Is this lower "done for"?

[nj-boatbuilder57]

I have a spare lower for my ’57 35HP Johnson, and have finally found some time to open it up to inspect and see what I’m dealing with. Gearset looks pretty good, bearings seem ok…..however:

Once disassembled, I inverted the lower into a spackle bucket to let all the residual gear oil drip out. Cleaning the bucket, I found two small broken pieces of aluminum. It took me a few minutes to find the source, but I discovered a break in the casting under the impeller plate, shown here:

I have no idea how this could have happened, but here we are just the same. Is this break in the casting a deal killer?

Thoughts?

[RICK EICHRODT]

I would build up the wall with JB Weld then file it flat across the top. You have nothing to loose! All that the area does is support the water pump plate.

[frankr]

You guys "Up North" probably see a lot of that. It was caused by water freezing in that little dead cavity. Doesn’t hurt a darn thing as long as it isn’t broken through the bottom or something. Clean it up and run it. Put some sealer under the plate. But you are supposed to do that anyway.

[chris-p]

Yup as Frank stated, we see this a lot. Motor not properly winterized and stored vertically. Nothing can stop the power of ice, even that little casting!

You can try to repair with JB Weld, however, if you don’t, wont make a bit of difference either. I would throw the chunks away and run it as Frank mentioned.

[nj-boatbuilder57]

Thanks for the info….I’ll build up a wall with JB.

On the other end of the housing, I have 2 more questions.

First question is about the lower pinion bearing. In the parts list, this is #24, and appears to go in as a a unit.

But mine came out in pieces! Loose roller bearings. I pulled the pinion gear, and the needles just rained out down through the shaft!

Assuming my bearing race broke, that’s fine….I can get a new bearing. But how does the old bearing frame come out? Is this a pressed-in piece? I don’t see a way to pull the old frame out.

Second question: This is the oil retainer with the oil seal in it. How does the old seal come out? IS it driven out with drift pins through the holes on the back side?

[frankr]

The rollers are loose pack, and yes they fall out. Stick them back in with some Vaseline, put it back together, and run it. Yep, you poke the seal out through the holes–sometimes. in the real world, that seldom works.

[chris-p]

I have a stepped hole in the work bench to drive those seals out. Drop it in, then a second hole (size of seal or slightly larger) allows the seal to be driven through using punches. Take your time, they are fragile and break easily if you apply too much pressure on them with a seal puller from the other side. Hopefully, it pops out with a couple punches through those holes.

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