Chris Craft 140 mercruiser stern drive problems

[chris craft 85]

I have a 1985 chris craft scorpion with a 140 4 cylinder engine the gears on my old sterndrive are destroyed and i purchase a new stern drive, it came out of a boat that had the same motor as mine, but when i went to insert the sterndrive, it did not wanna go in, i looked at the shaft i think is called a yoke, and it was different size, so i replaced it with my old one and still i couldnt get it in. i looked at the stern drive to see if they where the same and they are not. this one had a silver sticker and my old one had a red sticker???? can someone help me please

 

[greno]

Welcome to the Forum!
What year boat did the purchased sterndrive come out of?

 

[chris craft 85]

im not sure it looked newer but the motor was the exact one as mine

 

[greno]

Ok, did you make sure that you had the shifter in forward and the outdrive shift shaft lined up straight while trying to insert the drive? It won't go unless you do that.

 

[chris craft 85]

when i picked it up it was not on the boat the guy was just selling it for parts and he said when he bought it, they told him the sterndrive was new so im thinking maybe is for a different boat?? i looked up one that looks alike and it might be a bravo??

 

[chris craft 85]

yes i line up the shifter

 

[chris craft 85]

it goes in but it stops before i can get the nuts on

 

[greno]

If it's a bravo it has a different shift mechanism than an alpha. You won't see the same lower shift shaft that you have on your old alpha.

 

[greno]

You may have the driveshaft splines misaligned to the coupler. Try rotating the prop shaft while you are inserting the drive.

 

[Bt Doctur]

post some pics of what your trying to do

 

[chris craft 85]

how can i tell what model it is? the shift mechanism seems the same but the sterndrive casing seems different it looks longer in the part that connects top to bottom but the upper casing looks the same

 

[greno]

Ok, as suggested, please post some pictures so we can see what you're looking at.

 

[chris craft 85]

the upper is my old part. the whole sterndrive is the new one

 

[greno]

Ok, yours is an early alpha one. The new one is an old Mercruiser #1 (MC-1) drive. They should interchange.

 

[chris craft 85]

so it should fit right?

 

[greno]

Yes. Get things aligned and it should fit.

 

[greno]

Did you remember to perform a gimbal alignment with the bar before you tried inserting the new drive? You may be off far enough that it won't go.

 

[chris craft 85]

i did not have the tool so i did not do that is that a must? also when i tried to put in the first time i pulled the bering out thats when i relized the shaft was the wrong size so exchange with the old one.

 

[Bt Doctur]

both shafts are the same diameter , the MC1 may be shorter . What was the length of the damaged drive you removed

 

[greno]

i did not have the tool so i did not do that is that a must? also when i tried to put in the first time i pulled the bering out thats when i relized the shaft was the wrong size so exchange with the old one.

The shafts are the same. The new one probably had some corrosion on it or was buggered up in some way.
And yes, you need to do a gimbal alignment to be sure you have things lined up.