1969 Mercury 7.5 HP Drive Shaft . . . .

[tpenfield]

I put a heat gun on the area of the pivot shaft to loosen things up a bit . . . some improvement, but still a bit still, which is fine for steering.

I mounted the engine to the dinghy in preparation for launching tomorrow. I got to wait for the time to be right in order to launch from my back yard. I was thinking of launching this evening as the tide was high, but it turned out to be too high as there is a bridge hat I got to 'sneak' under to get out to the main harbor and the tie-up dock.

Here are a few pictures of getting the boat set up.



I use a series of locks to secure the engine to the boat for the season. so, far so good. I think new/shiny engines are a better theft target.



here is the boat ready to be rolled to the water in the morning,


I'll post again tomorrow once I test this engine out. It should be fun as I have not had it running for almost 1 year.

 

[GA_Boater]

As you use it the swivel might free up more. Just keep shooting the grease to her.

We gotta talk, TP. Pool noodles go inside the boat for flotation. LOL

But a good solution for launch rollers for a fairly light flat bottom dinghy.

 

[tpenfield]

yea, pool noodles . . . we use them to 'roll' all kinds of craft over to the water's edge, which is about 50 ft away . . . sunfish, kayaks, whatever we got that is fairly small.

 

[tpenfield]

I launched the boat today. . . everything worked out fine. Here are a couple of pics . . .





The steering is still really stiff. So, that may require a full dis-assembly of the clamp/swivel bracket. The water 'pee' stream stayed healthy the whole time, which is a good thing . . . reaming out the hole a bit seems to have resolved the frequent clogging.

 

[GA_Boater]

I forgot that I removed the zerk fitting and stuck a WD-40 tube in the hole and soaked the heck out of the swivel. That seemed to soften the hardened grease. Sorry I didn't remember that earlier.

 

[tpenfield]

I forgot that I removed the zerk fitting and stuck a WD-40 tube in the hole and soaked the heck out of the swivel. That seemed to soften the hardened grease. Sorry I didn't remember that earlier.

Good idea, GA. I may have to do something like that. I applied some heat, but it did not seem to soften the grease much.

 

[GA_Boater]

I wish I remembered that before you docked the dinghy. It could get messy and drip in to the water unless you can put her up on the dock. Some other aerosol solvent might work, too.

 

[schematic]

just to further the driveshaft discussion...http://forums.iboats.com/forum/engi...er-outboards/9943154-rusted-driveshaft-repair

 

[tpenfield]

Yea, nice thread of a drive shaft repair. I still have the old shaft, so if I ever needed to, or had the urge, I could probably get it resurfaced.