From square drive to single flex?

[Varooom]

The TFL Ariane 2 I am building has a square drive. For ease of maintenance I would like to swap to a single flex.

Is it as simple as buying a proper size flex cable and putting it in?
What about the bushings in the strut (stinger)? A teflon sleve will not fit in there. Any changes need to be made to the stinger?

Last question (for now), changing from a square drive to a single flex will put the thrust to the motor bearings instead of the stinger. Will this help or hinder handling?

as always, thank you for your time and help,

varooom

[Varooom]

Hmmmm, maby I should stay with the square drive?

varooom

[Varooom]

Hmmmm, maby I should stay with the square drive?

varooom

[tlandauer]

Sure you have come across this in regard to handling: http://forums.offshoreelectrics.com/...-Square-drives

[785boats]

In answer to your original question. The bushes are fine. Just cut a standard 3/16" flex to length & put it in.
You'll have to remove the stinger from the mounting bracket, as the existing stub needs to be removed through the front of the stinger.
The only changes you need to do to the stinger is to seal that gap between the transom & the stinger, or it will scoop up water & drive it up into the boat.

[martin]

Remember to leave an appropriate gap between the stinger & dog with the 1 piece flex to allow for wind up shortening of the flex, general rule of thumb set the gap @ the diameter of the flex your using.

[Mad Racer]

Yep It's a straight forward job.

Paul & Trevor helped me do mine on my TFL Smash Shark yesterday at Boondall. The only problem is that I ordered wrong size flex shaft lucky that Ray had a spare shaft on the day.. Paul advised me the same as Martin about the gap to allow for the flex wind up & seal the gap from the transom to the stinger. Infact i got no water at all in the bilge from the new set up not that the 2 piece was bad but always had a little water . I say because it's a fresh lot of grease for every meeting now.

[Varooom]

Whats the best way to seal the gap between the stinger and stuffing tube (back of the transom)?

Thank you,
varooom

[srislash]

An o ring is most common but a dab of silicone can be done too.

[martin]

Just get a length of 1/4" bore silicon exhaust tube from your hobby store & cut pieces to the length required, silicon is nice & soft & squashes between the stinger & transom.

[tlandauer]

The stinger on my Pursuit before DSCN1827_1333.jpg and after sealing it with silicone sealant ( bathroom variety):DSCN1857_1361.jpg
It runs dry and I think for me this worked, the TFL stinger is notorious for "sucking in " water. There was another thread recently asking the same thing, the advice was to run your stuffing tube INTO the barrel and touch the bushing. You can see how far the stuffing tube was in the barrel, and water was still gushing in.
I have not had this issue with Speed Master stinger.

[martin]

If you use silicon tube you can dismantle or remove the entire stinger as nothing is bonded only squashed between, if you use the 2 piece type flex & stub you need to be able to dismantle the stinger. If you change to a 1 piece flex & stub then it dosnt matter if things are done with a bonded seal.