Hello guys, I just had a pre-purchase
survey done on a 1988
Morgan Classic, and the only larger, need to do sooner rather than later type issue found was a weird situation with the cutlass bearing and the
rudder shaft bearings.
Im lumping these together because I understand that on this
boat, the
rudder must be dropped to replace the cutlass anyway, so might as well all be one job.
The situation is the cutlass bearing was replaced in 2015, but during
haul out we noted that the set screws were missing and the cutlass had worked its way about 3/4" into the shaft log (no strut on this boat). A secondary unrelated situation is the rudder bushings are old and crappy causing a heavy resistance in the
steering.
The question is this: The
broker says, neither of these situations are a huge deal, if you dont mind the heavy
steering, run the
boat, be happy.
And the
surveyor warned that the cutlass could continue to
work its way into the log and eventually be way up in there causing all kinds of secondary problems.
How realistic is it for that bearing to keep working its way up the log, eventually being a royal pain to remove, and not properly supporting the shaft?
Is this a common situation where the bearing moves up a bit and then sits happy where its at? Or does this need to be addressed now?
Yard is quoting around 2,000 to do the job.
Thanks for your input.