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« on: February 05, 2007, 09:52:47 AM »
Here's a better picture of the drive system. What we can see here, is the 'front of the engine' (in a car) . In this application, the power is taken off the radiator side of the engine. Below the water pump is the chain-link flexible coupling, connecting the small block Chevy 283 crack shaft to the prop shaft.
A flexible coupling is never a substitution for proper engine alignment. But a hard coupling between two rotating shafts, no matter how perfectly aligned, would be a destructive idea, to say the least.
The aluminum cage bolted to the engine block mounts a radial pillow block which accommodates the rotation of the prop shaft (backside of the cage plate). A thrust bearing and and shaft collars are on this side of the plate to transfer thrust to the engine block - not the crack shaft! (Achem, original builder!)
Finally there's the stuffing box as the prop shaft exits the hull.
Guess yer right...it's a direct drive. Kinda weird that it connects at the front of the motor.