carnutsx2

What brands of shift cables and Bravo1 outdrive bellows are people having success with? Any particular ones I need to completely avoid. On another note what tools did you have to buy, re-purpose or more importantly wish you had ? The shift cable feels stiff and I probably need to just do the cable , bearing and fresh oil and get the motor in and the boat running.

zz28zz

I like the Teleflex Xtreme cables. For the bellows, I bit the bullet and got geunine Merc parts. This is not the place to skimp. If the drive shaft bellows cracks open while you're on the water, you're sunk, literally.

A drive shaft alignment tool is needed when re-installing a drive to verify eng is aligned with gimble bearing, (Engines tend to settle over time). There's a shift cable adjustment tool needed to get new cable adjusted properly. Can't think of any other special tools needed. A tube of Merc spline grease is a good idea. You don't want the outdrive input shaft getting stuck in the engine coupler. Don't forget a tube of bellows adhesive.

There is a upper shift cable and a lower shift cable. You can disconnect the lower cable up on top of the eng and move the shift lever to see which cable is stiff. I wound up replacing upper and lower cables while I was at it. Huge difference in shifting effort afterwards.

seafordguy

Bellows - make sure you are getting genuine OEM. I inadvertently got some knock offs one time and the shift bellows broke in short order.
Bellows adhesive, spline grease (don't use too much, don't use too little)
I've never been lucky enough to get a cable out - the ones I've done are always corroded in and have to be drilled out.
If you're doing the gimble bearing put it in backwards (notches facing rearward)