Shaft alignment.

[seadaddler]

I replaced the Rear main seal and tranny seal and most everything back together and left
the exhaust hose off so to making alignment a little easy.
Just heads up when putting the flywheel back on was so heavy that I removed some of the cabinet so could lean over from front of engine and that lifting the flywheel way better.
So any tips or tricks on realignment of the shaft,this will be my first time ever trying this and so far no easy task.
Nick

 

[Whatfiero1]

Ok no reply so I'll try my best. The cutless bearing needs to be comfortable and shaft should sit center of ps seal. But not always. So engine whit tranny connected to it needs to be mated to coupling but no bolts attached now spin shaft and see where of if two surface happy together. If you marked coupling helps 're installation now adjust motor mounts up and or down till shaft straight and easiest to spin

 

[seadaddler]

I agree with you and have been using feeler gauge going around checking the 2 couplings space all the way around.
The problem Iam having is moving the motor with the mounts attached and leg bolts partly in the original mounting holes and will be taking my time moving engine side to side to get proper spacing with feeler gauge in between the 2 couplings and up and down should be good, Ihave not removed the motor mounts from the motor and just removed the leg bolts in the bedding.
I will give it a try today,Thanks for the help.
Nick

 

[RoyS]

First visually inspect the strut to make certain that it tightly fastened and not bent. If it is bent, then remove it and have it straightened before proceeding with the alignment. Wooden wedges pushed into the stern tube from outside the hull will hold the shaft centered. I use door and window shims cut into thin wedges. Then proceed to align the motor with the now secure and centered shaft by adjusting the motor mounts up and down and sideways while measuring the space between the coupling faces with a feeler gauge. When the alignment is correct, the coupling faces should be centered on each other and a feeler gauge will indicate that the coupling faces are engaged together with little or no spaces between them on the top, bottom and both sides. Many opinions are available on how precise (feeler gauge size) you need to be in your alignment. I use a .003" gauge and strive to have it not fit anywhere between the faces. Lastly, after the coupling is bolted together, remove the wedges and rotate the shaft by hand in neutral. Observing the shaft from outside the hull where it enters the stern tube, the shaft should rotate freely with no tight spots and the shaft should not be touching the stern tube or displaying any signs of wobble due to being bent. There is some art to this procedure but the above is the basic concept.

 

[Roland5048]

This is a time consuming project. Good advice here. Also, if your boat is on the hard you will probably have to tweak the alignment a bit after she settles a few days in the water.

 

[Richard Bryer]

I found on my H34 that the stern tube diameter was exactly 1.25 inches and I had a piece of steel tubing that was 1" inside dia- and 1.25 OD, so I cut a piece about 5" long, slit it down the sides into two pieces and positioned the pieces around the 1" shaft where it passes through the tube. Holds it nicely in the middle of the tube opening so the engine can be positioned against the coupling with a consistent clearance.

 

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