Looking for some help/advice on prop shaft & engine alignment on 1981 Catalina 30 with a Universal 5411. I understand the general procedure of rotating the shaft and using a feeler gauge on the shaft coupling to the transmission.
However my problem is that the boat was fitted with a flexible coupling from Federal Marine Transmissions (https://federalmarinemotors.com/how-it-works/). Their instructions for engine alignment specifies to use the original rigid coupling to perform alignment then remove the rigid and install the flexible coupling.
Unfortunately the rigid coupling that came with the boat is long gone as I'm the second owner. I'm going to reach out to Federal Marine Transmissions to get their input but my question is if anybody knows of a way to align the shaft using a different method? Or if someone has a resource where I could potentially find a used rigid coupling and if so could it be used without machining for concentricity to the shaft? I don't necessarily want to spend the the $300 for a brand new one from Catalina Direct +machining as I'd like to keep using the flexible coupling after alignment.
However my problem is that the boat was fitted with a flexible coupling from Federal Marine Transmissions (https://federalmarinemotors.com/how-it-works/). Their instructions for engine alignment specifies to use the original rigid coupling to perform alignment then remove the rigid and install the flexible coupling.
Unfortunately the rigid coupling that came with the boat is long gone as I'm the second owner. I'm going to reach out to Federal Marine Transmissions to get their input but my question is if anybody knows of a way to align the shaft using a different method? Or if someone has a resource where I could potentially find a used rigid coupling and if so could it be used without machining for concentricity to the shaft? I don't necessarily want to spend the the $300 for a brand new one from Catalina Direct +machining as I'd like to keep using the flexible coupling after alignment.