks like it will be $200+ I don't want 6 month mounts! I would like to put my money towards quality mounts.

Cleaning the bottom and checking the shaft zinc, it appears that my cutlass bearing has been kind enough to eject itself from the keel. I think I have found this very early on, as the radial play in the shaft even with the bearing hanging out is still very small. Looking for a cause, my engine appears to be resting on 3 of 4 mounts. I think the mounts themselves are on their last legs. I'm guessing misalignment has help corkscrew the cutlass bearing out of the keel.

I'm hoping that I can score the outside of the cutlass bearing with say a file or a hack saw. Cover the outside of the bearing with underwater epoxy and push it back into the keel. Hopefully this fix is enough to get back home, or at least Jacksonville. People are waiting a month for haul outs in this area.

- AT

[wikakaru]

Some cutlass bearings have a set screw that helps keep them in place. Before going the epoxy route I would do a close inspection to see if there is a hole for a set screw (might be hard to find underwater, especially if there is barnacle growth) and if so, reinsert the bearing and replace the set screw first. I'm not sure if Loctite will stay on if you apply it on the surface then take the screw under water, though.

Good luck,

Jim

[atcowboy]

Some cutlass bearings have a set screw that helps keep them in place. Before going the epoxy route I would do a close inspection to see if there is a hole for a set screw (might be hard to find underwater, especially if there is barnacle growth) and if so, reinsert the bearing and replace the set screw first. I'm not sure if Loctite will stay on if you apply it on the surface then take the screw under water, though.

Good luck,

Jim

Jim,
Thank you for this piece of information. I just assumed it was a press fit. I will dive on it again and see if I can't find some set screw indentations. I do not remember any from when I was painting, but I also wasn't looking.

- AT

[Walter Hobbs]

AT

i have a CD 27 but sail mostly in Narragansett Bay and Block Island sound. Congratulations on your trip. Someday I'd like to go on a similar adventure.
Keep us updated on your repairs. I will probably be doing the same someday.

thanks

[atcowboy]

AT

i have a CD 27 but sail mostly in Narragansett Bay and Block Island sound. Congratulations on your trip. Someday I'd like to go on a similar adventure.
Keep us updated on your repairs. I will probably be doing the same someday.

thanks

Hi Walter,
I don't remember running across you on the forums before, I have #140. I don't suppose yours is laid up on the hard, easy to see if there are set screws? Jk.

I moore in the Cole River, so mount hope and the Narragansett have been my stomping ground for the whole two years I've been sailing... A couple of trips to block and one to the forks... I've wanted to meet up with Fred and any other 27's, maybe we can start a gang haha.

Plenty of 28's and a 30 have come through No Name in the past couple weeks staging for the Bahamas. Enough people were asking if there was a Dory convention.

- AT

[atcowboy]

I saw no signs of set screws. I didn't try clearing the paint off the hull, but the bottom is pretty clean of barnacles.

I removed the zinc and extracted the bearing as much as it would come out. I used a hack saw to abrade the exposed portion. I kneaded up some epoxy, and spread it around the exposed bearing in a sheet. But when I slid the bearing back in, the epoxy just sloughed off the cutlass bearing. I was also to efficient in replacing the bearing, and got it so it had just too little exposed to grab again. I spread the putty around the edges, mushed it in as best I could, and made sure that it wasn't inside the bearing or touching the shaft.

Likely, since it's just a glob of epoxy mostly on ablative paint, it'll do nothing. Hindsight, I may have chosen to leave more exposed with room for the zinc, but still go for the smoosh-blob technique. Now I just need to decide how upset I am about this, or if I can ignore it until I'm home.

- AT

[tjr818]

Is home Key Biscayne or Dutch Harbor? If home is Key Biscayne I'd say let it go for awhile, but be careful, you don't want to ruin the prop shaft. There should be room enough to put a zinc between the prop and the bearing, that would keep the bearing in place, BUT it would not keep a loose bearing from spinning in the stern tube and causing far greater problems. if home is Dutch Harbor please replace the bearing.

[atcowboy]

Is home Key Biscayne or Dutch Harbor? If home is Key Biscayne I'd say let it go for awhile, but be careful, you don't want to ruin the prop shaft. There should be room enough to put a zinc between the prop and the bearing, that would keep the bearing in place, BUT it would not keep a loose bearing from spinning in the stern tube and causing far greater problems. if home is Dutch Harbor please replace the bearing.

Home is Mount Hope bay, actually. Although in a boat, it's wherever the pick is dropped.

Reading through the manual, it looks like the set screws may be hidden under a fairing compound. The spree m aperture does have the faintest hint of this fairing shape, so I think I will see if I can't gain access to these screws without shedding too much fairing to the seas.

- AT

[jfischgrund]

That's an impressive trip in a 27! I'm number 195 and am just up the Bay in Wickford. When it warms up this weekend (the mid-40s!) I'll take a look and see what I can see. I guess you won't be back in time for the February 19th meeting -- darn!

[atcowboy]

I believe that (*knocks on wood*) the cutlass bearing is fixed.

Much like the fairing compound used around the original transducer, the application of some blunt force removed the fairing compound essentially intact making it easy to collect. This exposed about 3/4" of the stern tube that was devoid of any set screws. The very end of the tube did have 4 half moon shapes as though at one time it did have set screws. The stern tube was very firmly set in place, so I don't think it could have worn on the zinc or vice versa. The fairing also showed no sign of this. This is probably some kind of old fix finkery. With the stern tube exposed, I used a drill bit set in a piece of broom handle to drill a hole in the port and starboard sides of the tube. I then drove two M4x10 BHCS into the tube to firmly contact the bearing. I used underwater epoxy putty to fair around the screws to help support them since they were sticking out quite a bit.

My new zincs should be here tomorrow, and the repair will be complete.

- AT