TOPIC: updating stringer ball gears and drive shafts

First off I want to say this site has been a goldmine of information.
Now i have what I believe to be a 1969 18' glasspar sefair sedan. It is equiped with what i believe is an omc 4CYL with a stringer sterndrive. All the info i have is based on things ive picked up on this site. The ball gears are very badly worn and from the looks of it I believe the out drive side is the press on type ball gear whereas the intermediate seems it is a one piece ball gear on drive shaft. Looking around, these parts are rare and expensive, however in 1973 it seems they changed to a bolt on ball gear, which are much easier to find and at a much better price. My question is, is it possible to update the whole setup to use the newer drive shafts to accept the bolt on ball gears? When i mean is it possible, i mean is it possible without major modifications to either the intermediate or the drive and cost effectively? Any info is greatly appreciated.
thanks
Tony

wow no input....... has it ever been done? are the drive shafts even similar? how many different types of stringer sterndrives were made? Wish I did more research when I got the boat, didnt know to stay away from OMC. anyway got the boat pretty much for free (traded a quad that I got free for it), just spend $200 gutting the thing and replacing the stringers, and floor (or deck) throughout. never checked the gears cause the lift motor for the stern drive is missing. was going to take her up to the lake so I manually lifted the drive by removing the bolts that hold the banana looking gear to the leg then replaced after lifting to full up. found busted looking gears and that was the end of that.

Lets try that again. Like I said I think its a 1969 seafair sedan. the registration calls it an 1969 18' runabout ski and bass. previous owner knew nothing about it

PICTURES:

2/3 wear on these ball joints it is time to replace them. I see them on ebay. get yourself a seloc manual and learn how to do it yourself if you stay with the OMC drives. Because people try to trim them with the up and down switch is why they wear quickly and the shafts will fracture. OMC was late to the game and Mercruiser had all the cool patent's already in play so OMC did what they had to as far as out-drives were concerned. You should have the select trim if you want to tilt the motor (these do not mount through the transom like a Mercruiser or Volvo the float on the engine beds and motor mounts). Select trim raises and lowers the front of the motor to change the angle of the prop to trim out the boat. The only thing the feature offers is for shallow water or trailing where you need to raise the drive unit.

You would have to remove the motor and drive but you could close in the transom and find the parts to convert your motor to Mercruiser or tough it out the way it is. Or add a sea bracket (I recommend the floatation kind) and go with an outboard.

I own a machine shop....anything is possible. LOL

That might be an interesting project. I suspect the original ball gears are cast, but with modern CNC mills, they could be cut quickly and easily from steel. (once the program is written)

Grafting a currently available ball gear onto an OMC DU output shaft shouldn't be too difficult either. I'll look at my junk parts and see if I have one.

Todd

I have seen some wonderful things done in machine shops. If someone were able to make a cheap readily availible replacement im sure people would buy them. I think the real problem that comes into play are that there are a few different types of ball gears (mainly the way they are mounted ie. press on, bolt on) from what I can tell. this is my first I/O boat. Ive always loved the idea but am quickly understanding the PITA they are.

Well...the motor only turns one direction. If I made new ones, I'd screw them on there against the rotation. Just Loctite(tm) the threads and leave it at that. Sure would be easy to replace!

jepstr67 wrote:

Well...the motor only turns one direction. If I made new ones, I'd screw them on there against the rotation. Just Loctite(tm) the threads and leave it at that. Sure would be easy to replace!

I think I like the ball gears better than the U-joint version in most out drives. I love how high the motor can tilt.