Home - Wednesday Evening - April 22nd

Thought I would clean up the prop and the shaft. Here we go ...

 

Here is the shaft and the prop. The prop is probably welded to the shaft after thirty years of corrosion. I doubt is has ever been off, since it left the factory.

 

Now to get the nut off. And then, remove the corrosion.

 

With a pipe wrench and a 3/4" drive socket and wrench, I cracked the nut loose and removed it.

 

I really wanted a hydraulic press to get the shaft out of the prop, but made do with this arrangement. One sharp pop with the hammer, and the prop was loose. The key being to put as much contact with the back of the prop as possible.

 

Now to clean thing ups. The shaft showed some wear where it rides in the Cutlass bearing. It is indicated by the Red Line under it. After I polished the shaft, there was not enough wear here, to warrant a replacement.

 

My El Cheapo 8" Grinder / Brush did the job.

 

Half done on this side. The corrosion and paint was on there really hard.

 

All shiny and ready to go. The area indicated by the "V's" are where the Stuffing Box wore into this haft. The area indicated by the Lines is where the shaft rubbed against the tube that extends from the hull. When I am done, the shat will be centered in this tube, and the new shaft seal will not wear the shaft nor -leak-.

 

All shined up and ready to go.

Now the question is, to paint it with bottom paint, or not.

Later ...