Hi Brian, when I did mine about six years back, I used a hacksaw blade to cut through the rubber and bearing metal longitudinally and then get a grip on the bearing with a pair of mole grips and twist it out. It's much easier if you have access to a compressor and an air saw but doable by hand as I did. Just be careful not to cut into the surrounding GRP shaft log tube if you can help it. Whilst you are at it and you obviously have the prop shaft out, it's a good idea to also replace the half cutless (about 50mm long) bearing at the inboard end which helps support the tube and prevents it from wearing through the shaft log (propellor tube) at the inboard end in the event that an engine mount fails, as without it, you will not know until water starts pouring into your boat! if a mount fails with that bearing in place you will hear that the shaft is out of alignment. I also think it helps prevent the shaft from 'whipping'. With the main cutless bearing removed you can get a piece of suitably sized tube and drift it out from the prop end of the tube. I have a long piece of angle iron with a piece of stainless tube welded on the end which I used. If you are close to Chichester I can lend it to you. When I replaced the cutless bearing, I used one with a paxolin outer casing as oppossed to bronze as I figured it would be less likely to corrode itself in and also easier to cut through the wall when it came to replacement although it seemed to slip in quite easily so I had to put a grub screw in the shaft log to hold it in place.

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Hi Martin

Thank you so much for your comprehensive reply it’s much appreciated.

It may be that I don’t have time to change it this time around as there are a lot of other jobs to do first.

When I do, it would be great if I could borrow your drifting tool.

Thanks again for your time.

Brian

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