How to get the square peg in the round hole? (Part II)

[Rohan]

Thanks for all the advice I got on the other thread. I have a new problem that follows from the old one.

First an update - turns out one problem solved itself. I came back to the boat 2 days later and the drive key simply fell out of the gypsy on it's own! Despite it feeling as solid as a rock, I guess it was only held in by rust. I had sprayed it with PB Blaster and during those two days the rust must have dissolved. I couldn't get the remains of the sealed bearing off, so I took it to a mechanic to torch it off. Then I still couldn't get the new bearing into the base plate because there were remnants of the old bearing there too, so I took that to a mechanic as well. Unfortunately that meant I had to remove the base plate as well as the windlass motor which was a major pain in the ass, but I got it done.

Now new problem. This whole thing started when I tried replace the wiper seal. Now I can finally do that - except it won't fit!! It's slightly too wide in diameter.

I attached a photo, and you can also see the full layout here (the wiper seal is part #86)

"A" is the old wiper seal. "B" is the new one. In the photo it might look like "B" fits in the base plate but in reality the seal along the upper part of the photo is inside the ring while the bottom part is outside of it.

I'm sure it's the right part. It does fit perfectly with the "clutch cone" that goes above it.

I tried everything I could think of to get it into the base plate. Lubricant, heating it with a heat gun, using a screwdriver to shoehorn it in. It won't work and this thing really isn't going to give. It's not soft rubber, it's the kind of hard rubber you would find on a drive belt. The only other thing I could think of is sanding it down, but I've never sanded a relatively thin circular rubber piece like this so I'm not sure what to use.

So then how did someone get the old wiper seal in there? Funny you should ask. Whoever installed it must have had the same problem as me, because they inserted it upside down! Which would explain why there is so much rust. I could also put the new one in upside down, but then there is so much gap between it and the base plate that it wouldn't provide much protection from water.

I also considered simply leaving it as is and using it that way - maybe it would eventually slide in the base plate on it's own. But that won't work - it pushes upwards too much and I can't reassemble the winch above it. Right now, I'm just using the windlass without a wiper seal, and I guess that's good enough as long as I keep rain off of it but I would rather it be complete. Any tips on getting this thing to fit?

[Rohan]

Well, no one here was able to help me, but if you are curious, here's what I did. This might also help someone searching for how to do this.

I ended up using a metal file with medium courseness and filed the wiper seal all along the outer edge until it snugly fit. But the gypsy shaft was not entirely straight so it wouldn't seal well. I had to remove the windlass motor again (a huge pain the ass) then reinstall it trying to adjust it a bit so the gypsy would be more straight. It worked - a little. But after a rainstorm I still had a few drops of water get down the shaft. Eventually, it will rust the sealed bearing all over again. Sigh.

It does work smooth as silk now otherwise, so I'm not going to install a new one. I guess my only recourse is to keep a cover over it at all times to protect it from rain.