[Public-list] Engine alignment question

[Mike Lehman]

"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?"

I consider this to be one of the most important parts of installing a new 
engine, and therefore hired a pro for this last step when I replaced my 
engine. With or Without a flex coupling the tolerances are .004" and that is 
too close for me to feel comfortable making myself. It took the mechanic 
about 30 minutes to get it right.



Mike Lehman
~~~_/)_/)~~_/)~~~




----Original Message Follows----
From: Glenn Brooks <brooks.glenn at comcast.net>
Reply-To: Alberg 30 Public List -- open to all <public-list at alberg30.org>
To: Alberg 30 Public List -- open to all <public-list at alberg30.org>
Subject: Re: [Public-list] Engine alignment question
Date: Thu, 21 Jul 2005 09:28:04 -0700

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
>_______________________________________________
>Public-list mailing list
>Public-list at alberg30.org
>http://alberg30.org/mailman/listinfo/public-list
>
>
>
>

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