[ArielM]

Alright the boat is out of the water now. It was dark so i couldn't check aligment of the struts but i did notice that there were NO bolts on the strut and i dont see any through bolts inside the hull. I figured they are permenatly set in place but how does hatteras secure the brass to the fiberglass? is it simply imbedded?

I will find out if i need to re align the struts but in the mean time i would like to find out how to remedy the issue if needed.

How or with what tool is the strut bored out? I have an industrial lathe in my garage. can i just take a 1/16" or so off the cutlass bearing to give it the "wiggle" room it needs before expoying it in place with Chock fast orange?

Is there an alternative to Chock Fast that i can pick up at my local west marine?

[dsharp]

Are you sure the bolts aren't countersunk in the strut and painted over? I've never seen a strut that wasn't bolted on with either a flat head machine screw/bolt or a carriage bolt. Scrape the paint off and check in good light. I would take all of the packing out and check the shaft for wear in that area before I started dropping struts if you are concerned about the turning resistance.

You can also get some new clearance fit bearings and with the shafts chocked you should be able to slide the new bearings into the bearing carriers and spin them by hand, with only 10 thou clearance (on 2.5" shaft) everything needs to be lined up pretty well to achieve this.