Finally Back on the water for the 4th of July. Thanks MJC!!

[Ladsm]

After finding a Crack in my Gimbal ring, I tracked down a good used assembly from a fellow RDP member and spent the last three weekends pulling the boat apart, prepping the new parts and finally assembled the Stern drive yesterday and test ran it. I ordered all the gaskets, orings, bellows and glue all off Amazon and showed up on my doorstep in 2 days. Came out perfect, steers better than I have ever felt it owning the boat and did the whole job without pulling the motor. That was the toughest job I have had to do with a 50 year old back. No water in the boat, no oil leaks but lots of bruises scrapes and cuts. I ran her wide open and she still hits 72mph but is much more steady when you let off the throttle

 

[dspracing]

MJC seems to have everything

 

[MK1MOD0]

Excellent boating content. Great to see ya got her running again. How many hours did it take ya. Seems like a big job, even without pulling the motor.

 

[Ladsm]

tearing it down took awhile as I kept running in to watch Youtube videos for tricks how to get the bulkhead fittings out behind the motor without pulling the engine. I put a solid 8 hours removing the old parts, 6 hours cleaning and getting all the gaskets needed, putting the whole stern assembly back together and gluing the bellows etc was about 8 hours and it Took another 2 hours to stab the drive in and get all the trim sensors calibrated. It was a 3 weekend process. Pulling the motor would have made it easier but I dont have a lift or the alignment tools to put it back in.

 

[MK1MOD0]

Kick ass ! Yea , that job isn’t for the faint of heart. Every bolt and nut seems to be difficult to get to , and at weird angles. I have to say, you tube videos are a blessing when tackling projects like this. I will gladly take some help from someone who has done a dozen of em anytime.

 

[mjc]

tearing it down took awhile as I kept running in to watch Youtube videos for tricks how to get the bulkhead fittings out behind the motor without pulling the engine. I put a solid 8 hours removing the old parts, 6 hours cleaning and getting all the gaskets needed, putting the whole stern assembly back together and gluing the bellows etc was about 8 hours and it Took another 2 hours to stab the drive in and get all the trim sensors calibrated. It was a 3 weekend process. Pulling the motor would have made it easier but I dont have a lift or the alignment tools to put it back in.

I could have lent you an alignment tool also.

 

[SHOCKtheMONKEY]

Thanks for posting!
Did you use Mercury stuff or knockoffs?
What did you use for the bellows tool?
I need to do my bellows.

 

[Mandelon]

I think I paid like $2400 or something similar at Lavey to have mine replaced.

 

[MK1MOD0]

I think I paid like $2400 or something similar at Lavey to have mine replaced.

That doesn’t surprise me at all. That’s a ton of work.

 

[Ladsm]

Thanks for posting!
Did you use Mercury stuff or knockoffs?
What did you use for the bellows tool?
I need to do my bellows.

I looked up all the parts online and bought OEM Mercury parts on Amazon and everything showed up in 2 days. Lots of people use a holesaw turned backwards to tap the Belows ring in. I found a 4x4 with rounded edges and it fit in perfect and I tapped it in with a rubber mallet till it was fully seated.

My biggest caution is be super carefull with the Oil line, it attaches to a plastic through hull fitting and mine crumbled in my hand, You cant just twist the line off of it. It is held in with an E-Clip on the inside. To get to it I had to remove one side of the exhaust and use a long screwdriver to get the e-ring off and then wrap it with bailing wire to get it back into position and press it back on with the long screw driver and then try to get the bailing wire off it. That little plastic bastard in Red will make you drink River Dave amounts of alcohol!

 

[Ladsm]

I think I paid like $2400 or something similar at Lavey to have mine replaced.

That sounds cheap now, the Gimbal ring is $1600+ tax new. The rest of the gaskets and bellows and the labor I would expect up in the $3K Plus range.

 

[Mcob25rg]

Parts x 2 is a good starting point for total for a pro

 

[DB / HAV]

This (and a lot more) is what makes this site so awesome!!!