Gimbal bearing & bellows

[biggjimm]

I've decided to replace my gimbal bearing & the bellows while I'm doing the water intake hose. For one, I'm sure they've not been changed since new in '76, nothing much else has been, they're not bad but they are old. I figured messing with the water hose I'd tweak something & the bellows would fail after I got her back together & as for the gimbal bearing, I'm right there & can get the whole transom seal kit for like $110 so It'd be silly not to do it. Besides, getting that bell housing off will make putting the water hose back on there a little easier. At least I can get to it that way. Does the transom seal kit come with the little nail looking pins that keep the hinge pins from backing out? It's a '76 140 w/ the #1 drive. It should but that doesn't mean it does. Maybe I'll wait til Monday to order my parts & call & ask. Or will any aluminum pin of the appropriate length work?

 

[biggjimm]

Question, on either side of the bell housing there is a phillips head screw. It looks to me like that is simply in there as a means to plug the hole they machined at the factory so the grease can travel from the zerk to the hinge pins. So, can I remove that screw & clean all the hard grease & junk out of that passageway?

 

[Alumarine]

I don't think the pins are available any more.

 

[biggjimm]

I don't think the pins are available any more.

I found a source on eBay who had 1 pack of 5 pins left for $6. So looks like I lucked out on that one.
Another deal I ran across, I found a transom seal kit with an engine alignment tool & gimbal bearing & seal installation tool & exhaust bellows installation tool for $149. The transom seal kit alone was $129 at another source. We'll see what kind of quality alignment tool it is when it ships.

 

[Watermann]

Sounds like a heck of a deal. Most guys will say you get what you pay for and in certain cases they're right. I would be worried the most about the quality of the bellows since a leak can cause huge expensive problems down the road or even sink your boat. Just know that you'll need to be replacing them every 5 years. Be sure to change out your water pump impeller in the LU too while your at it.

Sounds like you're new to the sterndrive scene and the zen ways. :lol: Be sure to study up on the procedure and learn some of the tricks, it'll make your job way more enjoyable with less cussing.

 

[poconojoe]

Get a 1/4" driive flexible extension for those hard to reach bellows clamps.

 

[biggjimm]

Watermann. It's supposed to be either a, is it GLM? or a Sierra seal kit. He has both. He said he bought all the inventory from a closing boat repair shop for cheap. And he has a machine shop & makes the alignment tools in house out of 4140 & decided to offer the seal kit/alignment tool combo to drum up some new business & move some product. His ratings are all good so we'll see. I'm new to sterndrives as far as actually tearing into & repairing the outdrive & gimbal area. Pretty much just winterized & changed propshafts in the past on my boat. Never had the outdrive off until now. I've already done the water pump kit on it. In fact, that's what started this adventure. After pulling the drive, I figured I better do some long over due "preventative maintenance" then the water intake hose was leaking & figured I might as well do the rest of the stuff in the gimbal housing while I'm in there.
I've read everything I could find on doing this work & it wasn't bad at all to tear apart. I was surprised. I was going to try to change the hose without pulling the bell housing but that thing comes off so easy I'd be crazy to try & fish that hose up in there with the bell housing still attached.

Poconojoe, that's exactly what I used to get up in there to a couple of those clamps even after popping the bell off they were still in crazy positions.

Thanks for all the input guys. This site is awesome. Jim.

 

[Alumarine]

I found a source on eBay who had 1 pack of 5 pins left for $6. So looks like I lucked out on that one.
Another deal I ran across, I found a transom seal kit with an engine alignment tool & gimbal bearing & seal installation tool & exhaust bellows installation tool for $149. The transom seal kit alone was $129 at another source. We'll see what kind of quality alignment tool it is when it ships.

Good score, well done.

 

[Watermann]

Yeah Jim I don't have a problem with Sierra stuff, could you PM me a link to the guys ebay store, I would like to take a look around for some goodies on the cheap. Don't post the link here, it could run up against some forum rules. A guy can't have too many drive seal kits on hand, maybe he has some OEM stuff too?

 

[bigbob_FTW]

My Sierra bellows lasted 7 years. It's fair to me. Going back with the same.