Looking for some guidance from anyone who's had their dripless shaft seal replaced on a C36 mk II.
Have my boat in yard getting some work done and inquired about the seal. The rubber bellows is old and hard so needs replacement. They're telling me that the rudder needs to be dropped in order to change the seal. I'm calling BS as I would think there would be ample room between the prop and rudder to back the shaft down enough to slide in a new bellows.
Can anyone confirm the need to remove the rudder? Seems overkill to me.
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1998 Catalina 36 Mk II
S/V Mata Hari
Seattle, WA
If you remove the cutlass bearing and propeller the prop shaft can be removed without dropping the rudder.
Ron St. Onge
C36 MkII
Hull 1384
Ron St. Onge
1995 Catalina 36 MKII Hull 1384
I am curious to hear others weigh in on this question. For future reference. I haave adjusted and cleaned my dripless and felt there would be room to replace without pulling stuff... even in water :-) but have not had personal experience beyond ulling it apart in water and cleaning before adjustment.
Indigo, 1995 MKII, Charleston SC, SR/WK
I just did this job myself and it was straight forward and certainly didn't need to drop the rudder. $65 for the PSS rebuild kit at Defender spring sale and followed the instructions. I just pulled the coupling off the shaft and pushed the shaft back a few inches. I cut up the old bellows to get it off, then pulled off the ring and the graphite, cleaned everything up and slid the new bellows, graphite and ring into place. After reattaching the shaft coupling I compressed the bellows and tightened into place. Good to go.
David Miller
Chester, CT
2004 C36 Mk2 Whimsea