Mercruiser Alpha 1 Gen 1 Project

[turand]

Sounds good, after some more checking Quicksilver coats their bellows in critter poison, I'm guessing that is an easy shortcut these knock offs take among other quality concerns. Thanks all, will be definitely looking for oem parts for the bellows/gimbal job.

So, the uni job is done as well as the impeller swap, whew thanks all for your help! I had some trouble attaching the lower and upper unit back together (both are still off the transom). @achris , I watched your gen 2 video (

), can I use the same procedure for a gen 1 for reattaching the lower & upper?

 

[achris]

Yes, it's pretty much the same.

 

[turand]

Thanks that looks to work nicely, quick question I think my intermediate shift might have gotten turned around while working the uni job. When I lock the lower into forward gear, and then place the upper onto the lower, I'm guessing the shaft should be in roughly the 11 oclock position, correct?

 

[nola mike]

It should point straight forward, and the lower should be in forward gear (prop locked CCW).

 

[turand]

So I am about to start this gimbal bearing and bellows project, I am going to also replace the shift cable and shift shaft bushing while I am at it. I just received my engine alignment tool, and wow! Thank you all for prompting me to check the gimbal bearing, boy is it shot! The noise the old one makes as I rotate the alignment tool is crazy. Despite this, alignment is good, very easy to rotate the tool with just 2 fingers. Thanks again all, I'll keep ya'll posted as I progress or have issues.

 

[turand]

Good progress made yesterday, got the Bell Housing separated. The uni bellow was far easier to separate than the exhaust and throttle bellows, so further evidence it was compromised. And holy smokes, getting that water hose off was a bugger, but I didn't damage the water tube! Moving onto to cleaning up all the housing and sleeves and removing the gimbal bearing.

 

[turand]

Assuming since the bell housing appears to be a powder coated baked finish, Will I be OK to use a standard degreaser (e.g. purple power) to get it cleaned up? (I know I'll use paint thinner and some stainless steel brushes to prep the collars for the bellows adhesive)

 

[turand]

Removed the gimbal bearing, and it looks like there is a shim or seal behind the gimbal bearing that looks crooked. My guess is the slide hammer momentarily hooked it. Looks like the seal is slightly ripped too. What is this, is this part of the gimbal bearing that came apart during extraction?

Here is what came out:


Here is what I am looking at:

 

[Rick Stephens]

Seal just keeps grease from creeping into bilge.

 

[turand]

Since I am planning to use a grease sealed gimbal bearing, would you still replace this? or just pound it back into position?
This looks to be part quicksilver 88416

 

[achris]

If you're doing it 'by the book', replace the seal. If you're looking at pennies, leave it be.

 

[turand]

Thanks! I think I am going to thread the needle. The replacement seals seem to have a larger hole, so I think I want to keep my seal and I will trim off the slight tear. But the fact that it is now crooked will eat at me, so I am going to get it back into position. Thanks again all.

 

[nola mike]

Thanks! I think I am going to thread the needle. The replacement seals seem to have a larger hole, so I think I want to keep my seal and I will trim off the slight tear. But the fact that it is now crooked will eat at me, so I am going to get it back into position. Thanks again all.

If it's damaged, just pull it. More likely to screw something up at this point by modifying and then trying to reinstall a damaged seal.

 

[turand]

If it's damaged, just pull it. More likely to screw something up at this point by modifying and then trying to reinstall a damaged seal.

Sounds good, for some reason I thought this part was more expensive than I thought it was, not too bad.

 

[turand]

Whelp, I just failed the critical step in the bellows repair job. I failed to get the u-joint bellows properly secured to the gimbal housing. I now have a gimbal housing and one end of a bellow caked with hardened bellows adhesive. Is it possible to clean the bellow with mineral spirits and remove the cement without damaging the bellow, or do I need to re-purchase a new bellow. I can see why folks don't want to do this job, what a disaster. Meanwhile, the exhaust and shift cable bellows are happily sitting in place.

I should mention the u-joint bellows is successfully secured to the bell housing.

 

[Rick Stephens]

Paint thinner take it right off. A new coat will melt it. So whatever works for ya. Won't hurt the new bellows at all.

 

[turand]

Does anybody have an tips for fitting the water hose to the gimbal housing? I am using a heat gun to make it bit more flexible, and I've shoved a socket in it to widen it and going to leave it overnight. Hoping the second attempt would go easier, but it's just so stubborn to get on.

 

[Paintman1960]

I used a dab of grease , slid right on

 

[turand]

I used a dab of grease , slid right on

Glad that worked for you, certainly tried, but it seems the hose provided in the kit is too stiff, and too thick to insert onto the water tube and clear the gimbal housing.

 

[Kubaat3lover]

Doh! Spoke too soon. Well, the second cap produced an oopsie. My fault, not the method.

View attachment 337323

Those are two teeth that broke completely off, no shavings. Is it salvageable or do I try to replace that too? Since folks willingly shave off a few teeth to do this job, I'm guessing leave it and move on, or fix it while the other teeth are still good? Seems to be a relatively cheap part, but I got to go buy the wrench for it too.

And holy crap were those caps absolutely bone dry, maybe I should grease the other before attempting to remove from the joint?

same issue here, I’ve damaged the teeth on this but while replacing ujoints.
I’ve heared you should not use the nut while teeth’s are broken because the big oring which slides in (the quadrant oring from the bell housing gasket kit) can be pushed into the bell housing And the water can get into the bellows and sink the boat. Can anyone confirm that please because I’m so afraid of that... thanks