Im getting gimbal ring reparied but exhaust bellows is bad . My question is, this is not being used, exhaust thru transome only(headers) can this simply be capped of or will this cause a problem Might be a dumb question but i am not for sure and dont want to sink her

Mine are capped off using plates from Mercury I believe. They mount inside the engine compartment to the inner bracket with 3 screws (I think) The motor(s) need to come out to put the plates in (if I remember correctly).

Recently, while tracing a water leak, I made up some rubber covers to put on the outside to cover the port ( I thought the seal on the plate was leaking, hence the test) and still runs fine without any issues. I have no exhaust bellows at all now on the lower units. The ports are capped off on both sides (Inside with the plates and outside with some rubber caps and new clamps) and ran it just fine again this weekend without any issues.

thanks myfirsttwins thats what i was thinking

last summer I had a slow but steady leak from what couldve been the exhaust block off plate, Now that I have the motor out I thought about putting the outdrive back on and taking it to the boat ramp to determine where that leak is coming from. If its coming from that plate is there a silicone/sealer to put on it to act as a gasket?