shaft coupling bolts

jhenson · Post by **jhenson** » Wed Dec 08, 2004 8:45 pm

I am trying to remove my atomic 4 this winter, but I have hit a major snag. The shaft coupling bolts are badly rusted away from a homemade leaky hatch in the cockpit foot well. I have tried various things to back these bolts out, but there isn't much left of the bolt heads. The coupling is also very badly rusted. I thought of pulling the prop from the shaft and sliding the whole engine and shaft forward so I can remove the engine, shaft, and all. However, the two rear engine mount bolts do not seem to have enough clearance to be driven from the engine bed on a Triton.

Would I get anywhere by grinding the heads off the bolts?

I'm trying not to have to cut the prop shaft just behind the coupling.

I would appreciate any opinions on this.

Thanks,

Joe Henson

Figment · Post by **Figment** » Wed Dec 08, 2004 9:23 pm

In your shoes, my primary concern would be ensuring zero damage to the engine half of the coupling (or are you junking the engine?). The rest can be replaced easily enough. Grinding off the bolt heads may not be the miracle cure you're after, but I don't see what you have to lose by trying. Your situation can't get much worse.

Grind off the heads, soak everything in "PB Blaster" for a few days, and then rig some kind of a slide hammer at the aft end of the shaft to try and back the halves apart. Don't go nuts with the slide hammer, though... the thrust bearing may not appreciate the impact.

Unless you're junking the motor, resist the urge to separate the halves with a cold chisel.
I don't think I'd be too keen on the idea of wielding a torch down in that compartment, but if you have one bolt that's obviously giving you all of the trouble, heat it redhot and it should come apart like butter.

You're right, the aft motormount bolts don't come out (not without heavy effort anyway) of the flanges, so you'd need to lift the engine to clear them before moving it forward.

Happy tinkering!

jhenson · Post by **jhenson** » Wed Dec 08, 2004 9:53 pm

I would very much like to save both the engine and the shaft if possible.

The coupling is probably not worth worring about.

Joe

Post by **Tim** » Thu Dec 09, 2004 7:48 am

In your instance, you may be better off to remove the engine, as you said, and then pull the shaft foward into the boat. Then, with the stuff down on a bench somewhere, you can play to your heart's content and work to get the coupling off.

Better access will make all problems easier to handle, and given the relative ease with which the engines can be moved, I'd recommend that course.

windrose · Post by **windrose** » Thu Dec 09, 2004 10:01 am

PB Blaster...just keep applying PB Blaster everytime you are at the boat. This stuff is amazing! Good luck.

jhenson · Post by **jhenson** » Fri Dec 10, 2004 9:50 am

I decided I had very little to lose by grinding away the mass of rusted bolt heads. I did so with a dremel cut-off wheel. I thought that if I could not get the coupling to release, I could back these out in my shop with engine still attached to the shaft.

Fortunately, the bolts released with only a few hammer blows, and the two halfs of the coupling are apart enough to get the engine out.

Thanks to all that contributed to this post.

Joe Henson

Figment · Post by **Figment** » Fri Dec 10, 2004 3:13 pm

Cool. Glad to hear that things went so well for you.