Help with Flywheel or Ring Gear decision
 

Hello, I picked up a Scarab 22 a few months ago. upon repairing a few obvious issues, Ive run into a conundrum with a Flywheel with broken teeth.
Ive spoken to several people and get mixed answers. Im not one to cut corners, however this boat is starting to break my spirits as well as budget.

I need to Pull engine to repair or replace Flywheel, Should I get ring gear and have it swapped or Buy a good used Flywheel? Im also taking this Liberty to change Bellows and Rear Main seal. My engine is a Merc 330HP Carb'd 454 w/ Bravo 1.
I was told by one guy to just do the ring gear. Another told me it could be warped and exchange the flywheel as well as the coupler.
Anything else I should do while here? I have not had boat in the Water yet.

The reason for the answers, I want to order all parts and have on hand, so I can knock this out in a day or 2.

Thanks

Just a suggestion, first thing figure out what ate the teeth, next, a new ring gear is about $30 at the local parts store, easy to change. Tap the old one off with a block of wood, put the new one on your gas grill and warm it up it will drop right on. The used one could be in worse condition than yours or balanced differently.

And even if you decide to buy a new flywheel they are usually less than a 100$ at local autoparts store , I just ordered one for a chevy truck stick small block (1990) today for $80

Apparently the starter was bad at some point, sat for several years in dry storage in Texas, which is where my soft floor areas came from. ugh.
The starter was replaced. Its new and i verified that. I also attempted to skate by and use boat, by keeping a ratchet and socket on board, in case i had to manually turn it past the bad spot. To later find out there is more than one bad area missing teeth on the flywheel. So here I am. I believe I know the tooth count, via google searching, but cannot confirm until I have pulled engine. Im a mechanic by trade and have wholesale discounts with my Autoparts suppliers, So that will help. from Just brief Ebay searches, the Marine flywheels are pricey, I thought perhaps they were different for some reason. Thanks.
Anything else to consider doing while its out?

See what flywheel you have, and check with your local GM parts place. Might suprise you.

And yes, Mercruiser uses the GM flywheel as OE. In fact, if you where to order one from Merc, it will arrive in a GM box. LOL.

Ayuh,..... The coupler bolts to a Merc, usin' GM's pressure plate bolt holes,.....

It'd be hard to believe ya got anything but the 168 tooth, 14" flywheel/ ring gear,....
Never seen the 153 tooth 12" flywheel on a BBC,...
Which starter that's on it will tell ya,...
Staggered bolt pattern is the big flywheel,...

I'd just change the ring gear,...
Inspect everything else, 'n replace only what don't make the grade,....

Sounds good, thanks for all the assistance.

I bought a ring gear from auto zone last week for $18 took all of 8 min to swap it.

Why don't you just flip the ring gear over? That's what I do. Makes no sense to throw away a perfectly good ring gear. The marine flywheels are different. They are painted black it does make a difference. Dollar store for the black paint.

You make it sound easy. lol. My concern was the outdrive related stuff & the shifter cable adjustment. Should engine alignment be an issue if I remove the bolts from the Hull and leave the adjusters intact, attached to the Motormounts? Wanted to know if that was a concern.