Today was a good day as far as boatwork goes. I arrived at the boat about 10:30 AM after a couple of errands, and Harbor Freight, (picked up a reciprocating saw, pancake air compressor, and a angle grinder).
As I pulled up to the boat, the old cutlass bearing mocked me, (in my mind at least), and I wondered how long it would take me to get such an old obstinate crusty one to let go of its longtime home. Using Bud Talpin's advice, (a link to Bud's advice on removing a cutlass bearing), I got my trusty reciprocating saw, loaded a metal blade, and cut through the bearing carefully - stopping just as I cut through it. I did the same thing on the topside of the bearing. Then, using a very long flathead screwdriver, I hammered the screwdriver between the shaft log and the bearing, and wala... the bearing collapsed, and I pulled it out with a vice grip. Thirty minutes... Too easy... I kept waiting for the boat to fall over or something crazy to happen.
Thanks Bud, I guess they don't call you, "Mr. Westsail" for nothing.
The next chore of the day was the engine. I wanted it cleaned and painted and ready to go back in the boat before the end of the week. I broke out the trusty wire brushes and the pancake air compressor and jumped on it. She cleaned up well and after a little prep, (lots actually), she was painted and looked like new.
The last thing on the list today was to epoxy the blocks in the engine room which will provide a place to secure shelves to. This job went quick and easy. The engine clean and paint was the time killer today.
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| These are the shelves but I will not mount them until the engine is back in |
Tomorrow night I will BilgeKote the engine room and schedule the engine to be reinstalled on Friday.
One final thing. Since my boat is a P&M Worldwide Westsail, #4 of 9, I'm thinking my full keel is actually modified. I've highlighted the hull contour due to picture clarity. Maybe it's just me...let me know what you think. Check out the pic below...
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| My boat is on the right |
Fair seas and God bless!
Thanks for this posting. I was never quite sure how the cutlass bearing went in. What is all the white stuff around it? And did you have to cut it flush or keep pressing it in?
ReplyDeleteHey Michael,
DeleteThe last two pics are of the new cutlass bearing and show the new bearing fully seated and the white stuff is 3M 5200 I used to seal the outer edge.
The new bearing is a five inch bearing whereas the old bearing was only four inches. The bearing will only go in until it hits a lip in the shaft log and then it will stop. The shown new bearing is about a inch longer than the previous bearing and is intentional. It will make it easier for the next change out as I will only need to remove the set screws and get a pipe wrench on it and turn it out.
Hope that answered your question. Thanks for stopping by.