Bought a boat! 1990 200 Striper

[Aquamaniac]

Hey Fitz..
The nuts that hold lower unit to mid take 5/8" ....so I figure SAE

[Aquamaniac]

Well...Bay Mfg. extension kit did not arrive today as planned  :(
Got lower unit off and waiting impatiently......
Did get the Baystar hydraulic steering installed. Quite amazing how nice that made the steering...Sweet! :)
Still much to go.....will update as progress is made.
Thanks again for the guidance...

[floridamisser52]

Way to go AM on getting help and getting info on sorting this out. After all is said and done...looks like your gonna have a great boat. This is an unbelievable site with members who have a great spirit. BTW is that boat gonna go in the shed or under canvas?

[Aquamaniac]

If it weren't for bad luck.......

Well, I thought I was going to have good news to report. Got the kit finally...got the extension prepped and painted.....old studs removed...holes retapped and cleaned ....new studs in....shaft stubs and water line in....ready to install 'newly extended' lower unit..

when lo and behold.......
the female part of the drive shaft stub won't pass through the midsection!!!!! The splined female stub end is 1 1/8 OD....obviously much bigger than the original male drive shaft it slips over. ARGGGHHHH!!!!!  :cry:

Looked like the only way to skin the cat at that point was to remove the drive shaft stub and then install the lower unit. Tomorrow remove the powerhead,  put the drive shaft stub into the power head drive shaft end (with some JB weld to prevent stub from falling down the next time the lower unit is removed for water pump work)....then install power head back onto midsection.
What a bite  :x

Guess I would have been better off just swapping a 25" lower unit. That's how my life seems to go.........

[fitz73222]

If it weren't for bad luck.......

Well, I thought I was going to have good news to report. Got the kit finally...got the extension prepped and painted.....old studs removed...holes retapped and cleaned ....new studs in....shaft stubs and water line in....ready to install 'newly extended' lower unit..

when lo and behold.......
the female part of the drive shaft stub won't pass through the midsection!!!!! The splined female stub end is 1 1/8 OD....obviously much bigger than the original male drive shaft it slips over. ARGGGHHHH!!!!!  :cry:

Looked like the only way to skin the cat at that point was to remove the drive shaft stub and then install the lower unit. Tomorrow remove the powerhead,  put the drive shaft stub into the power head drive shaft end (with some JB weld to prevent stub from falling down the next time the lower unit is removed for water pump work)....then install power head back onto midsection.
What a bite  :x

Guess I would have been better off just swapping a 25" lower unit. That's how my life seems to go.........

DO NOT JB weld the stub into the crank! If you ever have to replace the lower crankshaft seal you're SOL. Pull the powerhead and physically measure the amount of interference and where between the housing and shaft stub and open up the housing either by grinding or have it bored at a machine shop. This is not a big deal just a hurtle. The amount of interference may be minimal.

[Aquamaniac]

Roger that, Fitz.
Thought I would have it squared away today......but when I pulled power head, I found there was a narrow hole at top of midsection as well! Pulled out the air grinder and created a bit more space for the stub shaft to slip through. Waiting on a gasket and should have power head back in place tomorrow.
What do you think of the idea of using a dab of RTV on end of stub to at least somewhat hold it in place in power head if the lower unit ever needs pulling??? I hear you on the epoxy idea......
Sure seems to have quickly turned from 'throwing this boat in the water and go' ....to an apprenticeship in old Merc motors!!!! Gotta love it.

[Georgie]

AM-

You want the driveshaft extension from Bay Mfg. to act as if it's part of the driveshaft, not the crankshaft.  Presuming your grinder work created adequate clearance in the mid-housing for the new oversized female end of the extension (and left no sharp lips in the tube for the driveshaft or extension to hang on during installation or removal), just put them (the driveshaft and new extension) together with moly lube like the manuals recommend (i.e. lube ONLY the male splines - NO lube on the top end of the shaft) and allow it to drop out with the drive shaft next time the lower unit is removed.  If for some reason it doesn't come out with the drive shaft and grease, friction, or something similar is holding it in the crank, then you can lower the engine and tickle it out using gravity and a long screwdriver or similar apparatus.  Then, when you're done with your L.U. project you can clean and reassemble it on the end of the driveshaft, re-insert through the mid-housing back into bottom of the crankshaft as if it were one unit and re-bolt the lower unit the normal way.

You're getting so close to having this thing modified and put together PROPERLY, so don't rush it or compromise the project this late in the game.  

