apparently one of the causes of my engine vibration was a loose strut. any suggestions? where are through bolts located? can i just remove aft cabin floor?
H34 1984 prop strut replacement
- Thread starter Mike Oldak
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- prop strut
Start looking through the archives for this subject and finally pull up a copy of an H-3X manual, roughly near your year. You don't seem to be too knowledgeable about your boat if you can't find the strut through bolts and this would be an ideal time to learn. You'll learn far more for yourself that way and also fully understand what you're doing.
Other useful items you'll uncover while doing this are:
- what causes a strut to come loose.
- does your cutlass bearing need replacement at the same time.
- does the prop shaft need to come out
- do you have the skills necessary to tackle this job.
Other useful items you'll uncover while doing this are:
- what causes a strut to come loose.
- does your cutlass bearing need replacement at the same time.
- does the prop shaft need to come out
- do you have the skills necessary to tackle this job.
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Thanks so much for your helpful, non-condesending response. I've literally rebuilt virtually the entire interior, most of the sailing hardware, electronics, etc. but I wasn't exactly sure what I would have to remove to access the internal strut nuts when I pack up and go down to the boat tomorrow. The only question I still have is whether i can upgrade from what may be a weak 2 bolt install to a 4 or 6 bolt strut.
I don't know if you can up grade Mike. Mine was a four bolt unit. The thing is if you remove it and need to rebed it you will have to re-align the engine. Checking the cutless is a good idea.
we just realigned the engine so the process is well understood.
I'll measure the 2 bolt strut and then talk with site shop to check the newer models. When we redid the engine angle iron mounts, i drilled out the existing holes to 3/4 inch and filled them with thickened epoxy, redrilled and then realigned the engine.
I'll measure the 2 bolt strut and then talk with site shop to check the newer models. When we redid the engine angle iron mounts, i drilled out the existing holes to 3/4 inch and filled them with thickened epoxy, redrilled and then realigned the engine.
Sorry, forgot to mention the most obvious item of all. It's the cutlass bearing that's worn, not the strut that's come loose. With the size of that base, lots of sealant/adhesive in between, and four bolts, struts rarely come loose.
Just make sure you're on the hard when you do the repairs and you'll be fine
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Hello Mike. I have had my 1984 34 for 22 years. It does have the 2-bolt strut. Never had a problem except in 2007 when it bent as a result of an encounter with a nasty crab pot that had a steel wire instead of the usual polyester line. The strut bent but the 2 bolts remained correctly in place. I bedded another 2-bolt (exactly the same model), re-aligned the engine and everything has been fine since. No pix but the area around the strut base was of course cleaned after it had cured. 20 000 miles later it is still solid and leak-proof. Good luck
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Update.. i removed the old bent strut but found out a direct replacement from the store would take at least 3 weeks. However, they are sending out a 4 bolt version, which we are going to try and fit. We will add some additional fiberglass inside to ensure a flat place on which to secure the new strut.
And to respond to a prior suggestion, we will do it on land.
And to respond to a prior suggestion, we will do it on land.
I think you actually got lucky that you were forced into going with a 4 bolt unit. Definitely more solid over the long run.
Before you start the job, look up Buck Algonquin. They are the absolute best suppliers of struts, Perhaps they might have something that’s even a better fit, and you’d be wise to get something closer to perfect before investing a bunch of time in this job. The parts cost is insignificant when looking at the overall effort involved
Definitely replace the cutlass bearing. This goes without saying
lloudie1
What is the material under the bolts, mine had small wood pieces under each bolt. i can't tell by the picture what the material is.
SBO has a 3-4 week wait for the 2 bolt so I bought the 4 bolt. I expanded the recess in the hull to accommodate the wider strut base and added about 1/2 of fiberglass to the inside to wide and thickened the hull. I'm also adding fiberglass on the hull to accommodate the new strut's wider base. The first photo shows that the 2 and 4 bolt struts are essentially the same height the only real difference is the width of the base. The second photo shows the widened hull inset to accommodate the 4 bolt base and some initial fiberglass work to raise the hull to accommodate the wider base. To ensure that i did not weaken the hull I added about 1/2 of fiberglass to the hull interior. The final shot reflects our fine tuning of the strut. With the bolts mounted downward and one person inside the boat anchoring them, the base was covered in thickened epoxy and them carefully tightened in order to replace the shaft directly in the center of the prop shaft opening. Once it was fully cured, the bolts were covered with a 4200 caulking and inserted from the bottom up. Then a final layer of epoxy was applied to the full patch and then 3 coats of epoxy primer (each a day apart) and the 2 coats of bottom paint.View attachment 204566View attachment 204566
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