TOPIC: Let the addiction begin... Where do i start?

Split,

I hung it there so i could get heat to the pivot easily. It normally lives on a stand.

Not sure where you mean to put the 2x4...

Where is the tension bolt?

Thanks for the input!

dlatshaw wrote:

Thanks Peter.

Will any engine compression tester work?

I've rebuilt carbs and swapped transmissions and done brakes, but i never tore apart a motor! I'll probably leave that part to someone else.

I'm confident i can do the carbs and electrical and maybe some seals. So most of your list i'm OK with.

They aren't too bad to tear apart. Hell, I did mine in my backyard (my first one ever). Or, there are some great guys that are very able to rebuild them for a little bit of $$. Check that compression before you get too far into her. Most autoparts stores will even loan them out for free (deposit req and returned when you return). And they are plentiful on ebay for a decent score. But as the Doc said, make sure it threads in.

Try this again.

Doc F

Great pics! Did you have them posted before?

I've been applying heat to it today, and added a bar. Which split in half. I need to go get a cast iron pipe.

Here is my setup.

and here is what i've accomplished...

.

never been so excited over a half inch...!

Your half way there, don't stop now. Just go for it. Skip.

Had to let the garage clear, the smoke from the grease was getting to me. Sinc that is the second pipe ivw split i'm going out tomorrow to pick up a piece of iron pipe. Hopefully that will hold

She blinked!

Get a piece of pipe big enough to smack with a big hammer into an oval that will slide further onto the steering rod.
Since you were able to get that 1/2" with the set-up you currently have, I'm betting it won't be long before you'll win this battle.

Doc F

Doc f, your a mind reader.

went and got a piece of iron pipe that was big enough to slide over without even flattening it.

It was 3.42 feel long. Had to pay by the foot! Wanted it today.

With that and clamping the board to the pole i was able to make it move from the starboard side to center! Still can't move it by hand but with the pipe it's getting there.

Is one kind of grease better than another to help it get free?

Also, going to work on getting the prop unstuck. Soaked it with Deep Creep and heated it a bit. Any other pointers?

Cheers!

Dan

Aluminum Prop,? Some guys end up cutting down the middle with a hand held angle grinder.? We have read some tough trials on props, as they could have seen salt water usage.. Even prop pullers dont budge some... If you are going to rebuild all the lower grease seals, they try more or high heat.. There were other posts about trying to keep the lower cool ? :Let us know.

It's an aluminum 3 blade. Thinking of making a jig like the proptapuss puller.

Also thinking of adding a zerk to the lower pat of the pivot. Just doesn't want to have grease come out the bottom. also it doesn't want to move without the pipe. Probably give it another day of heating.

Spent a couple hours heating and turning today. I noticed in a previous thread the Doc said to grease it when it was centered so the channel lines up inside.

So i got it centered and started pumping grease in. Still no grease out the bottom, but it seemed that less came out the top.

Need to buy some grease, about killed the last tube today!

I can now get it from stop to stop! But only when it is hot and with the 3' bar on it. But it IS easier to get it from side to side.

I'll give it another go or two and if i don't see grease out the bottom i'll put in a zerk for the bottom and start pumping it in there!

That is one stubborn steering pivot! Glad you have it moving, hope it frees up soon. Nice job, patience and persistence personified!

Bernie

Or am i just more stubborn than the pivot?! Stinking thing is starting to bug me!

Sounds like it's time to add another zerk Dan.
Then more heat and grease.
If you have it going full side-to-side when hot, you're winning.
If you continue to move it side-to-side as things cool down it will help.
That might call for 15 minutes of turning it side-to-side with the pipe, but it will help.
I'm betting that a second grease serk at the lower bushing will help a ton.
Doc

I'll get some ordered. Could probably go out and get one but i'm lazy!

Before I drill into the pivot i'll give it one more go, and keep moving it as it cools like you suggest.

