Patching a hole in the lower outdrive case?

[Boomyal]

Has anyone successfully patched a hole in their outdrive case, using a cold patch compound? My friend has an MR drive that has a hole in the forward bullet end of the lower case. Someone else made a pretty sloppy looking patch that has functioned for some time but appears to be weeping a small amount of moisture into the case.

My friend would like to try to repatch it. He is looking for suitable material.

It may be weldable as it does not involve any bearing surfaces, etc, but there is always the fear of heat distortion in trying to weld + plus the case would need to be completely disassembled to do so.

 

[Bondo]

Re: Patching a hole in the lower outdrive case?

Has anyone successfully patched a hole in their outdrive case, using a cold patch compound? My friend has an MR drive that has a hole in the forward bullet end of the lower case. Someone else made a pretty sloppy looking patch that has functioned for some time but appears to be weeping a small amount of moisture into the case.

My friend would like to try to repatch it. He is looking for suitable material.

It may be weldable as it does not involve any bearing surfaces, etc, but there is always the fear of heat distortion in trying to weld + plus the case would need to be completely disassembled to do so.

Ayuh,.... Tell yer Bud to look for another lower unit....

If the crack was caused by an Impact,... the case is probably distorted, 'n oughta be replaced....

If the crack was caused by Freezin',... the case is No doubt distorted, 'n oughta be replaced...

 

[Oshkosh1]

Re: Patching a hole in the lower outdrive case?

"Sucessfully" is a relative term in this case...

Sure...Mighty Putty fixes everything! :facepalm:Lol!

If your friends a gambler...put on the poker face, seal it with a copius amount of JB Weld or the like, run it like you stole it...then when it fails replace it.

 

[Boomyal]

Re: Patching a hole in the lower outdrive case?

Just got back from my friends house. He cleaned the old patch off. Turns out it was fiberglass/epoxy. There was not a hole as I thought but the bullet was dented in right below where the skeg rejoins the bullet. A close look shows that there may also be a slight crack but it has been that way for some time.

We skinned it all down to bare aluminum and applied a layer of Permatex Cold Weld. We will feather it in and shape it back up and hope for the best. It's run quite a few hours with that dent/crack with no apparent damage to the gears and shafts so maybe he'll be the lucky one.