need to replace rudder packing gland seal on '92 TS6mcomp

Good morning,
I have a 92 comp with a 351 PCM.
Does anybody have part diagram on how the rudder assembly comes apart?
I got the cotter pin out and the nut off the threaded rod but I can't figure out how the get the threaded rod out of the arm.
It looks like the rudder post is notched where the threaded rod goes thru/into the arm, but I'm not sure.
There is also a key on the rudder post above packing gland nut.

I've got 2 marine service shops here in Lake County Illinois and both can't say how long it will take to repack seal,
they charge from $139 to $169/hour for service work and one guy said it might take 5 hours but he didn't know.
I'm not willing to roll the dice on $750 or more if I can do it myself.

I think there is enough room to do the job WITHOUT removing the gas tank?

Any help would be greatly appreciated!!

Thanks
Hugh

PM and I’ll try and help.

Jetlink,
I tried to send 3 PM's and it appears they did not send/go.
I know less about PM's than packing seals
can I put my email and phone number in this thread?
thanks
Hugh

Hugh, I sent you a PM with my contact info. If you don’t get it let me know here and I’ll try and figure something out.

Hugh,
I'm curious what size packing you put in and how many wraps?
Thanks
Dave

Call Skidim.com for parts and direction.

I did call Skidim.com and they were awesome to work with. The reason I was asking what size Hugh was told to use was I originally saw where a guy used 2 wraps of 5/16 flax style packing so that is what I got. When I put 2 wraps in, it filled the packing nut nearly all the way to the end barely leaving enough thread to get it started before starting to cinch up and compress it ( by hand ). i had to put a wrench on it to tighten it down far enough to expose the hole in the rudder so the cotter pin would go through, but felt like that was tighter than it should be? It took all the slop out of the rudder and it turned fairly freely, but as the Washington summer has ended, the boat is not in the water, the fuel tank is out, so I really couldn't test it. ( I did have the rudder wedged all the way up blocked in that position to help expose the holes and make sure the rudder was in the correct position).
After calling Skidim, they recommended 1/4" packing so I repacked it with 1/4" ( the new style not the flax packing). After putting in the 2 wraps of 1/4" I could see where it did not fill the packing nut out as far making it easier threaded down far enough to get the cotter pin in without "reefing" on the packing nut, but when looking at it before I screwed it on, there was a little clearance between the diameter of the hole in the nut and how far the packing filled it out ( not compressed ?).
It actually looks like the 5/16 was a better shaft diameter fit, but the 1/4" fit the gland nut better?
There was virtually no slop with the 5/16, and unlike a drive shaft, I don't see heat being any issue from friction. The 1/4" packing allows for just a little rudder slop ( 1/16 -1/8 maybe grabbing the rudder from outside the boat).
I'm curious if the 5/16 would have swelled up and got tighter as the whole reason for repacking it was the steering was way to stiff while on a plane. The 1/4" was not flax and indicates that it does not swell and shrink like flax packing so I am hoping this is the right answer to the steering problem. Unfortunately it will be next may before it hits the water again to try it out.