Re: cracked bell housing
Hi there, have you pulled the drive off to see if the damage went all the way through? A cracked bell housing could be considered very dangerous as once it starts to open up/split in half the drive could fall partially off the boat and you will in turn lose all steering control. Also you need to see if there is water inside the U-Joint bellows.
Have any photos to help give us a better idea of what your working with?
Umm really?
Howabout we talk about the part the OP refered to (the BELL housing, NOT the GIMBAL housing)....
The only real way to determine the extent of the damage would be to remove the drive and then pull the engine out...
Luckily, the bell is a seperate, bolt on piece and a replacement can be acquried via salvage channels relitively inexpensively..
That said, while major damage WILL result to the drive if the bell fails (since the drive is inserted through the bell and into the crank adapter) the DRIVE will NOT fall off as it hangs on the TRANSOM plate.
The bell supports only the back end of the engine....
Beyond that it serves as a dust/debree cover for the flywheel and the drive adapter...
Hope this helps!