As this projects default speed is glacial i was surprised to have fitted the stern tube in a little under two hours, I dry-fitted everything then cut the setscrews (threaded bolts) to length, figured out a method for each part of the job then went for it.I found i'd fitted it a bit arse-about-face having seen the inboard end not quite plumb in the vertical it dawned on me that would have been threaded on after fixing the outboard end - no matter though. The fitting i had made is way bigger than the original add to this the massive fillets i created on the thrust bulkhead restricting the width and it was impossible to thread this on afterwards.
Incidentally when i removed the old stern tube fittings (just like the keel bolts) everything was just above finger tight & wondered why there was so much vibration coming from the engine last time it was used. Also there were no spreading washers on the backside of the bulkhead so the locking nuts were buried half deep in the plywood - not cool.But as the pictures show all thats a thing of the past, (A4 stainless everywhere) next week i'll start laminating up a load of white oak to make the engine bearers and then its eyes down for the engine installation.
No comments:
Post a Comment