1968 Mercruiser 120 MC-1. Gimbal assembly parts diagram?

adamjr

Petty Officer 1st Class
Joined
Jul 23, 2009
Messages
272
Desperately need some help. I have a 1968 MC1 behind a 120 Mercruiser. When I went through my drama with trying to get the circlip out I drilled some small holes in the nylon sleeve and put a couple of nicks in the (brass?) tolerance ring. The gimbal bearing that came in my Sierra bellows kit was one that needs to be greased. My gimbal housing is pre-zirk so I sought out and purchased a 30-36418 genuine OEM sealed gimbal bearing. Problem is that the nylon sleeve and tolerance ring don't come with it.

I have searched high and low for a diagram with part numbers but I can not for the life of me find one. Does anyone have a link to one. I prefer OE if possible.

Thanks very much in advance.
 

Bt Doctur

Supreme Mariner
Joined
Aug 29, 2004
Messages
19,093
Re: 1968 Mercruiser 120 MC-1. Gimbal assembly parts diagram?

remove all of the oem parts for your housing, install the new type as it comes from the box.If you cant get a ring locally, I can send you one to make this.
gimbalgreasetool.jpg
 

adamjr

Petty Officer 1st Class
Joined
Jul 23, 2009
Messages
272
Re: 1968 Mercruiser 120 MC-1. Gimbal assembly parts diagram?

Hey Doctur, thanks for the offer. I saw something like that online built from a piece of scrap and a hose clamp to grease the new style Sierra greasable bearing that came with the kit. The OEM bearing I mentioned in the other post is sealed and the reason I went with that was that either Bondo or Don S had mentioned that the sealed bearing should be good for 10 years. I wanted to go with that instead of greasing the bearing because I don't know of a way to pull the bearing to grease it without damaging it.

Is there a way to remove the bearing to grease it without damaging it? If so I might do as you're suggesting and grease the snot out of the new Sierra and install it. I'd rather not have to replace the bearing every year if I can avoid it.

I also need to get the grease seal that is forward of the gimbal bearing. Exploded drawings with callouts for something 44 years old seem to be hard to come by.

Thanks for the help. I want to do this so the old barge is as safe as possible because with a little luck and a shake down cruise with a friend and I on Wednesday morning I want to take my grand daughter out for her first boat ride and fireworks that night.
 

Bt Doctur

Supreme Mariner
Joined
Aug 29, 2004
Messages
19,093
Re: 1968 Mercruiser 120 MC-1. Gimbal assembly parts diagram?

for what the seal actually does I`d call it optional.Install the bearing with slots facing aft.to grease , knock it sideways in the notch, remove, grease, install in notch, tap untill alignment bar can be installed to finist the install.You can use the sealed bearing but you`ll need another tolerance ring to install it in.
 

adamjr

Petty Officer 1st Class
Joined
Jul 23, 2009
Messages
272
Re: 1968 Mercruiser 120 MC-1. Gimbal assembly parts diagram?

Thanks again Doctur. I have a shop not too far from me that has been around forever. I'll try them out tomorrow and see what they have. Just so I can sound like I know what I am talking about I just want to make sure I have the terminology right.

Is the nylon part the bearing seats in the tolerance ring? I might have had that wrong because I thought the brass strip was the tolerance ring. Is the brass strip just a shim?

Thanks again for the help.
 

Bt Doctur

Supreme Mariner
Joined
Aug 29, 2004
Messages
19,093
Re: 1968 Mercruiser 120 MC-1. Gimbal assembly parts diagram?

if you look at the bearing that came in the kit, the waffel looking outer ring is the tolerance ring.similiar to a crush collar on a rear.
You reuse nothing from your original.
 

adamjr

Petty Officer 1st Class
Joined
Jul 23, 2009
Messages
272
Re: 1968 Mercruiser 120 MC-1. Gimbal assembly parts diagram?

