Its been a while since I have posted any progress on the maintenance of Autumn Dream. That is because I have been busy actually doing the maintenance, and finding replacement parts where needed! So just what has been going on you ask? Well as you can see in the following few photos some the removed parts have been cleaned and painted.
On Autumn Dream like most inboard boats the drive system includes the damper plate which is connected to the transmission, which is connected to the reduction gear (one box), which is connected to the drive shaft, which goes through a stuffing box, and a Cutlass bearing concluding with the propeller which pushes Autumn dream through the water on her adventures. While replacing the damper plate I had most of this drive system apart and it makes sense to replace and renew at this time. So the search began to find a damper plate. This extensive search with the help of Dr. Google, and many others eventually lead to Topsfield Mass and the office of Atlantis Marine Gear and Supply (http://marinetransmissions.info/Home.html). This was the only place on the east coast of the USA that had the required damper plate. These guys were very helpful and had what I needed. Replacement Damper plate in hand it was time to install it and replace the bell housing and get the engine back on her motor mounts. Actually a reasonable easy job as compared to the removal of the old plate and difficulty finding the replacement plate.
Bell housing (Green in top of photo) Transmission and Reduction gear (Orange stuff with arrow in middle of photo) Shaft coupling (red and black bits)
The above photo also shows the engine starter (orange part in upper right hand of photo). All this stuff needed to be removed to get to the damper plate.
Shaft and starter removed ready to remove 150 pound transmission and reduction gear out of the typically small space
Transmission and reduction gear out!
If you click on the above photos you can see the caption.
Transmission reduction gear in my shop with new rear seal installed and new paint!
New Damper plate installed and bell housing painted and re-installed, ready for transmission.
Also with all the work going on with the drive system, I also decided to replace the Cutlass bearing. If you look at the actually Cutlass bearing photo (second photo below) you can see that it is cut and has had the living shit pounded out of it. This was two hours of hell to get it out of the strut. This is one of the only press fit Cutlass bearings in the world. Lets just say this job stunk! Most Cutlass bearing are held in place with a few set screws and press out relatively easy. Not this one! However with all the new stuff we should see some reduce engine vibration and also have the assurance that the drive system is in good shape for another estimated 2000 to 3000 hours of running time!
If you look close at the above photo the thing sticking down from the bottom of the boat that is bronze where the paint is scraped away is the propeller shaft strut. If you look at previous post you can see the propeller shaft going through this strut. Inside the struts hole is the Cutlass bearing.
Removed Cutlass bearing
Now I need to get the replacement Cutlass bearing and install it. Once that is done I can re-install the propeller shaft, replace the newly reconditioned stuffing box and then put the transmission and starter back in place. Eventually I’ll connect the shaft to the coupling and put the prop back on the shaft! Fun Fun Fun!
Next Blog….Work update on TT/Autumn Dream, and installing the new water pump and thermostat!
MV Autumn Dream 