Gimbal bearing question

[bote1]

Hello everyone,
I have just registered, but have been reading here for a while- lots of great info.

I could not find any info on this so here is my question

Are there different size gimbal bearings I.D.s on alpha ones

I just did a transom job on a boat i have, so while going back with everything I've replaced the bellows and gimbal bearing.
i have aligned the motor prefect. You can slide the alignment bar in and out with 2 fingers easily. So when I went to put the drive back in it would not go in all the way ( the shifter linkage is aligned) stopping about 1/4" + of making up. After looking around making sure the shift linkage, splines was aligned etc. i did tap it in about another 1/8" with a rubber mallet.
I knew it should not be this hard so i had to pull the out drive back off (which is was stuck) and the new gimbal bearing came out with it. The new gimbal bearing seem to be too small it was stuck on the shaft over one of the O rings so after taking it off i took the old bearing and tried to slide it on and it stopped right before the o rings on the yoke shaft.
Could the old and the new bearing be the wrong one? I got the boat in a trade a couple of years ago and now getting it fixed up. The boat is a 1972 T- craft merc 470 140hp but was repowered at some point in its life to a later model 470 165 hp with an alpha one gen one.

Thanks for the help

 

[Bt Doctur]

Re: Gimbal bearing question

It takes quite a bit of hammering to fully seat the gimbal bearing and they usually dont just pull out with the drive.
there were 2 ,the early one used a plastic carrier and brass shim stock that is no longer used or available, later version used an aluminum housing and ribbed tolerance ring.

 

[bote1]

Re: Gimbal bearing question

The original bearing and the new bearing are the same newer style. I did have to use a lot of force to pull the drive back off. The shaft has two o rings on it close to the yoke should the gimbal bearing easily slide over the o rings. What are those o rings for? it seems the id of the bearing is too small for the shaft.

 

[Bt Doctur]

Re: Gimbal bearing question

Is there any rust in the area of the O rings on the input shaft ?
the shaft with the 2 o rings usually just slides in almost all the way by hand.

 

[bote1]

Re: Gimbal bearing question

no rust no burrs, but going outside to check again

 

[Don S]

Re: Gimbal bearing question

You have to push the drive to get the orings to go into the gimbal bearing.

Did you have a lot of rusty water and parts inside the bellows? Post pictures of what you have.

One other note, the 470 is not a 140, or even the same kind of engine, and the 470's didn't come out till 1976.

 

[bote1]

Re: Gimbal bearing question

Just went out side. It have some tiny rust pit before the o rings . hit it with a little emory paper and seems to be alot better. I guess my eyes are not the same.
thanks alot Bt Doctur.

Also during the transom replacement i re shaped the bildge for more engine clearance because the engine was rubbing. The original tag on the boat says merc 140 so i assumed it was it was a 140/ 470. thats why this 165/ 470 was rubbing - different motor thanks Don S