Slojoe
Seaman Apprentice
- Joined
- Sep 13, 2009
- Messages
- 32
Here is how I added power tilt to my 1977 triple. I see a lot of questions about this online so I thought I'd show how I did it, maybe not the easiest way, but it works and didn't cost much money, just some shop time.
I started with a tilt unit from a 1973 Johnson 65 horse. Unfortunately it was from a short shaft motor and the mounting was different. So I made my own upper lift bracket and modified the lower mount so I wouldn't have to drill holes in the transom.
Here it is finished. About the only disadvantage is that the steering is limited by ~1/2" to starboard by the lift bracket.
Here is the upper bracket I made out of 1/4" steel plate and angle iron, next to the original OMC aluminum lift bracket. I replaced the top OMC 1/4" pin/bushing with a 1/2" bolt, then welded a nut to the new lift bracket.
Tools I used included a cutting torch, 220 welder, die grinder and angle grinder, bench vise and drill. Also an 1/8" stainless transom plate ended up being necessary so I could make a pocket for one of the bolt heads. In all I have around 20 hours in the metal work. Cost was under 200 bucks for the power tilt, 1/4" steel, and stainless hardware.
Here is an earlier photo of the bracket, you can see I tried a few different mounting holes for the tilt motor. Basically the closer you can get the tilt motor to vertical the more lift you will have. Also the farther you can shift everything to starboard the less it will restrict steering to that side.
Here is a pic of the factory aluminum transom bracket with the pump removed.
I was able to use the original top hole with the top motor mount bolt. The bottom hole didn't line up so I drilled the bracket and added a carriage bolt at the bottom. I had to carve out a pocket in the stainless transom plate so everything sits flush.
There are probably easier ways to do this job but it might involve a different tilt unit. I like the simplicity of this tilt system, and the wiring is simple. OMC made a good 3-wire harness with remote toggle and stainless dash plate for this style of tilt system.
Here it is at full tilt:
I started with a tilt unit from a 1973 Johnson 65 horse. Unfortunately it was from a short shaft motor and the mounting was different. So I made my own upper lift bracket and modified the lower mount so I wouldn't have to drill holes in the transom.
Here it is finished. About the only disadvantage is that the steering is limited by ~1/2" to starboard by the lift bracket.
Here is the upper bracket I made out of 1/4" steel plate and angle iron, next to the original OMC aluminum lift bracket. I replaced the top OMC 1/4" pin/bushing with a 1/2" bolt, then welded a nut to the new lift bracket.
Tools I used included a cutting torch, 220 welder, die grinder and angle grinder, bench vise and drill. Also an 1/8" stainless transom plate ended up being necessary so I could make a pocket for one of the bolt heads. In all I have around 20 hours in the metal work. Cost was under 200 bucks for the power tilt, 1/4" steel, and stainless hardware.
Here is an earlier photo of the bracket, you can see I tried a few different mounting holes for the tilt motor. Basically the closer you can get the tilt motor to vertical the more lift you will have. Also the farther you can shift everything to starboard the less it will restrict steering to that side.
Here is a pic of the factory aluminum transom bracket with the pump removed.
I was able to use the original top hole with the top motor mount bolt. The bottom hole didn't line up so I drilled the bracket and added a carriage bolt at the bottom. I had to carve out a pocket in the stainless transom plate so everything sits flush.
There are probably easier ways to do this job but it might involve a different tilt unit. I like the simplicity of this tilt system, and the wiring is simple. OMC made a good 3-wire harness with remote toggle and stainless dash plate for this style of tilt system.
Here it is at full tilt:
