Re: My Merc 470 rebuild
To keep this updated for whoever is following:
Today was the day we were to begin installing the merc 470 back in the boat... Didnt quite work out as intended, and this is a good point to make... Be prepared for things to go wrong wherever there is that possibility.. on any boat...
I decided to change out the gimbal bearing and seal from the bell housing before installing the engines, this took longer then expected since the dam bearings were such a pain to get out, but eventually we got them out and installed new ones. I made a custom tool out of 2" PVC to push them in. To take them out we used an air hammer/chisel from the inside of the boat, since engines are still out it was accesable.
While installing the bearings, we needed the bell housing to be straight, they were turned to the left.. Then when I went to the steering wheel to turn them straight.. what do u know... its stuck... We were at a loss.. The dam steering is broken too!! So we went ahead and removed the power steering from the steering cable system. Still stuck. The cylindar is stuck so bad that even banging with a hammer didnt budge it one milimeter. Fortunately the power steering cylindar moves freely and seems to be in working order...
So we ended up moving the outdrive housing straight with a 2x4 (after completely removing the steering from it), while we did that we also found absolutely no grease in the bell housing for movement.. Basically whoever owned this boat before us never did anything to maintain it.. makes me upset how people are so careless with such things...
After all this we managed to install the bearings with ease...
Well, the perfectly nice, working and newly rebuilt engines are still sitting on stands in my garage until we work out the steering issues. We have the steering cable cylindar soaking in kerosine, and i will pray before bed tonight that this helps free it
I think i have my new signature ready: "Whatever CAN go wrong, WILL.. expect that!"