Another photo from the way past midnight boat Building Company ...
Out with the old and in with the new :
At some point I got a GPS app for my cell phone that calculates speed in knots from satellite readings. Monday I took my wife out & we managed to hit only around 4 1/2 knots, and yet at that the boat was noticeably faster than it had been with the old Motors.
This converts to 5
1/4 miles per hour, so not quite as fast as I thought we would be going, yet when we were out there it felt fast enough to us.
Well fast enough that we old farts weren't alarmed at how slow it was, you understand . . .
Those Navigator Motors are getting old but it was always my intention to rebuild them and put them back on the boat. Now, however, they will not need to steer.
I tore apart the worst of the two Navigator Motors and found that it had leaked a little bit of water. This was because one of the screws had come slightly loose. At the same time this allowed the bearing housing to cock, causing the bearing to squeak.
The motor is very simple and the bearings and shaft looked fine once I cleaned them up. The commutator is deeply grooved however & the brushes are worn out completely.
It's impossible to get Factory parts for this motor but I had some brushes from an alternator which will fit, but do not have the exact same leads. I'm going to trim the old leads, and solder the new ones on.
I managed to find a new shaft seal at NAPA, & the O-rings appear to be undamaged, so I will reuse them.
This motor has two seals & both are on the prop end, & both showing their age. It also had a seal spacer.
I removed the spacer and put all 3 seals ( one new + 2 used) on the shaft. Hopefully it will out-live me.
Anyhow I have to make the new mount for these motors, which will be fairly simple, but I have to move my tie down bolts on the trailer rails to accommodate these motors when I load the boat on.
In order to move the left one I will have to move my fish finder pick up which I had previously epoxied solidly to the hull.
It's Chisel and Hammer Time.