I changed to a steel shaft this spring after bending the shaft twice (or not having it properly straightened the first time ) I ordered the shaft from Catalina along with a new cutless bearing.As noted in an article from Sailing Anarchy – Stan 'Christy Leigh' c320 #656 Wickford /Narragansett Bay RI. If you don't already have the cutlass bearing the name is Blackfish or something weird like that. Then with locktite tighten down the 2 set screws Only enough to secure the bearing and Not deform it - make note of the depth of the set screws beforehand. To install the new one I packed it in ice to shrink it every possible micron, heated up that area of the strut with a small torch (20 degree December day) to expand it every possible micron, lubed the bearing with soapy water and tapped it in. I think I took the blade out of one end of my hacksaw, inserted the blade into the cutlass hole, reconnected the blade to the hacksaw and sawed through the cutlass and pried it out. It's soft metal and you are throwing it away so while being kind to your strut the bearing gets destroyed. The Kiwiprop, in contrast, needs no zincs but does want stripping and greasing annually. If I had a gripe, it would be with the Gori’s appetite for zincs, which will set you back about $50 a year (although, again, the saildrive’s protective zinc was scarcely touched). Under sail, I can’t fault the prop-it seldom auto-rotates, and whatever drag there is created by the saildrive leg itself, not the prop. Once you’re moving astern, it behaves impeccably and prop walk, again, is negligible. The Gori does not stop the boat as quickly as the Kiwiprop did, requiring a healthier dose of throttle in reverse, though it is far superior to the old Martec, and once you’re used to it, it is very predictable. Using too much throttle at low speed in overdrive resulted in complaints from the engine and drivetrain when they were overloaded by the coarser pitch, though I only made that mistake a couple of times before learning to preempt it and I suspect it wouldn’t be a problem with a more powerful engine.
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