Mercruiser 190 out drive off

[Nbwilson22]

Just picked up a 1986 stingray SVB 198 SS with a mercruiser 190 motor and an alpha one out drive.

bought the boat as is for $500. Motor runs but didn’t move.
P/O had it at a shop where they removed the out drive and basically said. That’s the problem. He didn’t have any more info than that and didn’t want to fix it.

he was running a stainless prop and apparently hit some big stud. The stag is destroyed and the gimbal ring has a arm broken off of it. Trying to figure out what I need to do to get this thing working again.

ive been a car mechanic for 15 years so I understand the mechanical side of things just never worked on boats.

he said the boat would rev up but wouldn’t go forward or reverse after a long day on the water.

The shop had the out drive pulled when I bought it so I can easily tear it apart.

I did check the shift linkage and it does slide the pin on unit out and in.

Considering a new out drive is anywhere from 1600-2500 I’d like to see if I can narrow it to the upper or lower.

As well if there’s anything that can be done about the gimbal rings arm that is broken off. (Is it necessary to replace the whole thing or can I weld it back on?)

 

[achris]

Seeing the impact damage on the hull, that boat is no longer a boat.

To do anything, you are going to need to remove the engine. Then remove the gimbal housing from the transom. At that point assess the damage. It's likely a full transom rebuild will be required.

"Goes in gear but only revs without driving the boat", sounds like the coupler was 'spun'. Not uncommon from impact damage. Forget welding, that gimbal ring needs to be replaced. 1986 '190' is a 3.7 litre 4 cylinder engine with a 4 bbl carb. Research '470'.... Then be ready to part it out. You might get your $500 back....

Chris.........

 

[Nbwilson22]

Are you referring to the stress cracking on the transom that is going to cause a transom rebuild?

we haven’t put anything else into it other than the $500 to buy it. We’re prepared to put another $1500-2k to get it to where it needs to be. But if pulling the motor needs to be done I just don’t have the access to a picker to pull it.

 

[achris]

Those crack will have let water into the transom, which is wood. It will have started to rot by now. Either way, the engine would need to be removed to work on it and the transom.

The '470' engine, which is the base of your 190, is not a well respected engine. It's got many flaws, and most people try to avoid them like covid19...

Chris......

 

[Nbwilson22]

Is there any testing I can do to verify that those cracks are leaking in and not surface gel? ive heard people say core the transom to see if the wood is rotted. Is this an option?

 

[Rick Stephens]

Transom needs rebuilding. You will need to pull the motor just to get the entire outer housing off, rebuilt and repaired. Then you can start checking to see if the fiberglass is delaminated from the inner wood transom plate. That wood piece goes all the way across the boat and carries the torque and power of a big motor through into the boat structure. It is the frame of the boat. Looks thrashed to me. My bet just by age is the wood is toast in there anyway and needs replacing. I have done that to my boat and it was a couple day job that I enjoyed and the end results was a boat that is safe to run and will run for many decades. I did a lot better job sealing the new wood than the factory did.

 

[Bondo]

My bet just by age is the wood is toast in there anyway and needs replacing.

Ayuh,..... Welcome Aboard,...... Due to the age of it, 'n the damage done by the impact, I Agree,....

If it was all still good solid wood, there wouldn't be any impact damage, the drive woulda been knocked right off the transom housin',.....

 

[Nbwilson22]

Ok. So heres my next question then.

Its a 86 Stingray, and its really a nice sized boat. If we were going to repair and restore the whole thing (if the motor comes out for the transom, the floors, interior is all going to get completely redone, (Im a 12v installer and know vinyl, wiring, and wood so im not scared of that.)) What im more worried about now. Is obviously the fact that this motor is apparently not a motor i should feel good about putting back in, due to it having issues. Would there be a simple/economy style solution for putting a different motor in at the time, since we would have it out? Is there any information on dropping a different style of motor in on the forums?

And lastly, a 1986 stingray SVB 198 SS.. Is it worth it? Or will i be into this thing for so much money that i should have just bought a 10k boat with no issues? Im familiar with the value of cars and restoring, but boats not so much.

 

[Nbwilson22]

I also took some more pictures of stuff if that helps determine anything.

 

[Bondo]

Is it worth it? Or will i be into this thing for so much money that i should have just bought a 10k boat with no issues?

Ayuh,..... If you mean, "Can I get my money back out of it later?" Nope,.....

 

[Nbwilson22]

I figured something along the lines of can i get close to my money in parts back. I can live with the labor lost.

 

[Rick Stephens]

It can b done, of course. But you could easily sell off parts and pieces and get your $500 back and find something useable and go boating. If you spent $3K fixing it, you’d get $2.5k selling it. No one wants a 470 Mercury motor and my bet is the structure is rotten or it wouln’t have busted up like it did.

 

[achris]

Changing to a 4.3 litre V6 is an option, there's quite a few people done that, and there's one going on right now. MikeNolan https://forums.iboats.com/forum/eng...10738593-nola-mike-s-3-7-470-4-3l-swap-thread

Another option to finding a 'truck' engine and converting is to find a rotted out boat (usually Bayliner) with a more recent (say 2000 on) 4.3 litre power plant and just swapping the whole lot over.

 

[Nbwilson22]

Well. Me and the wife decided it’s going to be a full restore.
transom, floors, outdrive, interior. I’ve got a buddy who offered his shop and he’s done a lot of boat resto in the past. He’s very familiar with fixing transoms and floors so I’ll be posting updates along the way. Thanks for the info so I knew where to start!

 

[nola mike]

Changing to a 4.3 litre V6 is an option, there's quite a few people done that, and there's one going on right now. MikeNolan https://forums.iboats.com/forum/engi...3l-swap-thread

Another option to finding a 'truck' engine and converting is to find a rotted out boat (usually Bayliner) with a more recent (say 2000 on) 4.3 litre power plant and just swapping the whole lot over.

Ha ha, don't use me as an example! I love a 470, and a 4 bbl is rare. If the engine is in good shape, I'd keep it running. Compared to the 4.3, everything on the 470 is cheaper and easier to access. Once the weak points have been addressed it's as reliable as any 30 year old engine. Everyone is quick to point to buying a rotted hull, however my (limited, though it makes sense) experience is that the engine from that rotted hull is going to have its own significant set of issues--by definition, it's been neglected as well. As far as the transom goes, yeah, that looks ugly. But I'm not sure why getting some core samples before condemning it is a bad idea.

EDIT: Those aluminum bolts on the bottom of the transom shield would really need to be inspected thoroughly, and the engine needs to be pulled to do that. I didn't have the equipment either, and it's pretty easy to build a gantry. I built mine and pulled the engine in a day or so.

 

[Rick Stephens]

Ha ha, don't use me as an example! I love a 470, and a 4 bbl is rare. If the engine is in good shape, I'd keep it running.

Mike's a bit eccentric


I swapped in a 4.3 and did the transom. Happy to help. So has Mike and Chris. Lot's of experience hanging around here.