How do I know if my strut is bent

[MogollonMan]

I recently pulled out of storage a 88 saltare with a 427 pleasurecraft gm. I rebuilt the top end of the motor which had only 4 hrs on it. I had the entire boat recovered. I put the boat in for the first time and there was a pretty bad vibration about 2800 rpm and was enough at 3500 to slow down. I took the old prop off and ran it out of the water and it still has a very small vibration. I dont know if I need new bushings or if I should realign the motor or what. the closest good marine mechanic is 4 hours away and I would like to try to fix myself if possible. does anyone have any tips on what to do next.
I bought a new prop from acme and am wondering if I should give it a try and see if it was the prop or what. thx

[Salty87]

if you have the prop, i'd give it a shot. a bent shaft won't mess up your prop and it's going to be easiest way to get an answer about the alignment.

your strut bushing could cause vibrations. they're made out of rubber and if that's the original one and hasn't been wet in a long time, it could easily be bad. unfirtunately, you have to take the shaft out to get to the bushing.

so, you might as well try the prop before you start taking things apart. that stuff isn't techincally hard to do, just not fun or particularly easy to get to.

the alignment can be tricky if you've never done it. not only do you have to get it within the correct tolerances, if it needs adjusting you have to move the motor mounts which is no fun.

you might want to consider a mechanic for that, it should really be checked out periodically anyway.

[Brian Raymond]

Great advice Salty. I would follow those statatements in that order. Brian Raymond