Ongoing questions: this time "Gearcase"

[nj-boatbuilder57]

but I’d rather not spend $15 if what I have will work.

Will it?

[nj-boatbuilder57]

OK….. with the skeg straightened, and 3M 847 & a seal kit in hand, I rebuilt the lower. Cleaned all the guts of the old oil / grease / gunk, and removed the old seals. This is only the 2nd lower I’ve ever completely rebuilt, and in both cases the upper shaft seal came out in pieces. Don’t know why that is, but I can tell you that a seal puller didn’t stand a chance.

Anyway, all done……and holds pressure! Can’t decide whether to put it away as a spare, or mount it on the engine & rebuild the existing gearcase. I’m leaning towards the latter. Thoughts?

I should maybe also add: 3M 847 did a phenomenal job of fixing the soles of my work boots! The soles were beginning to de-laminating…..now they’re as good as new!!

[chris-p]

I guess depends on how much you enjoy rebuilding gearcases! lol

By the way, great tool for pressure testing gearcases. Did you make it? What components did you use?

[nj-boatbuilder57]

Well, yeah! I did kinda enjoy it! Moreover, I have no idea what condition the other gearcase is in. Yes, it pushed the boat around this summer, but I don’t know what’s going on inside. The guy I got it from put in a new impeller & new gear oil, but the actual condition of the gears & seals is unknown to me.

The gauge: Made it myself….yes.

First, I found this. Scroll down & find part 33T…. http://www.stevensinstrument.com/FillPts.htm

Next, I went to the hardware store, looking to find a shrader valve. What I found was a a pressure tester for a furnace expansion tank….hollow metal body with a 1/4" NPT shrader valve & a 1/4" NPT 15 psi gauge in it. Score!!

I took the pressure tester apart, got a 1/4" NPT "close" nipple, and a 1/4" "tee"….then put this all together. All in, I think I spent under $20.

[Anonymous]

I have swapped covers several times with good results, both with the sealing and with the alignment. In each case I did a pre-assembly of the bearings and shafts to check for any binding, by rotating the shafts 360 degrees and feeling for any change in rotating drag and smoothness. Checking sealing by trying to slide a .001 feeler gauge between the halves when screwed together.

[Author]

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