Wife and I just got out of a movie. When she gets me home I'll post pics of what was original and what I have. The new Sierra has the waffle like outer tolerance ring. The OE parts that came out from the center out were the gimbal bearing which was inside of a nylon ring that was split and had a lip that went all the way around on what would be both the front and back of the bearing. That was wrapped with a thin brass (looking) sheet. As a package it all went into the gimbal housing and was retained with a circlip.

The way my wife drives we'll be home in 10 minutes.
 

adamjr

Petty Officer 1st Class
Joined
Jul 23, 2009
Messages
272
Re: 1968 Mercruiser 120 MC-1. Gimbal assembly parts diagram?

This is the original bearing I pulled in all of its' components. I need part numbers for the brass strip and the nylon race(?)
IMAG0686.jpg


Here is the sealed quicksilver bearing:

IMAG0687.jpg


Here is the Sierra bearing which I believe is NOT a sealed bearing, correct?

IMAG0688.jpg


Thanks again for all the help. I do need the seal though because it is pretty well shot from when I yanked the bearing.
 

Attachments

  • IMAG0686.jpg
    IMAG0686.jpg
    139.9 KB · Views: 0
  • IMAG0687.jpg
    IMAG0687.jpg
    93.9 KB · Views: 0
  • IMAG0688.jpg
    IMAG0688.jpg
    98.1 KB · Views: 0

adamjr

Petty Officer 1st Class
Joined
Jul 23, 2009
Messages
272
Re: 1968 Mercruiser 120 MC-1. Gimbal assembly parts diagram?

Well, I'm bagging up the old stuff and stopping at Ahlstrand Marine in Mundelein on my way to Jimmy Buffett. Those guys have been around for a real long time. Matter of fact the owner wrote a few of the aftermarket repair manuals. If there's something out there I am certain they can find it if they don' have it sitting in a dusty bin that hasn't been touched in 30 years.
 
Last edited:

Bt Doctur

Supreme Mariner
Joined
Aug 29, 2004
Messages
19,093
Re: 1968 Mercruiser 120 MC-1. Gimbal assembly parts diagram?

save yourself all the trouble, just install the new bearing as is.
 

adamjr

Petty Officer 1st Class
Joined
Jul 23, 2009
Messages
272
Re: 1968 Mercruiser 120 MC-1. Gimbal assembly parts diagram?

The parts guy was able to find the breakout diagram. . Most of the parts are NLA from Mercruiser but he gave me a list of dealers that have the nylon race listed in stock. He also gave me the number for Merc and said to call Monday for supercession advice to make sure the Sierra bearing I have will work in my application.

He had the Mercruiser specialist tech come up and talk to me about the repair. I got a lot of additional information. He is 85% sure that the Sierra bearing will work but I should use the previously mentioned consumer number to ask and suggested I use the equivalent merc part number in the discussion. The original setup that I had the nylon part is the race. The brass part is an installation shim. If the bearing went in loose you would double up on the shims. He said when you had to use 2 often they wouldn't seat all the way and would be folded and crushed over each other and you would have to remove it all and start over with new shims. A real PITA.

Both parts, if in serviceable condition can be reused. My shim would be no problem to re-use but he'd be wary of using the race. In any case he told me he hated that original system and was glad they dumped it.
 

Bt Doctur

Supreme Mariner
Joined
Aug 29, 2004
Messages
19,093
Re: 1968 Mercruiser 120 MC-1. Gimbal assembly parts diagram?

the bearing fits and works perfectly, installed many of them because the plastic and shim setup you can never get tight enough.
I would not be surprised if you have to pull the drive again.
 

adamjr

Petty Officer 1st Class
Joined
Jul 23, 2009
Messages
272
Re: 1968 Mercruiser 120 MC-1. Gimbal assembly parts diagram?

I'm going to install the new style. I agree with you as far as not getting the original setup tight enough. That was the concern of the mercruiser tech I spoke with yesterday. I'm going to make the call to Mercruiser tomorrow to see if they have a sealed version of the new style.

Thanks for all the help.
 
Top