The Objective is:
You have a two step objective here. Note that alignment is best done in the water after the boat has been in for a week or so and reached it's "set". First you have to get the shaft centered in the stern tube, and then you have to align the engine's output flange to the shaft's flange. The PSS seems to make that a little tough in that it's tough to feel the shaft's limits of travel because you are trying to further compress the bellows to disengage the flange halves to get movement, and if you release the seal you end up with a boat full of water. In addition, if you slide the collar forward to push the shaft aft you run the risk if nicking the internal "O" ring on the set screw divot which could let water weep in. Most accurate way to do it is to go into the water so you can see where the shaft goes through the stern tube and center it gently with wedges. I'm sure that's at the top of your list of fun things to do in the waters of Maine in October or November. The likely alternative is to loosen the PSS shaft collar and slide it forward to enable you to slide the shaft back a bit so you can disengage the flanges. Pull setscrews out and drip liquid dish soap into hole to facilitate sliding. (Note caution above) Once this is done you can jockey the shaft up-down and side to side to find center. I used a bit of bailing wire from above to hold the shaft in position once I found center. You can then pull the shaft forward to engage with the engine, or see how far off you are. You then jockey the engine around till everything mates up perfectly. HINT: Do NOT lean on the engine while you are checking with your feeler gage. The mounts are soft and the engine will move and I can tell you from experience you'll make yourself crazy!! If you're patient and fastidious you can get aligned so a 1 thousandths feeler is snug at the widest point, but I believe the spec is .003". I'm told another alternative is to have the guys at the marina do it but I have no experience with that.
