Water Pump Replacement 1955 Johnson 5.5

[Buster]

With the lower unit finished, I’m running into a problem reassembling the lower and upper units.  I’m getting the water tube concentric in the mating grommet on the water pump, but it doesn’t want to mate.  Neither the drive shaft of the shift shaft are the problem.   I don’t want to use too much force.  I can get the grommet to install when not on the impeller housing but not when it’s assembled.  I’m using silicone grease to ease the assembly.  Any “old salt” tricks to facilitate this assembly?

[fleetwin]

OK, well I would remove the impeller housing and push it up into the exhaust housing to see if it will mate up to the water tube this way, much easier than trying to get the gearcase in place.    If the grommet/impeller housing don’t line up this way, then the water tube is bent or improperly installed…

[aquasonic]

Does the problem involve misalignment, or are things lining up but not able to seat properly?

Reinstalling the gearcase always requires a little adjusting to get things to line up correctly, but very little force is needed.

Maybe take a close look at the impeller housing to make sure that it is seated correctly.

[Buster]

Aquasonic and Fleetwin,

Thanks for the insights.   I did eventually get this assembly to mate.   I removed the grommet from the impeller housing and verified it would slide onto the water tube (albeit with a tight fit).  I reinstalled the grommet in the impeller and re-tried the assembly.  I was able to sight down the lower unit (with no powerhead) and make sure the shifter shaft was in its guide and the water tube was centered on the grommet.  At this point there’s about an inch of gap at the lower unit connection.  I then took everything off the bench and rested the skeg on the garage floor.  Now I could put gravity to work pushing down firmly on the upper unit.  Everything went together nicely and I installed the four bolts with Neverseez.  I was afraid of bending or breaking the water tube or mis-seating the grommet.  Thankfully neither appears to have happened.

Making the water tube assembly and cleaning the powerhead to lower unit gasket surface have been the most challenging parts of this job.  But I’m learning as I go and have the luxury of taking the job slow.  I hope to report soon that this 69 year old kicker is happily chugging away in the near future.  I can then turn my attention to the cosmetic aspects of the rebuild, paint and such.

Thanks for ringing in.

Buster

[fleetwin]

OK, am kind of confused as to just what you are referring to.  Perhaps you can post some pictures…

[Author]

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