obthomas
Guru
- Joined
- May 16, 2013
- Messages
- 560
- Location
- USA
- Vessel Name
- TheVenture
- Vessel Make
- 1985 Bestway Labelle Sundeck 40ft
Found a shot of our port stuffing box. Hard to see, but the aft fitting is bolted to the hull in four places. Other Defever owners have told me theirs are similarly built and have the same rough, unfinished appearance where attached to the boat.
I only had time for a short look at it partially disassembled while the mechanics were in there, but there does not appear to be anything attached to hose as you're describing and as I'm familiar with. The shaft appears to the naked eye to be significantly off-center . . . maybe up to 1/4" . . . where it passes through the bronze casting that's bolted to the hull. One mechanic said the packing was so tight on the constricted side he broke a tool trying to extract it. The boatyard will be taking measurements and discussing how best to modify it.
One possibility, strictly off the top of my head: one of the previous owners installed a Twin Disc to replace a Velvet Drive on the starboard side. That affects the engine/shaft geometry and requires motor mount adjustments. It will be interesting to see what the measurements say.
My stuffing boxes are like the ones in the picture. They are really pretty good because they not only have the packing gland but there is also a cutlass bearing. The water supply tubing you see in the picture is for the cutlass bearing and to keep the packing wet. The shaft doesn't float at this point. Engine alignment is important.
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