Do not remove this Bolt

I

icyveins

Petty Officer 2nd Class
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156
afternoon folks,

I recently purchased a 28 ft harris with 2.3l ford OMC Cobra serial# 232amftc 1987

I have read many posts that tell people not to remove a decal on the side of the drive and take out the bolt behind said decal......... I did not remove the bolt but I noticed that decal was removed and the bolt had pry marks on the head like it had been removed before.....

I guess where I am at in my head says to split the lower from the upper and make sure the nut on the inside still is intact as it should be....? I drove the boat around for an hour before I bought it and drive worked well. I just want to avoid problems for next years boating season. any help would be greatly appreciated

what do you guys think?
Thanks for the help
 
Levinz11

Levinz11

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Re: Do not remove this Bolt

I guess if you're bored and super meticulous is makes sense. No way I'd do what your planning. If the bolt is good and tight, the nut must be as well, right?
 
I

icyveins

Petty Officer 2nd Class
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Re: Do not remove this Bolt

Levinz11 said:
I guess if you're bored and super meticulous is makes sense. No way I'd do what your planning. If the bolt is good and tight, the nut must be as well, right?
Click to expand...

I cant say that I am just going to jump right into it...... I am very clean organized and very very maticulous so I wouldnt be afraid to do it buuuuuttttt...... do I ? :lol:
 
bigdirty

bigdirty

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Re: Do not remove this Bolt

Well, if it aint broke, it could be! I'm gona side with what Levinz11 said... if its good and tight, its probably not going anywhere... and you say it ran well for an hour or more? I'd leave well enough alone... its a BOAT after all.. don't worry, there will be PLENTY of OTHER things come up to spend money and time on! :rolleyes:

And WOAH!! a 28 foot with a single 4cyl? is it named 'nowhere fast'? :laugh:
 
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I

icyveins

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Re: Do not remove this Bolt

bigdirty said:
Well, if it aint broke, it could be! I'm gona side with what Levinz11 said... if its good and tight, its probably not going anywhere... and you say it ran well for an hour or more? I'd leave well enough alone... its a BOAT after all.. don't worry, there will be PLENTY of OTHER things come up to spend money and time on! :rolleyes:

And WOAH!! a 28 foot with a single 4cyl? is it named 'nowhere fast'? :laugh:
Click to expand...

a good friend of mine told me if your the first ones there then your the only ones there. I dont really care how fast it goes, when I am out enjoying the sunshine and friendship I dont want to rush it.......

I will double check it and make sure its tighter than a dutchmans wallet.
I am doing a complete restore on the entire boat and have really good designs that I am going to do for seating. she will be setup for walleye fishing here in the great lake state! "Tooned In" is gonna be her name!
 
MRS

MRS

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2,579
Re: Do not remove this Bolt

If it is a bolt someone already probably tried to tighten it and broke it. It should be a screw and the nut inside is or was a strip of steel that's tapped in the middle for the screw to hold the plastic cap on the outside. Take a photo of what you got there so we can see if it is stock or home made...
 
I

icyveins

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Messages
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Re: Do not remove this Bolt

MRS said:
If it is a bolt someone already probably tried to tighten it and broke it. It should be a screw and the nut inside is or was a strip of steel that's tapped in the middle for the screw to hold the plastic cap on the outside. Take a photo of what you got there so we can see if it is stock or home made...
Click to expand...

nothing homemade here, im not sure what the technical info on the screw/bolt that is on the side of the lower unit behind a cobra decal, there is alot of info on here not to remove this bolt as it holds something on the inside of the upper housing, if removed there is a nut that will fall into whoknowswhere land inside the drive possibly causing damage. The boat i just purchased has that decal removed and the head (flat head screwdriver) has marks on it making it appear that someone had taken it out or tightened it. I would just like a little more info on it before I go splitting this thing in half.
 
Bondo

Bondo

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Re: Do not remove this Bolt

icyveins said:
nothing homemade here, im not sure what the technical info on the screw/bolt that is on the side of the lower unit behind a cobra decal, there is alot of info on here not to remove this bolt as it holds something on the inside of the upper housing, if removed there is a nut that will fall into whoknowswhere land inside the drive possibly causing damage. The boat i just purchased has that decal removed and the head (flat head screwdriver) has marks on it making it appear that someone had taken it out or tightened it. I would just like a little more info on it before I go splitting this thing in half.
Click to expand...

Ayuh,... The best thing you could do it, butter over it with epoxy, fair it out, 'n paint over it,...

That way, ya Know it ain't comin' out by accident, at anybody's hand,...
 
jerryjerry05

jerryjerry05

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May 7, 2008
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18,089
Re: Do not remove this Bolt

If you can't get it out with your finger.
Leave it alone.
You can fill in the edge with sillycone.
That way if it ever does come loose the sillycone will hold it in place.
 
bigdirty

bigdirty

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Re: Do not remove this Bolt

icyveins said:
a good friend of mine told me if your the first ones there then your the only ones there. I dont really care how fast it goes, when I am out enjoying the sunshine and friendship I dont want to rush it.......
Click to expand...


I've heard that saying.. :laugh: I guess it depends on where u are and how you use the boat.. to me it seams it would be underpowered and possibly difficult to maneuver in some cases (docking/running in rough conditions or weather..) but if it works for you that's great.. :) And yes... got pics? The marks could be from someone TRYING to unscrew it.. (and in that case, thankfully, they failed)
 
M

Maclin

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6,761
Re: Do not remove this Bolt

It may just be "glued" in right now, and turning it may break the bond. I would just leave it and watch it for a season or two. I recommend the epoxy-over if you really really have to do something :)

Try to believe that it is OK and enjoy the boating time.
 
M

Maclin

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Re: Do not remove this Bolt

Got any pics of that beast? I do not get out as much as I want to and get a lot of my boating in vicariously... :ranger:
 
V

Vintin

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Oct 12, 2011
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Re: Do not remove this Bolt

Sounds like the O.P. is scared.

I'll be glad to come over and give that bolt a twist! :)
 
Lou C

Lou C

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Nov 10, 2002
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13,149
Re: Do not remove this Bolt

cobra screw.jpgThat screw goes into a water passage that goes from the impeller to the transom mount. So if you can run it on the water hose and water does not leak out of the area around the screw then it should be OK. If you want to try to tighten it then thats up to you, but if you do have to remove the drive, you do not have to split the upper and lower to get at it, it is inside the water passage that is on the port side of the drive.....
 
I

icyveins

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Re: Do not remove this Bolt

just to be alot more specific..... in this picture it is the bolt that has the big "NEVER REMOVE THIS PLUG" around it......hense my concern for the marks on the head....if it has been removed now what lol?

drain%20plugs.jpg
 
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Bondo

Bondo

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Re: Do not remove this Bolt

icyveins said:
just to be alot more specific..... in this picture it is the bolt that has the big "NEVER REMOVE THIS PLUG" around it......hense my concern for the marks on the head....if it has been removed now what lol?

View attachment 217930
Click to expand...

Ayuh,.... Simple, if it's tight, leave it Alone, it's a Non-issue, if the nut was gone, it wouldn't be tight,....
 
B

boobie

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Re: Do not remove this Bolt

That bolt was just another one of OMC'S screw up's. I never could get an answer as to why they did that.
 
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