Cutlass Bearing Replacement

[yodagwb]

Anyone on the Chesapeake Bay had to have their cutlass bearing replaced yet and if so where did you have it done? Did they do a good job? What was entailed in the replacement and how much did they hit you up for it? After 10yrs ours is due.

[djones]

We have an early hull, #13. The original cutless bearing had a fiberglass outer shell instead of the newer metal type cylinder shell that was on the replacement. There are two set screws, one on each side holding the existing bearing in place. If you have the metal bearing cylinder, and enough is showing, you can remove the prop, grab the exposed end of the bearing with vice grips, etc., and hopefully slip it out rearward over the now bare prop shaft.

In our case, it wasn't that simple. The original bearing cylinder was fiberglas (or similar), and the exposed end just crumbled when we tried to grab it. It was necessary to pull the prop shaft out first to get a pull-grip on the bearing. Even that wasn't simple. The prop shaft would not clear the rudder as we pulled it out of the boat, so we had to dig a hole and drop the rudder out of the way, pull the shaft, then replace the cutless bearing. (We had been on the hard for some time, and a lift wasn't immediately available.) Hopefully next time will be easier since I made sure to leave enough of the metal lip of the new bearing exposed.

Hope this helps.
Don Jones, "Onatop" C350 #13
Oak Island/Southport, NC

[yodagwb]

Got the new shaft and cutlass bearing in place. After cutting the old shaft out because it would not clear the rudder, we had a machine shop mill a new shaft. The old shaft came out in two pieces. The new shaft was able to slide pass the rudder without the cutlass being in place and the cutlass was set after the shaft was in the log tube. Getting the new shaft set into the transmission flange with the key took some work and extra hands. The bulk of the battle came from the lack of space between the PPS and the keyway/flange.

[Amnesia]

How much play is acceptable in the shaft? While my boat is 12 years old (hull #169), there are only 500 engine hours, and there is just very slight wiggle in the shaft. Is any wiggle acceptable?