Prop Shafts

New shaft as it arrived.


Old shaft, milled by hand, note the keyway passes through the threads


New computer controlled CNC milled shaft, keyway is inset withoug the need for cross thread cut.






Here are the old shafts that came out of TRADITION, 38' Express, 1966 427 installation, next to the original shaft for my 20' Sea Skiff, TRADITION - II.


Dimensions from the 38 Express


I will caution anyone who may want to have new shafts done, this is what came off my particular boat and I dont know if theyre original or just heavily worn. I suspect theyre original but have no way of really knowing. I also caution anyone, to the fact that this boat has HJ-7 Paragons and not the P series, which differ in lengths, so I dont know if the shafts all stayed the same or if CC just moved the motor forward a bit for the longer P series.

In addition, here is a photo of how the prop end of the shaft looked when it was installed. You can see there is some working room there on both sides of the prop. This is about as hands on as it gets. It worked for me, and Im not saying it will work for your boat. I offer it for whatever use it may be in planning, etc. I do have some extra room in the event I add Drivesavers at some other time, which will add an inch to the length of the shaft.

New shafts installed.



Every week I receive questions from direct email originating from other forums, and from people who would rather communicate privately instead of posting on the forum here. This week I received a note from another forum regarding a confirmation of shaft length on my 38' Commander Express and some other issues.

I sent a private email but I'm also posting some additional info here on this thread in the event there may be others who may want to archive this info or may need it for their spring outfitting.


As you can see from the previous posting in this thread, I removed my shafts and had new ones built up. I had them made exactly to the same length as the originals. I don't know how accurate CC was with their manufacturing process, so I offer a caution here, that this may not be the same size on everything that came out of the CC manufacturing plant. However, it's odd to think CC made custom shafts for each individual boat, so I'm going with the thought that the shafts were all standard and the boat was built to a tolerance.


Here's one of my new shafts being machined.








Here I am picking up one of the finished pieces. I think they were $600 each, including labor and the stainless steel stock.


I took the hubs to the shop and had the machinist match the shaft to the hub. Otherwise, it that shaft was just a hair too large, I would have NEVER been able to force it into the hub, especially standing on my head in the engine compartment.

Hope this helps the guys with the 38s like mine. If anyone has similar experience with other models, please post your dimensions and/or photos and share the info.

Regards,

Paul
FXA 38 3004 R
1966 Commander Express
Original 427 power