Before I even start I would like to publicly thank Maine Sail for the excellent how to articles. While I consider myself pretty handy it is such a great help to have that guidance when doing something for the first time. Like replacing your cutlass (Cutless©) bearing.
My first run in with the PO involved the set screws, well, set screw. I could only find one. After some scraping with my pocket knife I found the hole for the second set screw, filled with epoxy!?! My best guess is that someone couldn’t get the set screw out so they drilled it out. Now, I understand that technique and don’t really have a problem with it, in fact, I’ve done it myself. But this looked like a really BIG hole and why fill it with epoxy? The correct thing to do, in my mind, is drill out as little as possible and tap for a new set screw. Oh well, on to the other set screw. Turns out the only thing holding that screw in was the bottom paint. Ugh, what happened here?
Pressing on, I used the sawzall, more carefully than those before me, and was able to use cold chisels to get the old bearing out. Not too bad really, maybe 10 minutes with the hammer and chisel and the old, very worn out, bearing was out.
So, a PO, at some point in the past, tried the Sawzall technique and failed miserably. I have some photos that illustrate exactly what Maine Sail says you should NOT do. If you are not comfortable with the sawzall do NOT use it. This is soft metal we’re working with and things can go bad very quickly. I did not feel that the extra grooves in the strut warranted going through the job of replace the entire strut so I pressed on.
I decided to drill a fresh hole for a second set screw. Not knowing how big the hole filled with epoxy is I figured it best to just leave it be. I also drilled the remaining set screw one size bigger, from a 8-32 to a 10-32. Pretty easy work as the metal is rather soft.
I had set my new cutlass in the freezer the night before and then brought it to the boat in a bucket of ice. Following Maine Sails instruction I used a 12” section of 5/8” threaded rod, double washers lubed with axle grease and nuts to press the new bearing into place. I also lubed the bearing with Ivory bar soap. I must say the bearing went in very easily. As Maine says the most important part is ensuring the bearing starts straight. Once it is started correctly the rest is rather easy.
Lastly I installed my new set screws with red Loctite.
Beginning to end the entire process took a little over an hour. (Not counting trips to the hardware store J)
Now, if I could just figure out the issue I am having installing my dripless…………(that’s another tread BTW, any and all comments are welcome)
My first run in with the PO involved the set screws, well, set screw. I could only find one. After some scraping with my pocket knife I found the hole for the second set screw, filled with epoxy!?! My best guess is that someone couldn’t get the set screw out so they drilled it out. Now, I understand that technique and don’t really have a problem with it, in fact, I’ve done it myself. But this looked like a really BIG hole and why fill it with epoxy? The correct thing to do, in my mind, is drill out as little as possible and tap for a new set screw. Oh well, on to the other set screw. Turns out the only thing holding that screw in was the bottom paint. Ugh, what happened here?
Pressing on, I used the sawzall, more carefully than those before me, and was able to use cold chisels to get the old bearing out. Not too bad really, maybe 10 minutes with the hammer and chisel and the old, very worn out, bearing was out.
So, a PO, at some point in the past, tried the Sawzall technique and failed miserably. I have some photos that illustrate exactly what Maine Sail says you should NOT do. If you are not comfortable with the sawzall do NOT use it. This is soft metal we’re working with and things can go bad very quickly. I did not feel that the extra grooves in the strut warranted going through the job of replace the entire strut so I pressed on.
I decided to drill a fresh hole for a second set screw. Not knowing how big the hole filled with epoxy is I figured it best to just leave it be. I also drilled the remaining set screw one size bigger, from a 8-32 to a 10-32. Pretty easy work as the metal is rather soft.
I had set my new cutlass in the freezer the night before and then brought it to the boat in a bucket of ice. Following Maine Sails instruction I used a 12” section of 5/8” threaded rod, double washers lubed with axle grease and nuts to press the new bearing into place. I also lubed the bearing with Ivory bar soap. I must say the bearing went in very easily. As Maine says the most important part is ensuring the bearing starts straight. Once it is started correctly the rest is rather easy.
Lastly I installed my new set screws with red Loctite.
Beginning to end the entire process took a little over an hour. (Not counting trips to the hardware store J)
Now, if I could just figure out the issue I am having installing my dripless…………(that’s another tread BTW, any and all comments are welcome)
