I just took a new to me 99 searay with a 3.0 mercruiser out for a test run. all seemed well until i pulled it out and noticed that the exhaust bellows were hanging loose. the nipple(?) that it mounts to on the bellhousing broke clean off. the bellows itself is still intact. I didn’t feel the boat hit anything on the water, but it’s possible. zero marks anywhere else i can see, including the prop. I also noticed the shift cable boot is separated, and I took on a good amount of water. no problem there as it’s an older boat and to be expected. i did look at the bellows quickly when i bought the boat, and don’t notice anything wrong. I can change the bellows easy enough. But how do you break off the part that the exhaust bellows goes around? it looks like a fresh clean break to me, with no signs of previous cracking. And assuming there is nothing else broken on the bellhousing when i take it off, 1. can that piece be welded back on if i can get the gig torch in there? 2. any reason i couldn’t run it like it is, as i assume its similar to running with an exhaust boot instead of the bellows( if that makes sense?) I will be looking for a good used bellhousing, but don’t really want to dump $1000.00 for a new one if i don’t absolutely need to. thx.
