What we’re doing

Here is a color-coded diagram that may help explain these repairs.  It’s complicated…

Dutchmen

After removing the shafts and their assorted bearings, struts, etcetera, (see last blog), the delignified wood was removed from the floor timber. Fortunately, the soft wood only extended a short distance into the floor timbers and the floor could be patched rather than replaced. The holes in the floor were resized for the new shaft log tubes, and the faces were cut to allow Dutchmen to be inserted.

This was quite a challenge, as there were numerous angles and lots of measurements to be made for the Dutchmen, the support boards, and the tubes. Claire, along with Brendan, persevered.  There are now 4 Dutchmen, each side of the floor (port and starboard).   Here’s Claire working diligently down in the bilge, and a representative Dutchman (painted grey).

Claire made a discovery when she was working on this project–a spare deck cleat!  The government spared no expense in 1941.  It makes a great tape holder.

Spare cleat, aka tape holder

GPO-3

Next, Claire made templates for the GPO-3 supports that will sandwich the Dutchmen and provide for attachment of the stuffing boxes and Babbitt bearing. GPO-3 is a type of FRP (Fiberglass Reinforced Plastic) – nonlaminated, super strong, impervious to degradation

Here are photos of an aft GPO-3 board in place, and a stuffing box being fit to the forward GPO-3.

The holes are drilled for the new bolts that will hold things together.  Nothing is small on the Gyrfalcon…

Here are some of the other parts going back in.  To help you assess the size of the parts, I’ve included a can of The Official Soft Drink of the Gyrfalcon, a Dr Pepper.

Pillow bearing housing. These Babbitt bearings will be replaced with new units.

As of today (Feb 17, 2023), Claire is satisfied with the alignments of all the repaired/replaced parts. Reinstallation begins now. We have a Splash Date of March 6, 2023. Woohoo!