When dragging the
engine up the
ramp the alignment was off and the end of the drive shaft hung up on the stern tube a bit but didn't cause any damage. I should have just disconnected the shaft at the coupling prior to dragging the
engine off the
bed and onto the
ramp. It would have been easy enough once the engine was ahead a few inches and probably not impossible with the engine in place. Alternatively, the not very precise ramp could have been shimmed at the bottom to get better alignment.
I used a bit of vaseline on the engine
bed and ramp prior to winching the engine forward and it slid quite easily. For
installation I plan on using wooden pry bars to ease the engine back down the ramp and into position. I did a test and can move it backwards OK by myself but will probably get a helper when it's time to move it back on the engine bed.
I'm still not sure what the best approach is to checking the alignment. With a new cutless bearing and the shaft in place I'm going to check the shaft alignment in the stern tube. If it looks well centered I'm going to then install the new hose and repacked stuffing box and assume the shaft is still well aligned with the stern tube.
At that point the engine will be moved back into position and attached to the bed and I will try to use feeler gauges to check the coupling alignments. Will try to adjust the old mounts as required to get a good alignment. After that I will re-connect the couplings with the engine in position.
Considering the difficulty I had getting the lock nut loose on the stuffing box as well as getting any useful torque on the stuffing box once it's in position I wonder if I should use some kind of anti-seize compound on the stuffing box threads. Has anyone ever tried that? Once everything is back in place it's going to be a big issue trying to get the drip rate set up. Every time I make an adjustment the
alternator and air filter will have to be removed. Maybe a few other things as well.
I had another look at access through the port
cockpit locker and it looks very poor on my
boat. The
fuel tank is quite far forward and what little space is available is presently occupied by the fresh
water filler hose and manual
bilge pump hose. I can pull those out and might be able to get an arm through to "maybe" put a wrench on the stuffing box lock nut while some thin guy with long arms works the
tightening nut but what a PITA that will be.
Geez, after thinking about all that maybe I should install a PSS system.