Propeller Shaft Bearing

                                             
                                                   Propeller shaft Bearing

As expected the Propeller shaft bearing outside was deteriorated and needed replacement .
Since the bearing is tight in the bearing housing which is bolted against the hull it is not sensible to try to hammer the bearing out of the housing, In the first place when on add force to the bronze part of the bearing by hitting the metal it will expand and the actual bearing will get tighter in the housing. The other way is to remove the complete housing from the boat and then press the bearing with a hydraulic jack out of the housing, but then there is a chance that the bearing housing will not end up in line with the engine which will create another additional job.

 

 

To prevent both above options I decided to cut a groove in the bearing until the bearing housing. This was done with a Dremel tool and a small router suitable for metal, this is a slow process and one should make time to make the cut. I first tried it with a saw blade but this is not easy plus the fact is that it is very difficult to keep the saw blade straight in line with the bearing..

 

 

The following two pictures show the end result of the cut in the actual bearing.

 

When the cut is made it is easy to knock the bearing out of the housing with a hammer and a piece of wood, this since the tension is gone from the bearing which holds it in place in the housing.

 

 The bearing housing is cleaned and checked for damages. Then the new bearing needs to be inserted and as mentioned in the beginning it is not a good idea to try to hammer with force the new bearing into the housing, For example if it is not lined up properly it will result that the new bearing will get stuck in the housing which will result most likely in removing it and having to buy a new one.

In my opinion the best method is to slowly pull the new bearing into the bearing housing. This was done with a threaded rod and some plates covering the bearing at one side and the bearing housing at the other.

The bearing was lubricated with some oil and by turning the nut on the threaded rod the bearing slided relatively easy into the bearing housing without getting stuck. It is important with this method that the threaded rod is exactly in the middle to get an even force onto the bearing when it is pulled into the housing. As well as that the rubber of the bearing will not get damaged by the threaded rod.

 

As can be seen from the next picture the bearing housing is fitted with a new bearing which will last for several years. This was done for both propeller shafts.

 The removal and installation of the actual propeller shafts will be another chapter of this blog.
  Propeller shafts are planned to be installed this summer 2016 .

Kitchen Painting.

                                                            Kitchen painting

As with all other areas which required painting or repairs it was also decided for the kitchen area to take it apart and remove as much as possible the wood which can be removed for proper sanding and painting as well as inspecting the condition of the wood.

After the paraffin cooker was removed the base of  for the cooker was removed, one can see that this is not an original  design for the position of the cooker, it looks to me that the original cooker has been removed and replaced by a Taylor cooker.
When the 6 screw in the  wood were removed it was still  impossible to remove the plank

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   After                                                                                                                                                                 

The reason that the plank could not be removed was that there was another screw holding the plank in place which was located in the forward wall where the drawers are placed in.

 

With the removed plank it was now possible to get behind the cold storage area and clean it out , as can be seen lots of different things ended up over the years behind this cold storage from a ceramic serving dish to snickers and tea,

 

 

With stainless steel plates removed one can clearly see that in the past a cover must have been in place to close the cooking area, most likely the Taylor cooker is higher than the original delivered cooker. Light line on below drawing shows that a wooden support strip has been in place in the past.

 

 

The bottom plate where the cooker is positioned on has been sanded to bear wood and has been protected with epoxy varnish 3 layers to give it a stronger protection than with normal varnish would be accomplished.

 

 

Bottom plate has been installed again as well as the stainless steel side plates to protect the wood from heat during cooking.

 

 

The next area to be sanded and varnished is the cabinet next to the sink and cooking area, in my case this area is set up with and area for safe storage of plates cups etc.

 

 

The shelf's were taken out and apart and all separate sanded and varnished, when one does this it is important that pictures are taken because with all parts of the two shelf's as loose items it is a challenge to get them correctly back together.

 

 

The bottom shelf was not mahogany nor it had mahogany venire it was just a plank of plywood.

 

 

To make it look a bit better it was varnished with a varnish with a so called Mahogany varnish which as we all know comes out to red , so I mixed some oak varnish with the mahogany varnish to give it a bit more realistic color. This bottom plank is screwed in the bottom onto the ships structure all the way forward, difficult to reach and in the middle and aft side.

 

The hull behind the shelf was sanded cleaned and treated with linseed oil .

