17
Shaft tube in place.
Bottom.
The reason is that two bends support
the flex cable better, reducing cable
whip, and drag.
Measure from the end of the engine
collet to the rear bulkhead.
Remove the engine.
Put the shaft tube through the hole in the
rear bulkhead, and the hole in the tub
bottom.
Put the end that you didn’t anneal
towards the engine.
Let the tube stick through the rear
bulkhead by the same amount that you
measured, minus about 3/8 inch.
Mark the shaft tube here for reference.
Now study the side view of the shaft
tube, and carefully and slowly bend the
“S” shape into the tube.
Try to make sure that the tube sticks
through the bulkhead the proper
amount, and the rear of the tube is about
¼ inch from the tub bottom.
Take your time, and go a little at a time.
If you try to rush it, and kink the tube,
you will have to start over with a new
tube.
When you finish, you should have a nice
“S” tube that starts about 3/8 inch behind
the engine collet, and continues past the
rear of the boat (we will trim it later).