Recent content by stonyloam

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    Mercruiser 3.7/470 Overheat Problem

    LOL, been lazy, boat has been in the garage waiting for me to get my butt in gear to get it running again, she is purring like a kitten. Not many 470s around any more for folks to work on, but I still enjoy mine, even with all its quirks.
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    Mercruiser 3.7/470 Overheat Problem

    Just finished that job. Went with a Cometic 460 Ford (Ford 385 Series .040" MLS Cylinder Head Gasket, 4.600" Bore) perfect fit. Talk to your machine shop about a 460 Ford high performance head gasket rather than one of the marine aftermarket ones.
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    Mercruiser 3.7/470 Overheat Problem

    So, after 15 years or so my 470 head gasket blew for the second time. Not a bad run and not the worst job in the world to replace, except it seems that the OEM hg is no longer available so I got one from Sierra. Looked at it and it was cra….. uh not up to Mercruiser standards, so looked around...
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    Having trouble aligning Merc 470 and MC-1 Drive

    Re: Having trouble aligning Merc 470 and MC-1 Drive It sounds like you are trying to move the engine to align with the bearing, if so you are going about it incorrectly. The gimbal bearing has a rounded outer shell that allows it to move freely inside of its housing, so you can change the...
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    Winterizing my 470

    Time to start thinking about winterizing the old 470. I do a two step process: Check and drain. About now while you are still using the boat, grab yourself an antifreeze tester (about $4 to $10) and check your antifreeze. Should be about 50% which will protect to -34F (60% will protect to...
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    Mystery leak

    Ok took the boat out (87 4winn, 470, Alpha1) noticed I was getting some water in the bilge. Dried it out, thinking maybe bellows, but no water was coming in. Started the engine (in neutral), slow drip appeared at bottom of transom plate, can't see where it is coming from. Increased RPM, leak...
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    upside down??

    I was putting my Alpha 1 back together this afternoon, was by myself and thought "this is going to be a pain". Then it occurred to me that it would be a lot easier if I turned the drive housing upside down. I flipped it over in the stand and lowered the gearcase on. Went together super easy...
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    My gimbal ring story

    I have heard pro and con stories about whether to re-torque gimbal ring bolts. This is what happened to me with my 87 Alpha 1. Had about 2? side to side play that appeared to be in the gimbal ring (not steering arm). One note here, the two gimbal ring bolts appeared to be not as tight as they...
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    shift cable dissasembly

    1987, alpha 1, 3.7l 4cyl, "new" style shift cable (nut on aft side). I need to remove the bellhousing to replace the gimbal ring on my boat. To do this I need to remove the shift cable right? It was replaced a few years ago and is good shape so would like to re-use it. I assume that I should...
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    Gimbal housing bushings

    I have been reading a lot of the threads here and have been checking stuff on my boat. Have found that there is enough side-to-side play (2 ??) in my steering that I have concluded that the gimbal ring needs to be replaced, maybe the steering arm, but don?t think so. Anyway doesn?t make much...
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    mircruiser 165 repower to 4.3

    I have a 87 4Winns 190 horizon with a 165 4 cyl. For now it runs fine, but when the day comes, was thinking of repowering to a 4.3 v6. I would assume that it would hook up to the Alpha 1 just fine, and would need new motor mounts. From reading other threads it looks like the transom plate...
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