Thanks again

Gee, I bet you never thought that boating would be sooo much fun. After you get it all freed up we will tell you about the secret on freeing these up the easy way. Skip.

What, you mean there's an easier way! And after i already added 2 more zerks!!!

OK, i was just kidding there. I hadn't done anything with them since that last post. Been busy with work.

I do IT work for a bunch of business in my area. One of them, The Bethesda Mission, had a pipe freeze (due to some construction) over the server room and destroy everything. I've been working on that just trying to get it back together.

So today i took some time off and started heating and twisting the pivot. I've gotten to the point where i'm going to add another zerk to the bottom and see if that helps. I came back here to check one of the former posts to see where it goes. I think i remember, but thought i'd read over everything again.

I'll report back later.

cheers,

dan

Decided to add a zerk. I've not threaded a hole in a while so i practiced on a hard drive. The frame is aluminum so i thought it would be similar.

That went OK so i decided to go ahead and drill the pivot.

After i started the tap it bottomed out on the pin before the threads were cut. So i ground off the end of the tap, the part that has the started thread cutters.

This allowed me to threat it the most of the way in!

So i added the zerk and started pumping in grease. It is coming out of the bottom about 3/4 the way around. That last little bit just won't have grease come out.

I moved it back and forth for about 15 minutes (3 country songs). I still need to use the pipe. But, it seems to be getting better.

So do we still think it'll get better?

Thanks doc I'll do that.

Grease is coming out the top.

I heated the top and bottom points to ~350f using 2 MAPP gas torches.

I've been going back and forth for an hour waiting for it to cool.

The darn Commy won't give up!

It is getting lose though. I can grab the cheater bar a foot out from the motor and move it back and forth. Before i had to use all 3 feet of it.

So should i keep going? Is there anything else that could be wrong? Something bent maybe?

What is it i'm trying to defeat? rust in the pivot, hard grease, or something else?

I heated the top and bottom points to ~350f using 2 MAPP gas torches.

I've been going back and forth for an hour waiting for it to cool.

The darn Commy won't give up!

It is getting lose though. I can grab the cheater bar a foot out from the motor and move it back and forth. Before i had to use all 3 feet of it.

So should i keep going? Is there anything else that could be wrong? Something bent maybe?

What is it i'm trying to defeat? rust in the pivot, hard grease, or something else?

when you turn it bang it hard when you come to the end of the swing it helps for me.

Thanks Dave. Do you mean bang hard on the cheater pipe?

with it moving now, maybe now is the time to bang it apart? Then you could clean and polish all the components and upon reassembly have a truly free swinging swivel that you'll not have to worry about stiffening up.

when you swing it make it botton out hard with your handle keep swinging itand bottoming out hard both ways.when heated.

"What is it i'm trying to defeat? rust in the pivot, hard grease, or something else?"

The steering shaft is a round steel shaft that rusts in a marine environment (go figure)
The steering shaft goes through the cast aluminum swivel housing that only contacts the steering shaft at the top 1.5" and at the bottom for 1.5". The other area of the swivel housing between the top & bottom contact areas is simply an over-size void.
There are NO bushings between the steel steering shaft & the aluminum swivel housing, so the only real 'enemy' here is the rust and salt water corrosion that can expand and grip the steering shaft with more strength than The Incredible HULK.
Other than that, I suppose that if the threaded hole for one of the grease zerks was too deep, the zerk could now be restricting movement.
This thought comes from personal experience.
Like you noted, I too had to grind off my 1/8"NPT tap to get enough threads in the aluminum to hold the zerk, and then,...That darn zerk threaded itself in too deep.

Doc

Thanks for the input. It helps me to be able to visualize what i'm trying to fix.

I had the same thought about the zerk being in too deep. A client of ours is about 45 minutes away and it give you time to think. Now i gotta take it off the back burner and back out that zerk to see if it's in too far!

dave bernard wrote:

when you swing it make it botton out hard with your handle keep swinging itand bottoming out hard both ways.when heated.

