Another bellows/drive installation question

[heatseaker1]

So, I am in the process of reinstalling the bellows, which is going fairly smooth and I hit a problem. Well 2 problems. The first of which is the fact when I received my parts today, I noticed that I was short a couple things. One was the drive oil monitor line. This was no big deal as I have an assortment of hose in the garage. The other part omitted by the shipper was the sleeve that secures the drive bellows to the bell housing. this one is a biggy as I can't just go to a drawer in the garage and grab one. 4th of July weekend plans may not include the lake. I have a very remote chance that the boat shop in town will have one of these parts available. All readers please cross fingers now.

I do have a question though. In the parts I received, I got a rubber gasket that is about 3" dia x 1/4" wide x 3/16" thick (approx). Well I did not see anything like this during dis-assembly so I don;t know where it goes. Yes, I do have a manual and I see a "gasket (rubber)" that looks like it may go inside the drive shaft hole in the bell housing between the sleeve I am missing and the drive itself. Can someone let me know if this is right. If not, I am at a loss.

Thanks for reading and thanks for all you that posted info in the past that allowed me to get this far with relatively little trouble.

 

[NHGuy]

Re: Another bellows/drive installation question

I assume (bad idea) that you have an Alpha 1 drive.
To put the bellows on a Gen 1 Alpha there's no sleeve. You just put it onto the bell housing first and the transom next. Requires clean mating surfaces, big hose clamps and bellows adhesive, that brown dangerous smelling stuff that looks and acts like Pemmican gasket cement. There is a right way to line up the clamps. If you don't look that up it will be a pain to do.
You absolutely have to get a springy flexible 1/4" drive extension to snug up the clamps, it will save you tons of time. There is some guy on you tube that gives you a Snap-On part #. Don't bother waiting for the Snap-On truck unless you are a tool junkie. There's a Craftsman part that does the same job beautifully.
All the tech info (except the flex extension) is in the drive manual which is in the sticky at the top of the Mercruiser, OMC, Volvo... forum.
May I also suggest, don't forget to leave the shift in forward gear for when you mount the drive back up. I put the drive in forward and hold it by putting a bungee cord on the prop to hold it backwards, this keeps the drive from slipping out of gear potentially causing a mis-alignment of the shift shoe to the shift link.
You gotta go by the book, it matters.
If you are wood capable, go to the homemade drive stands posts. Make yourself a stand like those guys have, you won't be sorry.

 

[heatseaker1]

Re: Another bellows/drive installation question

NH guy,
Thanks for the reply, but this is a 1996 gen 2 and the bellows goes on the outside on the transom side but inside on the drive side. I already have the snap-on flexible extension. As referenced in my original post, I have the manual downloaded and it was at my side while I was working on the boat.

 

[atomb]

Re: Another bellows/drive installation question

well i just did my alpah one gen2 bellows and there should be a large rubber o ring that goes in the ujoint hole just after the sleeve ring is installed,i dont know if you can get away without it. I believe you are right on track. . to reiterate----- you need to get the bellows for the ujoint on then the metal compression fitting and then the rubber ring that just sits there in the hole. I guess someone who did the last removal/installation lost it who knows. are yo doing all the bellows?

I hope you have the exhaust bellows tool that really helped alot. for some getting the metal sleeve is pretty easy to get right but it took me a bit and i had the proper tool. It would be a pretty tough task without it.

Take your time and be careful with the metal sleeve its sharp Dons says to use some mercruiser poer tune which helped me aswell. . btw when i installed thexhaust bellows I stretched bellows and then tigtend the clamp otherwise without stretching it the bellows kept slipping off. when is ay stretch i went tunder the gimbal housing and on my back pushed the gimbal housing up with the tool pulling the bellows on and had a second set of hands hold the tool and he pulled the gimbal housing into a"trailer like" position and I just tightened the clamp up and all was well. Unfortunately im no expert in getting the drive back n so thats where my experience stops.

My alignment tool came with an accessory to install the metal sleeve for the ujoint bellows i just had to press it on with it.... i have been told you can do it with power tune spray and push it on. This seemed hard to me but otthers say they have been able to do this with much luck.

 

[180shabah]

Re: Another bellows/drive installation question

Yup, genII drive does use the aluminum ring, if you dealer is worth anything at all he will have a box of them in stock - they are only a few dollars.

Page 2A-6 shows the placement of the "foam o-ring"

 

[heatseaker1]

Re: Another bellows/drive installation question

Thanks for the replies. I fabricated an expansion tool out of a couple lengths of square tube and some large washers that I cut in half.

I really hope I can pop into the run down boat shop here and walk out with the aluminum sleeve. If not, no boat on 4th of July weekend.

I kind of figured thats where that rubber gasket went, I just wanted to be sure before I finished in the morning.

 

[boattech]

Re: Another bellows/drive installation question

That ring can be tricky to get on. Get a can of the Power tune that mercury sells. it will make it slide on easily and then dries with no slick residue to let the ring pop back off. Hopefully your local store will have one. Im not sure if the price has changed but i dont think they are a couple bucks, Actually i think they are $15-$20 and it should have come with the boot!

 

[heatseaker1]

Re: Another bellows/drive installation question

Tell me about it, I was supremely p***sed when I noticed it was not in the box. How much is a can of Powertune?

 

[cr2k]

Re: Another bellows/drive installation question

Carb spray works too, but you have to be a little quicker.

 

[heatseaker1]

Re: Another bellows/drive installation question

Got a sleeve from the shop in town for $25, applied a little spit and its all together. We are gonna take it out for a quick trip this evening to check my workmanship.