The planks near the window frame were also removed and sanded and varnished next picture shows the bottom shelf and all other planks installed of the cabinet .

 

 

Next step was to install the shelf's for the cups and plates, this units although looks like one when in place can only be removed and installed in two pieces which need to be disconnected from each other for removing.   First section installed which di not work out correctly and needed to be removed again

First section to be installed is the below section in the picture

 

Second section to be installed is the below section which holds the cups.

 

 

The whole unit is fixed to the ships structure with different strategic installed screws which normally are closed with wooden plugs, those were installed after the pictures were taken.

 

The whole unit in place and ready to store the plates and cups etc.

 

Sliding doors were in a good condition only required a good cleaning.

The Steel shelf was coated again with a new layer of plastic with self adhesive.

The next two pictures showing the finished product.

As can be seen from the below picture the complete kitchen block was sanded all planks doors which could be removed were removed to be able to proper sand and varnish the wood, hinges were removed and cleaned from earlier applied varnish.

 

 

Kitchen block completed

 

Taylor cooker was overhauled and works as it should be again.

One of the reasons that I keep cooking on a paraffin cooker is that I think Taylor makes a good cooker as well as I think that it is safer on a boat to cook with paraffin tan with gas especially a boat as the Storebro where it will be difficult to create an area for safe storage of gas with an outlet overboard.

 

 

The wall next to the sink was clean sanded and varnished again the differences in color of the wood are gone now as well as the discoloring due to earlier leakages.

 

 

As can be seen from below pictures although everything looks good I was missing a cover for the cooker.

 

From some scrap Mahogany planks I made a cover to protect the cooker and create some more working space in the kitchen area as can be seen from the below picture the kitchen is finished now.

 

Rudder Bushing Over Haul

                                    

                                                              Rudder Bushing

During the scraping of the bottom I did found some silicone around the nut of the starboard rudder bushing. I did not pay much attention to it until later this year when we started to paint the inside of the boat under the water line.

What I noticed was that the bushing from the inside looked a bit loose and further investigation from the outside showed that there was quite an amount of silicone placed around the nut, more or less covering the nut, could be to protect the vessel from water ingress.

Could not find any information on the internet about this rudder bushing how it was installed or fitted into the hull.

So I started to dismount the area. First thing to do is to remove the arms from the actual rudder stock.

Next step is to remove any damage scratches from the rudder stock to prevent when the rudder is pulled through the rudder bushing that scratches can occur on the bronze bushing which can create friction when the rudder is placed back.
Also the compression nut for the packing is loosened.
The rudder is then removed.




















To be able to remove the bushing with gasket one needs to remove the plank above the rudder bushing.

When the support plank is removed the compression nut for the gasket after which the two lock nuts can be removed to be able to push the rudder bushing outboard.

In my case when I start to remove the compression nut for the gasket the complete rudder bushing started to turn resulting that I was able to pull the bushing inside.

Next step was to clean all thread bushing inside the compression nut removing the gasket. Checking the hull of the ship for wood rot and to my amazement the hull was sound no rot could be detected, hull inside was cleaned as well.

Inside the compression nut is the gasket which was removed to be changed for a new one, this is pretty easy when all is removed compared to when the complete construction is in the boat.

As can be seen from the next picture the gasket material was not properly inserted, one should not make one long gasket like a spiral but one should make individual gaskets for each turn this to make it able to compress the gasket better.

  

When all was cleaned and de-greased with acetone the bushing was placed back into the hull.

To prevent that when the locking nuts were tightened inside that the complete bushing would turn again, like when the bushing was removed the outer nut was installed with thread lock.

Next step was to install the bushing in place and to seal it against the hull, for this I used seal and glue, as from the picture can be seen I used an excessive amount to make sure that I would have a guaranteed 100 % sealing between the rudder bushing and the ships hull.  Excessive amount of sealant glue was removed shortly after the installation.

Nuts were tightened on the inside, rudder installed and new packing placed.

The easiest way to cut packing on the right length is to pull the packing around the rudder stock make a small cut as reference point then remove the packing and cut under a 45° angle on both side the packing to the correct length. Insert after the rudder is in place with the 45° cuts on top of each other. This way when the compression nut is tightened each individual packing will be compressed. When the packing is installed the wooden support can be installed as well.

Below pictures are from the propeller shaft packing but the principle is the same.