I went this route too except I had a local guy weld up the gimbal ring for me for $60. Used the JR marine stainless pin, u-bolt and made my own back cover. Its been 2 seasons now and its still as tight as the day I did it. The JR complete kit is the way to go. It will have most everything you need. The part you window for access is a NONstructural area. This method will save you a lot of time and expense.

If you have the rigging to get your motor out ,,hoist ,lift, whatever .......it's a nicer ,cleaner ...un butchered job....Those plastic pipe plugs on the top of gimbal housing just look like hell to me .........obviously my opinion......most I see aren't taped straight
Pulling most boat motors is a piece of cake .

Unfortunately I don't have acess to a hoist. I wax my outdrive to keep it looking new so the idea of having holes drilled bothers me. It really comes down to cost. If I tell my dealer to pull the motor they will. I don't know how much extra that would be.

Lou

What part of the country are you in. Motor r&r's vary widely ..Highest prices I've seen was in the Northeast years ago

Chicago

I had mine done and didn't want the hole or holes. Once I factored in all the "extras" as already mentioned in this thread I had both transom assemblies replaced.....comes with everything. I think the assemblies were 2k ish each, where just the gimbal was 925 I think.

+1 on new assembly .Last one I did had so many parts needing replacement it was cheaper and faster to buy assembly ...seems like 2k was about the figure ALL NEW, including trim rams

Not trying to spend your money but if it is really loose I would not wait until the end of the season. Your problems will be growing with each outing. Do it right, do it once. Good luck.

I just did a transom assembly replacement on my Scarab. I did not need to move the engine to get the outer assembly off. It would have been much easier with the engine out, but where the boat is being stored, there was no easy way to get the engine out.
Replacing the inner was a different story. I used some Detroit engineering and a sissor jack from my SVT Focus to jack the engine up enough to remove the inner bracket. I used blocks of wood to support the engine while I was working in and around the engine. A big PIA but it's done.

Jeff

I did a variation of the JR route and here's the finished product. My cover plate is 1/8" or 3/16" aluminum and cutout to the same size as a new decal. I also did not want the plastic plugs Mercury sells, and I also didn't want it to look like it was ever done from the outside. From a short distance or untrained eye, you'd never know.