| Original Message |
Paul (no login)
Posted Jul 14, 2006 11:32 PM
Today at lunchtime I drove to the marina and put on another coat of very fine copper bronze around the vertical section of the hull that's exposed above the water (with a specialty foam roller intended for this purpose). It's looking good. Tomorrow we'll put on the white stripe after the thin finish layer of paint got a chance to cure out in the afternoon heat and tonight.
I then took a phillips head screwdriver inserted into my Makita, wrapped some rubber weatherstripping foam around it, and then a strip of belt sander paper. This is exactly what I use to port aluminum intakes for hot rodding motors, and it worked perfectly for cleaning up the potential galling of the strut bearing insertion. You don't want to take much bronze off, but you also don't want to jam that strut bearing in either.
A little persuasion and they went in nicely
Here's a shot of the strut bearing for the 1-3/8" 38 Commander early series (later series opted for the 1-1/2" shaft.) I didn't find it necessary to go up to the larger shaft, after consultation with Michigan Wheel tech guys, etc., I made the decision to stay with the stock shafts, but replaced them to avoid any metal fatigue issues with old shafts.
Once in place, I took a drill bit and drilled into the brass casing of the strut bearing itself. This allowed the set nut to sit down into the case to avoid rotation, and then I also used locktite to assure it would stay put. Probably unnecessary, but did it anyway.
here's the view of the business end of a Commander 38. As you can see, we have a few touch up issues left, but underwater gear is ready to roll. Shafts and props go in tomorrow.
Tomorrow when it is at it's hottest, I'll drive out to the marind supply shop and pick up some new style cutlass bearing packing, and we'll finish things up when it gets cooler. Looking forward to splashing on Sunday.
regards, Paul
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