In the process of having my gimble ring and bell housing rebuilt by JR marine. Had some water intrusion which luckily only damaged one stud which I was able to remove. Going back on with this, is it advisable to use a conservative amount of 3M 4200 on the new mercruiser seal/gasket? Any input is appreciated!

Would like to keep this from happening again!

After removing the old oring and a very thorough cleaning you put a skim coat of 4200 on the transom assm groove. Then you install the new oring holding it in place with masking tape. Let 4200 set up a day or so. Then remove tape and just before installing the assm, put a skim coat of 4200 on the surface of the oring. Install and be happy.

order a new seal ,,i will put a 1/4'' bead of 4200 around the inside of the seal on the alunimum part then torque the bolts/ mnuts to 50 psi.. if you cant get a torque reading then the transom is soft and will need to be replaced..

Ok I will be sure to do that. Found the bottom 3-4 inches of the transom to be somewhat soft through drilling pilot holes. Is it possible to replace the bottom half by cutting it out and glassing in new marine wood?

This:

I use weatherstrip adhesive. 4200 makes a big mess and takes to long to dry.

Per the merc manual they should be torqued to 25 ft/lbs. I do agree that if they don't torque down that the transom is toast. 50 Ft/lbs might compress the wood/glass pretty good though.

A NEW foam seal, get rid of the old one. Then a little bellow adhesive in the corners to get the foam seal to stay in place. Nothing between the foam seal and the transom.

Then you use sealer on the anode carriage bolts (bottom two) of the transom assembly.

Only the first few years had the anode bolts, and if the transom has imperfection there's a chance it won't seal without some sealant. I use bellows adhesive, on the whole transom assembly, let it tack up put the seal on then a little bit of 4200 fast cure. Put it on and tighten to 25-35 ft lbs

you see the missing wood,,it will only get worse the deeper you go,,i knew it was rottedon the side the stud was worn..you need a transom..poke in it with a screwdriver and see how far it goes in..

yea i know its soppose to be 35 lbs but 15 more ft lbs wont hurt..im making sure they done come loose..

BORGIE,it looks like the transom has some rot,the problem is once the rot starts it will continue to spread..if you plan on keeping the boat replace the transom,if you don.t you will be doing it soon .sorry for the bad news.