drive rebuild
 

After freshening the motors of my 32' Nordic, I decided I want to freshen the drives as well. When I bought this boat, I had no Idea how many hours were on the engines or drives. I built older auto transmissions and manuel transmissions before but this is my first experience with an IO. I think the first step is to identify what kind of drive I have. The upper case has IMCO cast into it and the lower appears to be shorter than stock. I know it has LWP but there is also an oil line between the upper and lower that I havent noticed on stock B-1s.

Is there a basic rebuid kit?
What kind of special tools will I need?
Will I be able to order parts from mercruiser or do I have to go through IMCO?

Any other suggestions would be appreciated, thanks .....Casey
Attached Thumbnails

Re: drive rebuild
 

I rebuilt my drive this past winter. This was my first full rebuild. I had some technical help from a member of this board, but I did everything myself. The first thing you need is the Mercruiser manual. It will show you what to do and also what tools you need to do it. Assuming you have basic hand tools, a 3/8" torque-o-meter, a good 1/2" torque wrench, bearing race installers, slap hammer, access to a press, micrometers and magnetic dial indicator, you will need about $500 worth of tools from Mercruiser to do the job right. Then there is an assortment of shims you will need. A few pointers from experienced rebuilders helps alot. There are a few tricks that are not in the Merc manual that help.

Re: drive rebuild
 

seen a lot of these go bad. Personally I would run them till they failed and then order replacemets.... I may be chicken schit, or I just know enough to know how easy it is to screw these things up...

Re: drive rebuild
 

If you end up not wanting to do them yourself, then give Mr.Gadgets/Dick Tryce a call at 616-403-1006. He is excellent with Bravo One drives and lives between Holland and Saugatuck, Michigan. He has done some drives for guys down your way.

Re: drive rebuild
 

Thanks for the info guys. Dean51267 recommendation is what I was leaning to initially but Im planning a trip to the islands next summer and dont want failed drives to ruin a vacation. Also, what typicaly happens when they fail? Do shafts and cases get destroyed requireing complete replacements as opposed to rebuilds? Is there a particular component I can inspect in these drives that are prone to fail first so I can determine if a rebuild is necessary?

If I decide to just replace them and be done with it, would bravo XRs do better than the current IMCOs? I'm running 622 ci talldecks that put out 730hp and almost as much tq.

Once again, the membership to this site is proving to be my most valuable tool. Thanks a bunch guys.....Casey

Re: drive rebuild
 

after building drives for the last 25 yrs and having many many people bring me drives in boxes ( thought I could do it my self ) I would recomend you take it to someone that knows what they are doing and have at least 10 yrs building your type of drive ( dont take it to someone that has built 100 alphas and 3 bravos )

I have over $60,000 in tools and equipment in order to do it right along with 25 yrs exp


im not trying to toot my own horn ( have a wife for that ) just trying to say take to someone with the exp. tools and equipment to do it right :rolleyes:


Just my 2 cents