Major Damage to Sterndrive Past Weekend - Need Input

[Gary H NC]

Re: Major Damage to Sterndrive Past Weekend - Need Input

With a good prep job the JB will hold it. I have seen several lowers patched with it that lasted for years.

Worth a shot and will cost you all of about 6 bucks...

 

[ispaydeu]

Re: Major Damage to Sterndrive Past Weekend - Need Input

With a good prep job the JB will hold it. I have seen several lowers patched with it that lasted for years.

Worth a shot and will cost you all of about 6 bucks...

What do you guys recommend for the prep work?

Also, what can I do to get a better idea if the gears are being pushed in by the dent? Could I drill a hole in one of the cracks and "have a peak"? Might be able to do it in such a way to kill 3 birds with one stone:
1) Get an idea if its damaged the gears (bu woudl require larger hole)
2) Could make it so I possibly I would bent the dent back away from the gears, and therefore reduce any possible damage from running it
3) The hole could possibly help with the bonding of the JB weld by giving it something more to adhere to

I realize, if I do this, I would want to make sure to not drill in too far, and also should have bunch of magnets around it as to not drop shavings in.

Am I crazy for the hole idea? Good idea? Bad idea?


How else might I get a better idea for the internal damage from the dent?

 

[Gary H NC]

Re: Major Damage to Sterndrive Past Weekend - Need Input

The prep work would be grinding the area out past the cracks.Some 80 grit would work find or a hand held electric grinder.
This is soft metal so go easy if you use a grinder.

Clean the area with acetone or rubbing alcohol.
You may want to apply 2 or 3 coats to get the area built back up.

Shape it up with sand paper after it dries and shoot some black paint on it.


I would not drill any holes,the gears should be fine.

 

[ispaydeu]

Re: Major Damage to Sterndrive Past Weekend - Need Input

Also,

What are your thoughts about regular welding? I know its aluminum so need to find a shop with experience with marine and aluminum stuff.

But that would help alleviate my fears of the JB Weld coming off or breaking in the future.


Thoughts?

 

[Dakota47]

Re: Major Damage to Sterndrive Past Weekend - Need Input

Take it down to your local welder and see what they have to say.. if they could weld it (without getting it to hot) then you would be better of than the JB Weld fix.

 

[Gary H NC]

Re: Major Damage to Sterndrive Past Weekend - Need Input

If prepped right the JB is not coming off.
Welding is better but that is some really tough aluminum to get welded correctly.
Then you have to worry about the heat melting the seals in the drive.

I have done several JB Weld repairs on the exact same spot because the owners wanted a quick easy fix.
Not one has come back.

 

[ispaydeu]

Re: Major Damage to Sterndrive Past Weekend - Need Input

I called around, first couple welding companies didn't know much about boats. Finally found one guy that gave me the contact phone number for a custom welder that does boats all of the time.

Called the guy, he KNEW his stuff, he was asking me all sorts of questions about where the damage was on the stern and everything.

He told me that in order to do it right, I will need to get both the inside and outside thouroughly clean. He told me that the gear fluide on the inside will cause it to not weld the aluminum as good as it could if it was cleaned. Also said that the heat will draw towards the weld any oil as well.

Keep in mind, this being the welder, he started to explain to me, the boat owner, how to remove the prop shaft and gears and everything... In otherwords, he DEFINITLY knows what he's dealing with on boats. He even started telling me some of the differences he has seen over the years in the casting of the Mercrusier's aluminums and other companies. So, I think I found the perfect guy.

Said that if I get everything cleaned up, then he should be able to do the surface preparation and welding for about $50.00 (of course said that he would give exact when he saw it in person).

Guy has 37 years of experience and does boat stuff couple times a month, so should be good to go.



I am pretty excited now, went from thinking "OMG, gonna have to spend more then the boat is worth", to "gonna have to take a chance on used stern", to "heck ya, I should break my stern drive every year". In otherwords, this whole fiasco (assuming the welding works) is going to end up costing me MORE money for all of the reassembly supplies (gaskets, seals, o-rings, gear case fluid, impeller while I'm at it) then the damages themselves.


I know this is a long shot, and not the ideal route... But, it should hold better then JB weld... And, worst case scenario, I will only be out ~$50.00 and the money for gear case fluid.



Now I just gotta figure out how to remove the propeller shaft and gears..... Anyone know of any good tutorials on that?

 

[haulnazz15]

Re: Major Damage to Sterndrive Past Weekend - Need Input

I believe you need a few specialty tools ($$$) and at the least a bearing puller or slide hammer. This isn't for the faint of hart as there are a lot of items which are cruicial to the operation of the unit (gear preset/backlash, shims, etc). I'm still not sure this is the best route, but go for it if you've got the notion.

 

[ispaydeu]

Re: Major Damage to Sterndrive Past Weekend - Need Input

I believe you need a few specialty tools ($$$) and at the least a bearing puller or slide hammer. This isn't for the faint of hart as there are a lot of items which are cruicial to the operation of the unit (gear preset/backlash, shims, etc). I'm still not sure this is the best route, but go for it if you've got the notion.

... UM ya... You are definitly right.

As soon as I made my previous post, which was obviously full of excitement. I started looking at my manuals and googling things and all I could see was an ever growing list of special tools.

Needless to say my excitement is starting to fade.

Might be back to the JB Weld method afterall....


