I have a 1977 MCM 120 mated to a one drive on a 19' fibergalss runabout (same year).
Here's my thing:
I restored the boat over the winter (first timer)--engine runs good, shifts well, cools, etc. and the boat is looking good. I took her for the big first launch and she took on probably 10 gallons of water inside 10 minutes. I pulled her and found a torn shift cable bellow (torn very neatly all the way around within a fold so it wasn't easy to see damage).
Also, when I pulled up on drive the water poured out underneath gimble plate (viewed from outside), so I figured maybe rotten transom as well (though it sounded solid from inside when knocking). So I pulled the engine for further inspection only to find that the ENTIRE gimble assembly on the inside of the boat was loose--I mean washers floating behind nuts loose??? So, I tightened everything down and no give and it feels solid now when pulling up on drive (no give).
THE QUESTION: The real question is why would someone loosen all the gimble plate nuts and leave them like that, but I'm looking for suggestions from you guys on how I might seal that shift bellow back together. It is a nice clean tear all the way around. Maybe glue it and wire wrap it to releave stress at tear? I figure if I can temporarily fix shift bellow, I'll keep engine pulled and put drive back on and see if she's still taking on water and from where. If not, I'll put engine back in, outdirve on and fix all bellows properly and hopefully have a nice little boat.
Does my approach make any sense to you fellas?
Here's my thing:
I restored the boat over the winter (first timer)--engine runs good, shifts well, cools, etc. and the boat is looking good. I took her for the big first launch and she took on probably 10 gallons of water inside 10 minutes. I pulled her and found a torn shift cable bellow (torn very neatly all the way around within a fold so it wasn't easy to see damage).
Also, when I pulled up on drive the water poured out underneath gimble plate (viewed from outside), so I figured maybe rotten transom as well (though it sounded solid from inside when knocking). So I pulled the engine for further inspection only to find that the ENTIRE gimble assembly on the inside of the boat was loose--I mean washers floating behind nuts loose??? So, I tightened everything down and no give and it feels solid now when pulling up on drive (no give).
THE QUESTION: The real question is why would someone loosen all the gimble plate nuts and leave them like that, but I'm looking for suggestions from you guys on how I might seal that shift bellow back together. It is a nice clean tear all the way around. Maybe glue it and wire wrap it to releave stress at tear? I figure if I can temporarily fix shift bellow, I'll keep engine pulled and put drive back on and see if she's still taking on water and from where. If not, I'll put engine back in, outdirve on and fix all bellows properly and hopefully have a nice little boat.
Does my approach make any sense to you fellas?
