[Public-list] Engine alignment question

[Glenn Brooks]

Hello Lee,

I just went through this whole drill on Dolce last month--when I bought 
the boat and recommissioned her to do some actual sailing..  ( She had 
been on the beach for three years and I thought a lot of seaworthiness 
items should be check out before going back into the water.)

The stuffing box hose provided to be the biggest problem- and is still 
not resolved properly.  For some reason the packing gland on the inside 
end of the hose is not the same ID as the stuffing box tube protruding 
through the hull.  Apparently this is common, perhaps universal on 
A-30's??  Actual stuffing box hose made for the purpose is very heavy 
gage multi-ply rubber, with  absolutely no tolerance for adjusting to 
1/4" outsize bronze packing gland caps.  I couldn't get a decent fit, 
and could not find a proper sized 7/8" shaft replacement nut to fit the 
reduced diameter of the bronze stern tube protruding from the hull.  
Also did not wish to keep the ocean at bay with 1/8" ID of 5200 slopping 
around the inside of what is supposed to be a water tight mechanical  seal.

If your stern tube assembly is still out of the boat, I would urge you 
to find a replacement shaft tube that is the same size as the packing 
gland nut or vice versa before reinstalling.  I didn't and had no end of 
trouble trying to get a hose to fit the two dissimilar ID's, once 
everything was reinstalled.  Short of it is I eventually located a 
reasonably heavy, 3-4 ply, non-ferrous, marine grade radiator hose that 
fit the smaller diameter of the two ends and 'sweated' the now 
undersized hose onto the other fitting.  the trick is to put the rubber 
hose in boiling water to soften it up then lubricate the inner inning 
with soap or WD-40, then really muscle the thing into place. 

Once installed, the rubber hose buckled a bit and threw my existing 
shaft alingement off about  1" to stbd.  I've  ignored that for the time 
being and launched the boat .  Latter in the summer I'll probably go 
back in and realign the engine to get a  cleaner fit with the lay of the 
stuffing box / shaftlog.

Btw, because of many yeas as a commercial fisherman in Alaska, I 
couldn't understand why there was no decent access to the aft end of the 
engine/shaft log under the cockpit sole, so  cut a low profile 20" hatch 
into the cockpit  to actually obtain access to the aft end of the engine 
and thru hull valves.  Put a new battery box and wet exhaust system in 
there as well.  The whole thing works really well...
 



FINNUS505 at aol.com wrote:

>Hello Fellow Albergers,
> 
>Ugh....End of July is no time to be installing an engine in a  hot, Mass 
>boatyard, but circumstances beyond my control have put me here.  Oh well.
> 
>How do 'we' determine the actual shaft position for alignment purposes,  with 
>that flexible stuffing box hose allowing the shaft to slop around a half  
>inch to either side and up and down? Has anyone developed a good technique, or  
>even a neat trick to do this reasonably easily and accurately?
> 
>What is the size hose, and method of choice for replacing the hose of the  
>flexible stuffing box?
> 
>Of the two bolts that secure the cutlass bearing housing to the hull, the  
>lower bolt is stripped on Stargazer. It was that way when we bought the boat. Of 
> course, I only found that out the first time I removed the housing. I've 
>been  setting the bolt in 3M5200 when reseating the housing, and that seems to 
>work,  but if someone can recommend a good, doable method for restoring the 
>thread, I  would do it.
> 
>Think of me while you are sailing. :)
> 
>Thx,
>Lee
>Stargazer #255
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