Not what I want to hear, but this is why I'm willing to do work now. If there is a rot issue, I'm thinking the sooner I catch it and repair it the better.

Thanks for the torque specs
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the gimbal bearing has a cage. the bearing outer race swivels in this cage. there are 2 slots cut in cage so that bearing can be flipped sideways and removed without slide-hammering the cage out. fact install puts the slots on the inside just to be mean. put slots so you can see them when looking in from the stern thru gimbal boot.

So the new bearings come with a new cage? or do I reuse the existing cage and just turn it around so slots are to the rear?

Next time the bearing needs replacing (most likely by some other owner of the boat) he can just flip the bearing sideways thru the boot and replace the bearing with out slide-hammering the cage out.

Is this correct?

I second the check of the water intake tube, very common problem on bravos of your age. More common than transom rot. I beleive you are still going to have to pull the engine to replace this tube however.

Job is fairly simple, however it is the room that makes it tight.

Remove drives. I suggest completely removing engine hatch. Remove exhaust tubes. Remove ground wires, backs and sides of engines. Take out startboard first, remove power wire, unhook merc plug, unbolt front mounts and remove two long bolts on rear bellhousing mounts. The rears are 3/4 head sixe and best removed from the top with long ext. The back bolts have springs around them, don't lose them! These back bolts are used for drive alignment. Now do the same with the port engine, the reason for taking the port out last and installing first is for easier access to the power wire on the starter.

While out replace or have starters rebuilt. Inspect flywheel gear, inspect or replace couplers. Replace impellars.....all very easy jobs with engines out, and PIA with engines in on that boat.

yes. bearing comes with cage. if you see the slots looking in thru boot, they have been changed and are now correct (backwards is correct in this instance.) take a long extension or giant screwdriver. put it to bearing right halfway between slots as far outboard on bearing as you can get it. knock it sideways with a hammer and pull it out the slots. FIRST stick fingers in bearing and turn it. if it feels perfect, it probably is...

All good information. Thank You! As far as I know, the motors have never been out of this boat, so I do plan to replace and inspect everything necessary while I can.

I did a little looking around on-line last night and now see exactly what you are talking about.
Good information, Thank You.

one important detail if you change bearings this way. there is a hole on outside of bearing race that grease goes into. there is a slot in the cage that grease goes to to feed the hole. THEY ARE OFF CENTER!! feel for the slot in cage. i am pretty sure it is toward the slots. when you knock the cage off the new bearing check it out and you sill see what i mean. make sure where that hole is. if you spin the bearing in with hole not aligned with slot, bearing will never get any grease.

I think the new bearings aren't greasable

You are correct, the only place I can find the older ones are on Ebay. I just use new, about the same price as the greasable.

Think about it they put non greasable bearings in autos for decades and they run for thousands of miles with no problems.