Monaco Restart

[slug]

I have mine in the engine comp.in the Gentry. Apparently only requirement is to have terminals covered. (In case someone drops a wrench or beer can?)

Doug

[billy c]

Just get a marine battery box to secure it in place and enclose the terminals and you will be fine

[speedracer]

Thanks guys. I have the marine box so covering the terminals will not be an issue. There is room in the engine compartment to be able to lift the battery out when needed. I am leaning that way. Thanks again.

[speedracer]

A few progress photos. I've gotten the engine set and aligned to the shaft. I ended up with 5 1/8" shaft beyond the strut. Should be good to go. Installed the water intake strainer and plumbed it. Also installed the exhaust ports and hoses.

This weekend I plan to install the steering cylinder and fill the system with fluid. The steering reservoir and lines have been installed for awhile waiting for the engine to arrive. Probably will also install the gas tank and fuel lines as well this weekend.

[speedracer]

A few more progress photos.

[slug]

Recently there was a discussion regarding a shaft that failed, and the consensus was that there was too much shaft extending past the bearing, allowing too much flexing. In my opinion, 5" is way too much gap. I'd check in to that and consider shortening the shaft.

Maybe Roberta will chime in.

Doug

[Roberta]

On a 1" diameter prop shaft, you should have about 3/4" to 1" between the front edge of the prop hub and the aft end of the strut. I have about 3/4" on my Torpedo. You need some room for the water to flow through to lubricate the strut bearing. Typically a prop hub for a 1" shaft is about 3-1/2" long. Then you have the threaded part for the nuts on the shaft. I would set the prop in place and make sure you have 1" or less distance. There is a lot of force placed on that shaft and the unsupported shaft will have flexing induced on it and will eventually fail. Ask Neel Thompson.

Roberta

[neel thompson]

Yes it was my shaft that failed last summer. There is a discussion about it on the "Gentry Build Continued" thread. When building my boat, I missed reading about the distance between the strut and prop !! I have corrected the problem after spending $900 to replace the original shaft and prop. Roberta and Doug have given good advice.

[Bill Edmundson]

Generally, the gap is one shaft diameter.

Bill

[speedracer]

Thanks for all of the advice.

I had seen and reviewed with great interest of what the proper length of shaft should be and what had happened to Neel. In fact, off forum, Skip provided additional comments from his Monaco build. He and I ended up with the length of 5" for now. Since I am using an 1 1/8" diameter shaft perhaps slightly more is allowed in front of the prop than the 1" shafts allow. This seems to be negligible though.

The ultimate test will be when I decide on the prop, attach it and see what I've ended up with. If not within tolerance, I'll have to get the shaft cut down. In hindsight, I probably should have had the prop on hand when doing this phase of the project. Lots of hindsight going on in my shop, LOL.

[sscobra]

I think some are misunderstanding what Chris has said. He has 5 1/8" of shaft extending past the strut, NOT between the strut and the prop. My total length of shaft past the strut is only 4.5". As Roberta said, her prop hub is about 3.5" (mine is 2 5/8" thick). The nut is 7/8" thick. I have about 1/2" of thread past the nut. I ended up with only about 5/8" of space between the prop and strut. Using Roberta's prop: 3.5" + 7/8" + 1/2" = 4 7/8", leaving only 1/4" space between the prop and strut. Using my prop: 2 5/8" + 7/8" + 1/2" = 4", leaving 1 1/8" space between the prop and strut. The recommended space is a shaft diameter (1 1/8" in Chris's case) or less. Hopefully his prop hub will be more like mine in thickness than Roberta's otherwise he will have too little space. Skip

[BayouBengal]

Not smart enough to participate in the shaft discussion, but the motor install looks great! Looking forward to seeing you on the Tchefuncte.

[speedracer]

Thanks for clearing that up Skip. Correct. I have 5 1/8” from the end of the shaft to the rear end of the strut. No prop is installed yet. Like I said, now I wish I had purchased the prop before completing this stage of work. Oh well – As a superintendent I once had always said, “It is what it is”. I let him go after hearing that saying about 10 times.

Thanks Bayou Bengal. Me too.

Finished the steering install and assembling the rear storage compartments today. A few photos attached. Started working on replacing the fuel sender unit in the tank (the one that came with the tank didn’t have a return fuel fitting). The fitting on it is much smaller than the line so I’ll have to search for parts tomorrow.

[speedracer]

Recently installed the fuel tank, lines and cutoff.

[speedracer]

Also installed the blower assembly.