Pearson Yachts Forum

General Category - Pearson Owners and Enthusiasts => General Discussion => Topic started by: grzano on March 22, 2021, 09:51:07 PM

Title: 1978 Pearson 323 cutless bearing replacement
Post by: grzano on March 22, 2021, 09:51:07 PM

Good evening my fellow intrepid captains.

I am having an issue with my cutless bearing. My boat has a 1 1/8 bronze shaft going into a bronze strut. I purchased a strut-pro tool but the collets are too large and will not fit between the shaft and the strut.

Has anyone in this forum replaced their cutless bearing without removing the shaft, which looks like a major PIA, if yes, how did you do it and what size bearing goes back into it? If you made a tool, did you take photos of same? I did check the forum before buying the bearing and think that I have the right bearing, but getting the old one out is becoming an issue.

Any assistance would be great.

Thank you all,

Fair winds and following seas.

Greg

Title: Re: 1978 Pearson 323 cutless bearing replacement
Post by: Valor on March 25, 2021, 09:18:34 AM

I'm doing mine at the end of this season. I was looking for a way to do it without removing the shaft as well. The only idea I came up with was to buy 2 cutlass bearings, cut one of them in half down the length and use that as the collet because you know it's the exact size you need. I know it's a waste but pulling the shaft a aligning everything is a PITA as well.  That's probably the way I will be doing it next year with some sort of homemade contraption I have seen on Youtube.

Title: Re: 1978 Pearson 323 cutless bearing replacement
Post by: Alma on March 26, 2021, 09:21:33 AM

You may like this one-

https://www.sailmagazine.com/diy/give-your-running-gear-an-upgrade

Title: Re: 1978 Pearson 323 cutless bearing replacement
Post by: grzano on May 05, 2021, 06:01:18 PM

Hello and thank you for your replies. I hired the yard to do it, they have not done it yet, so, the results are not in, lol. I'll let you know what happens.

Thank you.

Title: Re: 1978 Pearson 323 cutless bearing replacement
Post by: Alma on May 11, 2021, 02:15:25 PM

If you sail down to Barnegat Bay let us know for a get-together.

Title: Re: 1978 Pearson 323 cutless bearing replacement
Post by: grzano on February 21, 2022, 11:21:15 PM

Hi all,

I wanted to let you all know that the Cutlass bearing was a PIA, I needed to remove the prop shaft. I had a bronze shaft and replaced it with a SS shaft and all seems well. Note, that on my 1978 you can not push the bearing out from the back with a bearing tool, the shaft need's to come out, and that was a real PIA, there is not much room to work in there. I needed to remove the V-Drive to get access. I while everything was out of the way, I also changed the stuffing box. The shaft needed to be realigned when it went back into the water. I did it on land, but that did not work.

Anyway,

Wish you all the best.

Greg