My Gimbal Housing repair attempt

geneseo1911

Petty Officer 2nd Class
Joined
Jul 3, 2011
Messages
183
Re: My Gimbal Houing repair attempt

Re: My Gimbal Houing repair attempt

That video is on his website as well. The other things I don't care for about the kit (besides the price) are that the bellow will be HARD to replace again as it must be expanded over the PVC ring, and the bellhousing must be modified to clear.

I went out and beat on my repair with a 20oz hammer this morning. I chipped off a couple pieces of epoxy that were on the top of the lip(where I did not sand), but everything else was solid feeling and sounding. The only thing left to do now is put it back together and hope it holds up. I do have some lingering doubts about the heat and vibration of a running rig, but I'll have to cross that bridge (swim that river?...) when I get to it. One thing I learned yesterday is that heat produced by grinding on the aluminum pieces with my 4" grinder caused the epoxy to soften and lose grip. The pieces were too hot to touch by the time this happened. I'm betting that the exhaust system is far enough removed and cool enough by that point to not cause an issue.

New bellows, gaskets, and U-joints (!) arrive tomorrow, as well as a new exhaust system for the Suburban, which I'm probably more excited about than the boat.

So far, so good.
 

sethjon

Senior Chief Petty Officer
Joined
Jun 8, 2010
Messages
692
Re: My Gimbal Houing repair attempt

Re: My Gimbal Houing repair attempt

Amen to that.What he is trying is something I would not even consider.
 

joewithaboat

Lieutenant Junior Grade
Joined
Jul 3, 2011
Messages
1,172
Re: My Gimbal Houing repair attempt

Re: My Gimbal Houing repair attempt

You might consider painting it so the aluminum has less of a chance to corrode under the epoxy possibly causing a boning failure.
 

geneseo1911

Petty Officer 2nd Class
Joined
Jul 3, 2011
Messages
183
Re: My Gimbal Houing repair attempt

Re: My Gimbal Houing repair attempt

Not exactly sure what a "boning failure" is, but I take you point, and it is a good one. I will definitely do that.
 

achris

More fish than mountain goat
Joined
May 19, 2004
Messages
27,468
Re: My Gimbal Houing repair attempt

Re: My Gimbal Houing repair attempt

Even running at full noise that area shouldn't be developing any heat at all.... Looks and sounds like you're on a winner....

Cheers,

I think 'boning' should be 'bonding'....
 

joewithaboat

Lieutenant Junior Grade
Joined
Jul 3, 2011
Messages
1,172
Re: My Gimbal Houing repair attempt

Re: My Gimbal Houing repair attempt

Correct... bonding is what i meant, my fingers don't always sync with my Mellon. LOL :redface:
 
Last edited:

geneseo1911

Petty Officer 2nd Class
Joined
Jul 3, 2011
Messages
183
Re: My Gimbal Houing repair attempt

Re: My Gimbal Houing repair attempt

Well, I finally got a chance to work on the boat this weekend. Got the outdrive back on and everything adjusted. I HATE doing bellows.

I ran her on muffs for about 15 min., got the engine up to temp, shifted through the gears, steered back & forth, and revved her up a few times. The ring still feels rigid through the bellow. Of course the only real test will be on the water. So far, so good.

Unfortunately, that will be a few weeks. I've got a lot of farming to do in the next couple weeks, and to top it off, our second child is due next weekend, so I suppose I'll be lucky to be on the water by the 4th of July.
 

geneseo1911

Petty Officer 2nd Class
Joined
Jul 3, 2011
Messages
183
Re: My Gimbal Houing repair attempt

Re: My Gimbal Houing repair attempt

Well, here I am, two months later. FINALLY got to take the boat out yesterday for the first time since the "repair". It didn't sink.

Here's the bad news: I have a leak. There was something dripping behind the engine when I ran it on muffs Saturday night, so it had to be either the fresh water hose or the exhaust, but it was so buried that I couldn't see. It looked to be dripping off the port downpipe. I took on water in the lake whether it was running or not, but since both of those are "wet" cavities, I am (somewhat) hopeful that they may be the source of the water. I'm going to pull the drive...again...today to check for water in the U-joint cavity. If it's wet I'm going to pull the engine and fix it right. If not.....I don't know. I guess I'll have to get a mirror and try to find what's dripping. Of course, if it is the exhaust, I'll have to pull the engine to fix it, and at that point I might as well replace the gimbal housing and inspect the transom.

