1985 OMC 3.0L Stringer rebuild help

[cavityburn]

Hello everyone,
new to iboats and boating in general.
I purchased a 1985 SeaSwirl Spitfire 17' boat with an OMC 3.0L Inboard and assuming, 400 series outdrive.
I decided to replace the Intermediate drive bearings, and upper drive bearings, due to grenading.
parts have been installed, but now I need to check the shim and tolerance with special tools that are pretty much not available through eBay and other sources.
unfortunately, a few of the shims were destroyed prior to me starting the rebuild, so I have no idea how much shimming I w
may require. I did buy a set of each shims needed, in various gauges.
I did find one shim tool and bought it.
My question is, would anybody happen to have these shim tools and could give me the measurements/numbers off of them so I may check the needed shimming with a set of 12" calipers? Or, be willing to have the tools made and I pay for the copy and shipping?

909573(314722)- Upper Drive Ball Gear
908286-Intermediate Ball gear drive
909078-Upper drive gear case housing

Thank you in advance.

 

[Scott Danforth]

First, Welcome aboard

next, what would make you buy a 35 year old boat with an obsolete drive that no-one works on unless they were in the OMC business and do it in their retirement for boat money? just curious

you wont find the tools on ebay.

and if you havent set up a drive prior, do not attempt on your own.

Hey kenny nunez any assistance?

 

[cavityburn]

The price was the main factor to buying the boat, and funds available at the time.
I know the drive is obsolete and parts/tools are harder to come by, but I figured someone out there may have either the specs or knowledge to help out. Maybe I am wrong, but this is what I have now

 

[Redrig]

I know that for those intermediate bearings if you dont have the shimming tools , that there is a rolling torque test that you can do. That creates an extra step though , as you do have to remove the intermediate so that the drive shaft is not engaging into the coupler .

I dont remember the rolling torque numbers , but basically you add / reduce shim thickness until the rolling torque falls within a certain range . I can check from my manual tonight if you would like

 

[Redrig]

Looked in the manual. 10-26 in. Lbs. Of rolling torque is the specs if you opt to go that route

 

[kenny nunez]

I dumped all the shimming tools when I closed the shop. The only tools I still have are the shaft holding and pressing mandrels.
On the intermediate bearings try adding shims to the flange until the ball gear can be felt to be loose. Then start removing shims until there is just .001-.003 movement checked with a dial indicator using pry bars to move the ball gear, at this point reduce another .002 which should be good enough to be not too tight. You will just have to keep playing with the various thickness of shims.
Or, remove bearings from the shaft, install them in the housing with the flange and shims using the “feel” method turning the bearings with something that will turn the bearing inner race.

 

[cavityburn]

Sweet! Thanks for the info so far. I know that this is a bit more than I should have started with, but I wanted to get my hands dirty with something older that wouldn't be as difficult to trouble shoot. I am planning on eventually performing a motor and outdrive swap in the future, but for now, this should get me some great experience.
I will perform the rolling torque this weekend and see where it gets me. I did already fit everything together and by feel and eyesight, test the drives and they definitely work NOW.
I will relay what my findings are as they come. Again, thanks

 

[cavityburn]

Finally acquired a torque wrench that measures inch pounds. I will check the intermediate drive bearings tomorrow. As far as the upper drive is concerned, should I opt for the shim tools, even though I cannot find then on Ebay or elsewhere, or is there a rolling torque trick for it as well?

 

[Redrig]

I don't think there is a rolling torque trick for that cuz you are dealing with gear mesh in the upper , and the intermediate is only bearings, I could be dead wrong about that though, maybe there is a way.

I have seen guys use this certain paste in rear differentials and they know how to read that paste on the gear mesh to know if the need to reduce or add shims, IDK maybe the concept could be used here but I'm not sure.

I will look in my 85 manual.

What is the condition of the gears in the upper ? Do you have the existing shims ? if they are all OK just reuse what you have

 

[cavityburn]

The upper drive shims for the bell housing were toast and mangled beyond reuse. I have a guess as to how many were used, but again, mangled. The gears are great, no chips or signs of grinding. I did find a video from Wayne Coll that shows the preroll should be about 22-28 in lbs, but that is just the bell housing bearings.
I do have the replacement shims, but I may need to play with the gaping. I did see in the video that the tool length for the lower is 7.511", so that may help with the lower.

 

[Redrig]

mangled is OK , keep them ! just get a set a vernier calipers to measure their thickness then just replace them with exactly same thickness.

I did exactly that this winter with my intermediate shims , mangled them getting them out , measured and replaced with exact thickness , worked beautifully