old 1/8 rc fe boat stub shaft and strut bearing question

[electricmark]

Hello,

I am reviving what I think is an aeromarine laminates circa 1987-1992 miss budweiser fiberglass hull that has an fe conversion. I bought the hull and the unadjustable strut (which is parallel to the boat floor) and stuffing tube were already mounted on the boat, which the motor is probably mounted too far back in the boat to begin with.

My question is does the stub shaft need to protrude into the stuffing tube? Right now, the stub shaft (3/16 stub and flex cable) would stop a few millimeters short of the end of the strut bearing closest to the motor. It seems to me the stub shaft should be protruding out into the stuffing tube to give some stability, as the flex cable is what keeps it together from the end of the
strut to beginning of stuffing tube.

Any thoughts?

Best
Mark

[Panchothedog]

How big is the gap between the end of the stuffing tube and the strut. The
stub shaft not reaching all the way to the stuffing tube is not necessarily a
problem. The important part is how much unsupported flex cable is there
between the strut and the point where the stuffing tube starts.

[electricmark]

The gap is less than 1 mm between the strut and end of stuffing tube

[Panchothedog]

As long as the stuffing tube is ridged you should be fine. If there were too
much unsupported flex shaft ( 1 1/2" to 2" ) it can start whipping and knot
up. Obviously that's not the case with your boat.