Ok, it’s time to catch up. The following pics were taken over the last three weeks, but things have sort of come together, so it’s time to post.
I hit a couple glitches reassembling my shiny black parts. First, the u-bolt for the gimbal ring, then a couple o-rings for the outdrive. I got those parts this week, so things are starting to come together. First, I got the outdrive put back together.
While I was waiting on the gimbal ring u-bolt, I drilled the transom for the gimbal housing. The motor I bought came with an installation manual and a template for the transom, which made re-drilling the holes a lot easier.
I overdrilled the holes and filled them with thickened epoxy when I was working on the transom. I must have put the template in the right place, because all the drill shavings were epoxy. Hard stuff.
I forgot to take pics of the transom assembly as I put it back together. I got as far as re-installing the wire harnesses for the trim limit switch and trim sender and realized that the insulation was dry rotted. I ordered the new parts today and when they come in next week, I’ll be able to install the bell housing. I put about $350 worth of new parts in the transom assembly. Gimbal bearing, seals, bushings, bellows, etc, etc. The single most expensive part was this fancy new stainless steel upper swivel pin. Even at $175, it was considerably less than the OEM part. Hopefully, it will last longer than the last one.
I went ahead and mounted the transom assembly on the boat. I can install the bell housing just as easily on the boat as off. Although you can’t see it in this pic, I also replaced the gimbal housing anode with a Mercathode thingy. Technology is cool.
And once the transom assembly was back in place, the Y-pipe was next.
I’ve got to locate the through bolts for the swim platform brackets before I mount anything else on the inner transom so I don’t mount something in conflict. But having the transom assembly in place allows me to locate some rigging tubes and plumbing without having to worry about conflicts, so that’s probably what I’ll work on next.
Tomorrow, I'll be putting in time in Santa's work shop, but I've got Monday and Tuesday off, so hopefully, I can get some more boat time in.
Dave