Strut attachment

[dwkfym]

Hauled out and blocked my boat without incident today.  Good news - everything except for the strut seems to be in ok condition!  Bad news - the strut is not.  No, its not from improper haul out - the sling stayed half on the rudder skeg, half on the hull, and it was blocked properly at the fore 1/3 of the keel.

I had a slight vibration on the propshaft visible from my cabin and I always thought it was the shaft bearing. 

turns out, the strut itself is loose.  I can wiggle it around with about an half of movement at the very bottom  (prop tip).  From what I understand, the strut is bolted into the grounding plate under the engine.  There was no fairing compound left in the cavity. 

The bolts seem to be badly corroded and bonded to the strut.  I can't even see where the heads are.  I think I made out a flat head slot on the bolt head.

Could you tell me more about how its installed?  Is the grounding plate threaded?  Is it accessible without removing the engine?  Do I need to cut it off and pull out the studs from the engine side?  Is there a way to bypass the bolts and secure the strut sufficiently without messing with the bolts? 

[SVJourney]

Some older threads that may help you. Most have pics to help you.

https://pearson365.com/forum/index.php?topic=786.msg3699#msg3699

https://pearson365.com/forum/index.php?topic=1429.msg7794#msg7794

https://pearson365.com/forum/index.php?topic=1664.msg8777#msg8777

https://pearson365.com/forum/index.php?topic=893.msg4309#msg4309

[dwkfym]

Oh gosh, thank you so much.  I am hoping I can tighten it up from the top and the bolts aren't too messed up, and cleaning the area for filler (I'm just going to use waterproof fiberglass bondo) is the most annoying part of the job. 

[P69]

I realigned my strut a while back.  The bolts are flat head machine screws, the plate is not threaded.  Be careful to not rotate the machine screw because that will break any sealant that is left.  I don't remember clearly, but I vaguely recall that the sealant was silicone.  Consider replacing the machine screws and rebed new ones.  It's probably not much more work than tightening them up and you won't have to worry if you broke the seal or not.

I updated the link to pics in that SVJourney posted so you can see more pics.

[dwkfym]

Thanks. The strut is already moving. Its almost a rattle though still a if that makes sense. Would I still be able to get away with not re-sealing the holes? I put up a video on the p365 owners Facebook group. I didn't notice a leak in particular - the hull under the engine was dry. I wonder if the seal can still be good if the movement of the strut is that bad. Maybe i am misunderstanding how the seal is done from the factory.

The screws themselves appear to be badly corroded or fused to the strut. Maybe it's just the growth and patina that makes it look like that.