[C320-list] Prop shaft removal/replacement

[islgirl3 at aol.com]

Taking Larry's advice below I just replaced the shaft on the Barbara Rita #897 is about 2 hours. To make it a bit easier to slide the shaft into the stern tube I taped on a very thin piece of cutting board 1/64 to the end of the shaft. The thin piece of board extended 1 inch past the end of the shaft. Once this was in place the installation was a breeze.  On my boat I had to remove the exhaust hose which needed replacement.
I have posted the torque specs for the transmission 
BTW I cut out the old bronze shaft.
Good luck :)

Rich Nuzzolo


Melissa&Larry Leibman
unread,Dec 18, 2022, 8:44:56 PMto c320... at catalina320.comHi Elliot,
I thought I'd offer an alternative approach that we used when we replaced our original bronze shaft with a stainless shaft last year. I was replacing the cutlass bearing at the same time so I started out trying to sneak the shaft out past the rudder. Although many have done this successfully, on my boat (Hull #609) I was not able to slide the shaft out without applying more bending than I was comfortable with. What I ended up doing instead was remove the transmission (8 bolts with easy access using a long socket extension). The transmission is relatively light and easy to remove (you also have to remove the transmission cable attachment which is two screws and the pin going into the transmission lever held in place with a cotter pin. Although this got me very close to sliding the shaft out forward I was still about an inch or so too long. So I took out the damper plate which is just a few more bolts and the shaft slides foward past the strut. Same for putting the new shaft in. 
While removing the transmission sounds like a lot of work, it really is quite easy, plus you get to know your engine a little better. This was on a Yanmar-equipped boat. The only caveat worth mentioning is on reassembly, there is a bracket that holds the engine wiring harness and mounts to the transmission housing. Make sure it does not get "pinched" between transmission housing and engine when reassembling.
Good luck whichever approach you take.
Larry LeibmanHull #609Easy Going