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Paragon transmission

Discussion in 'Chris Craft Roamer Yacht' started by Yana, Jun 20, 2006.

  1. Yana

    Yana New Member

    Joined:
    Dec 1, 2004
    Messages:
    47
    Location:
    Green Bay, Wisconsin
    Oh-O.
    Starboard side started making ugly noises in during a short cruise Saturday night...sigh, well, can't really complain, the transmission did last 38 years after all....Any one got a spare P44R laying around?
  2. saundmar

    saundmar New Member

    Joined:
    Sep 12, 2005
    Messages:
    7
    Location:
    Point Edward On.
    Paragon Trans

    Call Earl at Marine Sales in Harrison Township Michigan. He has the largest supply of old Chris Craft parts I have ever seen both new and used. He also has been wrecking boats for 30 years and has a huge inventory of motors transmissions and parts. Their shop can rebuild and restore pumps, carbs, generators, etc as well as engines and trans. Earl also has more knowledge of these old engines than anyone I have met. His number is 586 468-0937 during normal business hours. Good luck Mike
  3. 9lives

    9lives Member

    Joined:
    Nov 30, 2004
    Messages:
    95
    Location:
    Lake Superior
    Paragon making noise

    Yana,
    What kind of noise and at what rpm's?

    Check out the comander club swap shop. They had some trannies available a while ago. I don't disagree with the message that Earl has lots of hard to find parts, I just wouldn't start my search there. There are many members of this group and on the commander side as well that have lots of extras they have picked up over the years. I would post to the Roamer Yahoo list and to the Commander list if I was U.
    Good luck,
    Mark
  4. Yana

    Yana New Member

    Joined:
    Dec 1, 2004
    Messages:
    47
    Location:
    Green Bay, Wisconsin
    its fixed

    Thanks for the input...We yanked her out (heavy son of a gun),and sent her to see Jim at Federal Marine near Chicago. This after much discussion with many professional shops. Jim came out tops in his product knowledge and his refusal to put a flat rate on a Paragon rebuild. Federal has been doing Paragons since 1945 and Jim has worked there since he was a kid. It got there via truck, but Jim delivered it back to us personally, (thats a 4 hour drive folks), it looked brand new and thanks to his tips on re-installation and a new damper plate, it now runs and shifts so smoothly and quietly, I am seriously considering sending in the port side just as soon as I can afford it. So while its never fun to spend on things like this, I can rest assured that I got the absolute best service possible. I recommend Jim and Federal Marine HIGHLY. If you are considering a rebuild, at least include him in the mix of calls you make...they also do:
    Velvet drive, Hurth, Paragon, Transmissions, Drip-less shaft seals, Flexible couplings. Contact info is as follows:
    5310 East Ave.
    Countryside, IL 60525-3134
    Phone: 708-352-2200
    Fax: 708-352-2205
  5. Moonlight38

    Moonlight38 New Member

    Joined:
    Apr 6, 2014
    Messages:
    1
    Location:
    North side of Lake Ontario
    Paragon Transmissions

    I have a Westerbeke 4-60 and a Paragon SAOD Transmission... Just had my transmission rebuilt by Jim at Federal Marine Transmissions. Thank you YachtForums.com and for posts like this by Yana and others who discussed the details of repairing transmissions. I researched the details about repairing my transmission pretty thoroughly prior to making a decision about repairing it the right way the first time.

    I live just outside Toronto and took the 10 hour drive to deliver my transmission to Jim. He is still in business and has terrific customer service and communication throughout the process of the repair. Jim brought my transmission that was obsolete in 1975 (if not before) back to life. I thought that it was impossible to repair it knowing that all or most of its parts were no longer available. The transmission had been slipping in both forward and reverse for a while and come this past fall had completely lost forward gear. Jim even collaborated with a machine shop / fabricator and made one of the parts that is extinct. The tranny is new again! I can't say enough great stuff about Jim and his customer service. He even took the time to show me how to repair it with the fine details of tuning and adjusting it. It was well worth the 20 hours of driving to and from Chicago to have the repair done the right way.

    If you have a marine transmission issue call Jim, he's at the same location and phone below.