I'll never be able to enjoy this boat until it doesn't leak. It drives me crazy. My next boat will be a straight inboard. Of course by the time I get this one fixed, I'll be pretty well committed to it. Or just plain committed.
 

IanFS

Petty Officer 2nd Class
Joined
Apr 21, 2009
Messages
188
Re: My Gimbal Houing repair attempt

Re: My Gimbal Houing repair attempt

Sorry it's a bit late but spotted this thread whilst looking for another. I know my housing is not as bad but I managed to get someone to weld it in situ. Although it can be risky, the heat dissipation was amazingly quick and the outer edges were cool very quickly.

You can see the damage to the housing and then the build up of weld. Some grinding with a Dremel made it into shape.

Hope this helps anyone else with the problem. I think this is a permanent repair but not quite as good as a new housing.

Gimbal Housing close up gimbal bearing housing cleaned.jpgGimbal Housing top view small.jpgGimbal Housing welded.jpg
 

geneseo1911

Petty Officer 2nd Class
Joined
Jul 3, 2011
Messages
183
Re: My Gimbal Houing repair attempt

Re: My Gimbal Houing repair attempt

That's what I had in mind, but I had a hard time finding someone willing to attempt it. That looks like the right way to fix it.

I pulled my drive yesterday; u-joint bellow was full of water, however I discovered something I hadn't expected. The big O-ring that seals the upper housing to the bellhousing apparently got caught and lost a chunk when I put the outdrive back on last time. That, combined with obviously leaking shift shaft seals, could explain the water in the bellow, as the seal on both ends still looks good. I ordered another seal kit, as well as shift shaft bushings, and will try it one more time.
 

geneseo1911

Petty Officer 2nd Class
Joined
Jul 3, 2011
Messages
183
Re: My Gimbal Housing repair attempt

Didn't realize I never finished this thread. I did get the new seal in, and I did go boating a couple more times last season. The last session including lots of tubing and full-throttle starts trying to learn to wakeboard. When I pulled the outdrive at the end of the season.......BONE DRY! FINALLY!

However, the boat still leaked. So I have pulled the motor and am doing the transom currently, which is an entirely 'nother thread. I did decide (probably foolishly) to NOT replace the gimbal housing even though I have it off. I feel the repair is holding up fine & I'm comfortable with it. The $500 for a used one & new transom service kit etc. isn't the hold up so much as not wanting to re-do the job after I finally got the &@#^ thing sealed. I would honestly rather pull the engine again than re-seal the GH/BH. It took me four tries to finally get this one to stop leaking. And that's all I have to say about that.
 

chillinjc

Cadet
Joined
Aug 2, 2003
Messages
11
Re: My Gimbal Housing repair attempt

I know this thread is dead and buried, but there are few like it anywhere. Any chance you remember which Epoxy you used? My ring has a chip, one spot, 2/3" and I have successfully used 4200 in that spot in the past, but I'm wanting something more permanent, and do not want t invest in a new G/H or welding either, its insignificant in comparison to what you accomplished, but I need something for cast aluminum that better than JB weld.
 

geneseo1911

Petty Officer 2nd Class
Joined
Jul 3, 2011
Messages
183
Re: My Gimbal Housing repair attempt

For mine, I went to the farm store and selected the epoxy with the highest tensile strength rating that said it bonded to aluminum. It also happened to be the shortest "open time" product they carried: Permatex PermaPoxy 4 Minute Multi-Metal Epoxy. That turned out to be helpful because it is just gooey enough that it had to be babysat until it started to kick off. Once that happened, you still had another 5 or so minutes to trim it with a razor knife until it got hard. A longer cure time product would have required some extensive clamping, but with this product I just used my fingers and some patience. Once it hardened, I'd say it is every bit as hard as the aluminum. I did my final shaping with a Dremel tool.

I was quite pleased with the product and have since bought several more tubes of it for other projects. The dual syringe gives you some confidence the mix is correct, and it is super sticky & strong. As with anything, the key is cleanliness. I meticulously cleaned the repair area, and roughed up any smooth areas to give the epoxy some "tooth" to hold on to.

I only got to put about 50 hours on the boat last summer due to my transom project, but the repair is still holding up just fine.

I know next to nothing about epoxy products. My selection was a shot in the dark, but I was quite pleased with the product. The only epoxy I had used previously was JB Weld, and I was never satisfied with it, so I never tried any others. As it turns out, JB just isn't that good. There are much easier to use products, that work better to boot.
 
Top