Today we’ve stripped out the thrust bearing and drive – it looks like an old Aquadrive sort of affair, with two universal joints, a thrust bearing and a 4″ hub connecting to the motor. Installed length is 204mm, the shaft diameter is 31.8mm. And it’s all knackered! The bearing was rattly and grindy, and one of the universal joints was worn to a point it would get stuck in one position.
I think it is all overkill anyway, so I might replace it with a simpler set up – a flexible coupling, straight onto the shaft. The gearbox is a PRM, so is rated to take the axial loads according to the manual.
This nut had to be split off, it was rusted solid.
We had to make a bearing pusher to press off the splined shaft, it was well rusted and a lump hammer wouldn’t shift it… note the stub of a bolt that had refused to budge…
The deck repairs are well under way, in fact, they are going ‘Fein’…
We’ve had to re-thickness our Agba veneer down to 2.5mm, which took a bit of jiggering around with the planer thicknesser, but worked surprisingly well. And we’ve found another rotten bit in the coachroof under the hatch rails, which we’ve cut out mercilessly.
It’s only wood after all…