Magnum 57 build (part 5)

[James Crewe]

Next up was the fitment of the drive assembly, which was nice as I got to break out some of the lovely anodised parts. The kit consisted of the main drive assembly (pre assembled at WHobbies) the drive shaft and a couple screws, washers and a nyloc nut. Its was also time to break out the grease...

First the mounting bracket (not shown above) was fitted to the back of the transom with the 2 screws provided (aided by a little silicone sealant (see below)). The drive shaft was then greased both inside and out (I guess you can't have too much grease!) and inserted in through the back of the transom. With a little force the square end of the drive shaft engaged into the main drive on the engine. The other end (square) could now be mated and secured to the SPD III drive with the bolt and nuts shown above. The nut, washer and bolt allow the drive to be adjusted while the other bolt allows its position to be locked.

Next up was the fitment of the uni-strut dual rudder. Again some of these parts had already been part assembled. Also the instructions here also seem a little out of date (Tony!). The main rudder support bracket fits by way of sandwiching a metal plate on the inside of the transom with the main bracket on the outside, held by 4 screws. This was fitted first and it was noted that the alignment/fit of the 2 plates were, well, what can I say, TIGHT! but it did fit (again silicone sealant was used here on the screw holes).

The instructions indicate that (as there is some adjustment) the bracket should be mounted 3/16" - 1/4" above the top of the SPD drive.

The two rudders could now be hung by way of 2 bolts (not shown) and finally the tie bar was fitted. The ends of the tie bar are simply just pressed over the ball joints atop the rudders and then secured by tightening the adjustment screws. This tie bar had been pre sized at the factory and appeared to be spot on, keeping both ruidders parallel to one another.