[C320-list] Cutless bearing replacement

[Jeff Smith]

Graeme,

I am a little late to the conversation and this may not be helpful, but I used a 3-jaw puller (or 2-jaw would also work) (in the States you can get them for $20) to remove the propeller. I don’t know if that helps you or not, but it might be easier to just build the tool without trying to make it dual purpose. One note - if you have a bronze shaft, make sure you use the cap or you will put a dimple in the end of your shaft (or so I have heard…)

Jeff
Sailmates, #121

> On Apr 5, 2022, at 1:24 PM, Graeme Clark <cg at skyflyer.co.uk> wrote:
> 
> NoWell the short answer to that Joe, is that I am too tight to spend $50 on collets and $50 on international shipping when I can build the whole thing for under $50 at home.  They're not rocket science!  Also I am making it dual purpose so that I can use it as a prop puller as well!
> 
> Having said that I am making a big assumption here - namely that the fact that the bearing has two retaining grub screws means that it isnt going to be THAT tight a fit in the bracket!
> 
> We shall see
> 
> Cheers
> 
> Graeme
> 
> 
>> On 5 Apr 2022, at 18:16, Joe Luciano <jnluciano at comcast.net> wrote:
>> 
>> Better yet, why not contact Strut-Pro and simply purchase the specific split collets for a 1” shaft?  Then you can use them directly for the tool you wish to make.  Those are the only precision required pieces for the tool to work.  I bought the Strut-Pro tool about a year ago and used it last summer to replace my cutlass bearing last summer.  Worked like a champ.  Tool cost was about $350 as I recall.  But, they will sell just the split collets for various shaft sizes.
>> 
>> Joe Luciano
>> Second Wind
>> #1044
>> 
>> Sent from my iPhone
>> 
>>> On Apr 5, 2022, at 9:51 AM, Graeme Clark <cg at skyflyer.co.uk> wrote:
>>> 
>>> I am making my own removal tool (as I am on the other side of the pond, so loaner program is not an option!)
>>> 
>>> I thought the bearing was 4 inches long, for a 1 inch shaft with an outside diameter of 1-1/4 inch so I ordered a suitable piece of steel tube and cut it lengthwise so that this will go either side of the shaft and then I will use this to push out the old bearing.
>>> 
>>> My own boat is still in the water, being hauled out at the end of the month, so I tried it for size on  a friend’s C320. Given that he doesn't need his bearing replaced, this was limited to just sliding the two halves of the ‘extractor tube’ along the shaft until it touched the bearing.
>>> 
>>> Now it seemed to me that the overall 1-1/4 inch outside diameter of the tube is actually too large to fit into the “p-bracket” (shaft support bracket that contains the cutless bearing).
>>> 
>>> So thats easy enough to solve, i can get a thinner tube with a wall thickness of just 1/16 inch and thus an overall outside diameter of 1-1/8”
>>> 
>>> BUT - is the bearing itself actually smaller?  Did Catalina change the spec at all (my boat is ’96, my friend’s is 99)
>>> 
>>> Obviously i want to pre-order the bearing, ready for when my boat is hauled out, so I need to get it correct. Its going to be expensive to have her sat on the hard whilst I wait for a re-delivery of a wrongly ordered item!
>>> 
>>> If anyone on this list actually has the removal tool in their possession, could they send me a photo and better still measure the outside diameter of the extraction piece.
>>> 
>>> All other info gratefully received.
>>> 
>>> Thanks
>>> 
>>> Graeme Clark
>>> #366, 1996
>>> “Jaskar”, Poole, England.
>> 
>