Thanks dave, now i can picture it.

So i just took the bottom zerk out. It was not seated against the pivot pin inside. Still will not turn cold.

But at least i didn't over-tap it!

While waiting for a computer to reload and one to clean malware i decided to try turning the stuck pivot. While it will not turn without a cheater, it is turning now, cold, with about a foot of cheater pipe!

Now i'm off to bring in the MFG and get started on the floor.

when it goes it will be fast.

My 17 foot MFG has 32 inches across the transom.

Is that enough room for the twins?

I have the twins near the furnace in the basement (not too near) point is, it's usually about 65 ~ 70f on this side of the basement. The garage is on the other side where i was working on it. It's usually about 45 ~ 50f in there, as our house is built into a hill.

Well, i'll just keep pumping in grease and turning it when i'm waiting on computers to do their thing.

I don't visit here too often anymore but I'll chime in.
Depending on budget etc. I think I wuuld just buy a swivel bracket that is not stuck and swap it on. Sounds like you are going to pull the powerhead anyways which gives access to the top mount bolts. You can find swivel setups on ebay all the time. At some point banging, tugging, heating and prying damages stuff. Save your frustrating battles for those that have no good alternatives.
Regarding ignition options. You have a few. Keep the original dual point and run it as is. Option two is to do a hybrid Thunderbolt as seen on the 66 6's where you use the points to trigger the switchbox. This is a decent option, you will need a switch box from a Merc 6 and a Thunderbolt coil. You can use any thunderbolt inline 6 coil and depending on what year coil you use you may need to make a mounting plate for it, put it over where the existing coils are located. You will also need the front cowl support from a 66 67 68 or 69 inline 6 as these will hold the switch box in stock location. It will swap right in.
The third option is to do above but also use a later hall triggered distibutor from up to about 69,the top halves of the distributors are the same so the linkage and carb lever sill all work right. Merc changed the distributors to a one piece trigger in about 70, I'm not sure if the linkage will all work right on the later ones, the good Dr. would know that. As Dave said these setups can get pricey to find good ones.
A new internal wire harness will drop right in on both thunderbolt alternatives which is helpful.
I wuold try and cut the prop off or at least slit the hub so you can get a good squirt of penetrating oil in there Be careful NOT TO CUT INTO the prop shaft. I have had better luck carefully cutting which is way more gentle than with heat, pullers and banging but that's just me. Most likely you will need lower unit seals so another alterlative is to just cut the propshaft off, I've used a circlar saw with a metal blade to do this. The replace the prop shaft which is easy and shafts generally pop up for low buck son ebay. Go for a stainless one if you can rather than the hard chrome versions. Use a speedisleeve on the drive shaft. They work well.
Good luck, I live near Jim and he is a good rescorce, I know it killd him to have to sell all his long acumulated Merc stuff.
Lastly you might also want to consider one good motor from the two, may make finding a boat easier as twns will need a pretty big hull.
Good luck and Merc on!
Randy

If you want a good boat for those two motors, I know where there is one for free, although you might have to pay the guy for the new trailer he bought for it. This particular boat was renovated by a master, Brian Lawson, and is near Ravena NY, just off the NYS thruway near the mass pike extension. It's an 18' Power Cat catamaran, one of only a few Power Cats in NYS. I own one (a 14T), John Tepas owns one (I think a 15T), but this one Brian is giving away is the biggest one in the state, an 18DC. He had run 40hp Evinrudes on it, but I really think it would like a couple 1000's on the back.

Here's a link to the 3rd page of his build history of the boat that shows it running on the Hudson (pics taken by yours truly): www.powercatboat.com/Group/BL_18dc/BL_18dc03.html

If you're interested, let me know.

Frank

Randy,

That is a LOT of info, and a lot to think about.

i did think that maybe i'd make one out of both, but not sure.

Thanks!

Dan