Is there any other way to get the inside area behind the weld clean enough with out 100% dismantling everything? Is there anything that I could pour into it that would be strong enough to eat away at the fluid / clean it but wouldn't cause damage to everything?


Are there any "homemade tools" that would work instead of buying all of the elaborate tools?

 

[grandpaclint]

Re: Major Damage to Sterndrive Past Weekend - Need Input

The prep work would be grinding the area out past the cracks.Some 80 grit would work find or a hand held electric grinder.
This is soft metal so go easy if you use a grinder.

Clean the area with acetone or rubbing alcohol.
You may want to apply 2 or 3 coats to get the area built back up.

Shape it up with sand paper after it dries and shoot some black paint on it.


I would not drill any holes,the gears should be fine.

very good,you could also use brake cleaner, no drilling, just clean and patch

 

[ispaydeu]

Re: Major Damage to Sterndrive Past Weekend - Need Input

I decided to go with the JB Weld for now. I bought enough supplies (gear oil, etc.) so that, should it fail, then I'll not have to go back to the marina again after buying a new unit.

If the JB weld fails, I will buy a new one or possibly used.

Although JB Weld might not be everyone's best way, I am at least going to do what I can to MAKE it my "right now" best way... Taking every precaution to do it right. Sanded of all the paint, roughed everything up with 80 grit paper, cleaned everything with break cleaner, air hosed everything off.

Not putting any coat on thicker than an 1/8th of an inch. I am on my third coat now. Waiting at least 6 hours between coats. Before applying a new coat I am roughing everything up with 80 grit sand paper now. I believe my third coat will about do it. I will maybe do a 4th coat in a couple of areas.

So far so good, I am optimistic that this will work and will hold for a very long time.

Assuming that the above will work... I also plan to look for deals this winter on a lower unit on Craigslist, if I find a good enough deal, I'll buy one up and plan to use it or have it as a backup. The JB Weld is only planned to be a temporary solution to hold me over until then.

If all goes well, I am hoping to have it on flush cuffs tomorrow for a while then possibly in the water after that. Will post updates later on.

 

[Eric 3.7LX Alpha 1]

Re: Major Damage to Sterndrive Past Weekend - Need Input

If you have a good fish finder/dept finder, they have a low water alarm which you can set at what ever you wish, and will beep to let you know your shallow.

Even if you do not fish it they are worth the money for the depth gauge and water temp on them. Also I wouldn't want to go out without my chartplotter to be used along side the fish finder.

They have charts for freshwater too I believe.

Not trying to be smart a.. ,but these two things will help you to avoid getting into a rockpile in the future.

 

[ispaydeu]

Re: Major Damage to Sterndrive Past Weekend - Need Input

If you have a good fish finder/dept finder, they have a low water alarm which you can set at what ever you wish, and will beep to let you know your shallow.

Even if you do not fish it they are worth the money for the depth gauge and water temp on them. Also I wouldn't want to go out without my chartplotter to be used along side the fish finder.

They have charts for freshwater too I believe.

Not trying to be smart a.. ,but these two things will help you to avoid getting into a rockpile in the future.

Appreciate the feedback. However, I have a depth finder with the low level alarm set. But what I hit, it was more random, was in water that was 8 feet deep and received the damage. No danger booey or anything. But I am at least going to set the low level alarm to a more aggresive number now, something like 8 feet. Right now I think its at like 4 or 5. Then just get in the habit of not going as fast if I'm in an alarm area... This whole thing could have been avoided if I wasn't going as fast as I was in an 8' area.

Live and learn I guess.

This is the exact reason why I bought a cheap 1,100 boat as my first boat instead of an expensive one. I wanted to "learn my lessons" on it so that I wouldn't mess up a more expensive boat. Although on a more expensive boat, I would carry comprehensive insurance and they wouldn't total out the boat...

 

[Dakota47]

Re: Major Damage to Sterndrive Past Weekend - Need Input

I decided to go with the JB Weld for now. I bought enough supplies (gear oil, etc.) so that, should it fail, then I'll not have to go back to the marina again after buying a new unit.

If the JB weld fails, I will buy a new one or possibly used.

Although JB Weld might not be everyone's best way, I am at least going to do what I can to MAKE it my "right now" best way... Taking every precaution to do it right. Sanded of all the paint, roughed everything up with 80 grit paper, cleaned everything with break cleaner, air hosed everything off.

Not putting any coat on thicker than an 1/8th of an inch. I am on my third coat now. Waiting at least 6 hours between coats. Before applying a new coat I am roughing everything up with 80 grit sand paper now. I believe my third coat will about do it. I will maybe do a 4th coat in a couple of areas.

So far so good, I am optimistic that this will work and will hold for a very long time.

Assuming that the above will work... I also plan to look for deals this winter on a lower unit on Craigslist, if I find a good enough deal, I'll buy one up and plan to use it or have it as a backup. The JB Weld is only planned to be a temporary solution to hold me over until then.

If all goes well, I am hoping to have it on flush cuffs tomorrow for a while then possibly in the water after that. Will post updates later on.

I hope it holds for ya.( i bet it does). keep us updated please..

 

[Gary H NC]

Re: Major Damage to Sterndrive Past Weekend - Need Input

Let the JB cure for 24 hours before paint or filling the drive with gear lube.
It should hold fine and you may get many more seasons out of it.