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1955 17 ft Chris Craft alignment

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jlash
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1955 17 ft Chris Craft alignment

Post by jlash » Tue Oct 16, 2018 2:51 pm

My 1955 17 ft Chris Craft engine is out of alignment on one side of the coupling by .015. I know it should be less then .003.
There are wedges under the engine mounts for up and down movement, but don't see anyway for side to side movement.
Does anybody have any advice on how to shift the engine side to side?

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Captain Nemo
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Re: 1955 17 ft Chris Craft alignment

Post by Captain Nemo » Tue Oct 16, 2018 4:12 pm

You lower both wedges on one side the same amount that you raise the ones on the other. Your mounts are above the centerline of the shaft, that will shift the flange towards the side that was raised. That should adjust the centerline either to port or stb. You may have to adjust the height front or rear afterwards. It takes some fine tuning, trial and error, and a lot of patience. Also this is best done when the boat is in the water and has been in for some time.
Without being there with a feeler gauge in my hand, hope this helps.
Boats are to be made of wood, otherwise, God would have grown fiberglass trees.

jlash
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Re: 1955 17 ft Chris Craft alignment

Post by jlash » Tue Oct 16, 2018 10:17 pm

I know what you are saying but that will not help with angularity alignment. It will move the engine center line to the side but will not change the angularity of the flange on the drive shaft. I need to move the rear of the engine to the side.

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Captain Nemo
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Re: 1955 17 ft Chris Craft alignment

Post by Captain Nemo » Wed Oct 17, 2018 5:45 am

I would try it just the same. Another thing it’s good to remove the packing gland and nut from the shaft log so you can see how close to center the shaft is where it comes thru the log. You can check if there is any damage to the strut too.
Boats are to be made of wood, otherwise, God would have grown fiberglass trees.

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maritimeclassics
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Re: 1955 17 ft Chris Craft alignment

Post by maritimeclassics » Wed Oct 17, 2018 7:36 am

There should be a little play from side to side on the bolt going through the engine mounting brackets. Loosen the lag bolts and take a 2X4 wedged between the motor and the stringer and try to move the engine over a bit. It won't take much. Then check it and tighten it down. How are you engine mounts? The tops of them should be flush and even across, the rubber shouldn't be sagging.
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Restoration Projects:
1936 25' Gar Wood Custom
1947 Ventnor Hydroplane
1957 17' Deluxe Runabout
1948 25' Chris Craft Sportsman Twin
1959 19' Sliver Arrow Hull #75
1929 26' Chris Craft Custom Runabout
1937 25' Chris Craft Custom Runabout

jlash
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Re: 1955 17 ft Chris Craft alignment

Post by jlash » Wed Oct 17, 2018 10:26 am

Tried the 2 x 4 trick and it didn't move at all. My lag bolts are pretty tight fitting.
The rubber mounts are like new. They were replaced about 10 years ago when the boat was completely refurbished
The only thing I can think of is to move the strut over a little and that is a big job.

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Captain Nemo
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Re: 1955 17 ft Chris Craft alignment

Post by Captain Nemo » Wed Oct 17, 2018 3:54 pm

Plugging and re-drilling the lag holes is a possibility, though I think it may be difficult to get a straight hole with the dissimilar woods in the same area.
You might get away w/ carefully heating and tweaking the strut rather than trying to move it. Then you have to consider the alignment of the shaft in the log also.
Boats are to be made of wood, otherwise, God would have grown fiberglass trees.

jlash
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Re: 1955 17 ft Chris Craft alignment

Post by jlash » Wed Oct 17, 2018 4:08 pm

I just did some calculations and it will take a movement of .112 of the strut or the front engine mount to close the .o15 gap in the drive flange. Being a wood worker I am inclined to plug the engine mount holes and re-drill. I want to thank you for all the help and suggestions, it has been very helpful.

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Re: 1955 17 ft Chris Craft alignment

Post by joanroy » Wed Oct 17, 2018 4:56 pm

I agree. Redrilling is your best bet. Pull the lags, get it spot on, trace the mounts, move it over, plug the holes, drill fresh holes, bolt it up. Perfect! Challenging, but fun little project. Let us know how you make out.

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steve bunda
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Re: 1955 17 ft Chris Craft alignment

Post by steve bunda » Thu Oct 18, 2018 7:53 am

I saw an old time fix this condition 25 years ago. He put a bottle jack between the trans and stringer and cranked it over. I said what are you moving to make this work and the answer is the lag bolts. He also had a pipe wrench welded to a 8 foot bar that he put on the strut to tweak it . A bit extreme but that is how they did it in the old days.

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Re: 1955 17 ft Chris Craft alignment

Post by Denis D » Thu Oct 18, 2018 12:45 pm

Why not put a shim of the proper thickness between the engine mount and block on one side and just redrill the one hole for the other side.

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1948 17' deluxe runabout

jlash
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Re: 1955 17 ft Chris Craft alignment

Post by jlash » Thu Oct 18, 2018 4:38 pm

Dennis I like your idea. Thank you.

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