[Aquamaniac]

Ryan: 'properly' is debatable.  
 I only ground the top narrow hole, not the bottom....top was much easier to access than the bottom (once power head and exhaust tuner removed). So......the stub will drop down onto top of original drive shaft with lower unit installed, but will not come out with shaft if lower unit is removed. I suppose it could be manipulated somehow, as the drive shaft was inserted, to slip back onto shaft, but felt that might be pretty tough. That's why I was pondering 'gently' attaching male end of stub to crank. Hopefully keeping it attached if LU needed to be removed, yet be able to remove stub from crank if required.

[fitz73222]

When we were fitting up Scotty's lowers we had the gearcases on and off a couple of times as we discovered the proper assembly sequence for having everything line up; mainly the timing/alignment assembly for the shift shaft and water tube extensions. Trying to assertain if it was better to have the extension housing on the gearcase side held in place with the dowel pins or to have extension on the midsection, hanging on the studs; the biggest challenge was enough room to get your hand in there with a flashlight to get the water tube lined up but the point is we had the extension stay up in the crank and sometimes it would come out with the gearcase lower driveshaft but we didn't have a clearance issue. I guess what I would do first is install the extension stub in the crank held in with grease and see if you can lower the powerhead in (without the new gasket) and see if it will mate up to the mid in normal fashion and make sure you have the clearance you need for assembly. Next, if you can, look up inside the mid and see how much the stub could drop before hitting the next interference and if the stub were to drop would there still be engagement in the crankshaft splines to keep it from falling out and rolling off to the side causing a reassembly issue. Unless you completely clear away the lower interference, I would be inclined to use the RTV method to hold it in place. Of course, if you can't successfully lower the powerhead and stub into the mid with hitting something; you have more grinding to do anyway and all this is moot. How much material did you have to remove from the upper in order to get the stub to clear?

[Aquamaniac]

Fitz:
Did not have to grind a huge amount.....I'd guesstimate 1/16" around......although chose to move center of 'new' hole ever so slightly forward of center of orig hole in order to not weaken a threaded hole in casting (for an exhaust tuner bolt). Diameter of new hole just allowed female end of stub to slip through and easily engaged top of the original driveshaft. I suppose I could have ground lower interference as well....but was hoping there would be NO grinding if we removed the PH .....so when top hole was too small as well...only it got enlarged. Might consider removing LU (again :( ) and grinding bottom interference......but awfully tempting to just put a dab of RTV on top of stub and set PH down.

[Aquamaniac]

HAPPY DAY!!!!!  
Looks like all the work has paid off. Water tested today......success. That old Frankenmerc pushed the 200 Striper amazingly well. WOWZA!!!
 Everything checked out and brought her home to clean up. Got second bilge pump (RuleMate 750) installed. Got second battery installed. Will seal hatches and get ready to bottom paint this coming week. Might go crazy and top paint.....not to mention the name decal I have been designing.   Then try to fix various gel coat stress cracks I have spotted.
Excited that this boat is at least able to be back on the water!
Sure do appreciate all the help so far. I am sure to be asking more questions as I stumble up the Aquasport learning curve.
Thanks!!

[fitz73222]

Good job Tom!
Post a pic of your work; I'm glad everything worked out OK.

[gman 82 aquasport]

It's always a good day to get your boat back out on the water.

[Aquamaniac]

Hey folks,
Got the hatches resealed and a few other details squared away Sunday.
Launched for maiden voyage Monday (not counting water test)........

Let's say it was 'eventful'  

Here is a pic of her sitting pretty at the dock.

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Looking at this pic I am noting how she sat in the water.....edge of bottom paint seemed well above waterline and 'even' . No list either. Seems to confirm my feeling inside of hull was nice and dry. Pretty pleased!!!!

As to the 'events'....

Everything had been performing beautifully.....motor ran well, new extension did the trick, steering and handling was grand.....great day on the water........

UNTIL......what's this??????? NO STEERING  

As you may recall, a brand new Baystar hydraulic steering kit had been installed. Apparently the compression fittings decided to turn loose and dump fluid behind my back!
Limped it along trying to make it home. Was kindly offered a tow and ended up near the dock where I had to swim ashore then pull her in to tie up.
Fortunately had fluid, filler tube, and wrench at the house.......so repairs were easily accomplished. Made it back to boat launch, on the trailer, and back in the yard without further ado.

Sure made for a memory we can laugh about now.....but I can assure you we were not laughing at the time.

All in all, it is now officially a functioning boat. Want to thank all the kind folks here who helped me get this far. Still have lots more questions.....so hopefully I won't wear out my welcome. 8)

[dburr]

At least it was obvious what the problem was and the best part was it was possible to swim!  Glad all worked out well in the end!