Small Mercruiser stern drive parts?

[amuller]

This may be a little off topic but I hope to be forgiven: I have two boats with Mercruiser “O” drives. These are Renault powered and come in 60, 80, and 90 hp versions. They haven’t been made since about 1972 and drive parts are scarce. (Engine parts can probably be found as Renault made millions of cars using these engines.) Most problematic is the drive shaft bellows. These are a unique (small) size and as far as I know aren’t available anywhere except for an occasional New Old Stock find. The problem is that a ripped bellows creates a boat-sinking leak and I don’t know how much trust can be put in decades-old rubber parts even if found NOS. Does anybody work with these drives and have any solutions?
Thanks!

[outbdnut2]

Good Luck on the bellows. I worked on one of those back around 1980 and was advised by a dealer that for engine parts to go to car junkyards and look for old Renaults. So I imagine bellows have to be really scarce, and NOS will likely be dried out ready to crack. It may be time to think outside the box.
Dave

• This reply was modified 4 years ago by outbdnut2.

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amuller

[amuller]

Agreed. What does out of the box thinking consist of in this case?

One thing I don’t like about these two boats is that accessibility for servicing is lousy. I’ve seen stern drive boats in which the engine cover is latched to the transom, and removing it exposes everything. I’m wondering if they installed the drive on these before putting on the deck molding….

[sdgloo]

There are options available at McMaster and Carr in there online catalog. You’ll need dimensions.
Bellows Boots

https://www.mcmaster.com/Bellows-Boots

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amuller

[outbdnut2]

amuller wrote:

Agreed. What does out of the box thinking consist of in this case?

One thing I don’t like about these two boats is that accessibility for servicing is lousy. I’ve seen stern drive boats in which the engine cover is latched to the transom, and removing it exposes everything. I’m wondering if they installed the drive on these before putting on the deck molding….

The order of assembly when the boat was built varies with the boat manufacturer.

Currently I have a 1996 Glastron with a MerCruiser I/O based on the Chevrolet 4.3 V6. I think the motor could be pulled fairly easy, but getting to some parts – like the oil filter and the block cooling drains with the motor in place is a real challenge! I used to let the oil drain into the bottom of the boat, and with the boat tilted up, drain it out the transom drain hole, floating some of it out because the drain isn’t all the way to the bottom. You can’t remove a drain pan from under it without tilting it enough to spill it. I now use a hand-pump suction drain that screws to the top of the dipstick tube. It doesn’t get sediment to drain from quite the bottom of the oil pan, but it makes changing oil much easier…..except for the filter – I put a couple big rags under it while standing on my head to unscrew it to catch oil that drools out while changing it.

If I get some water under the engine, I can’t reach it all with a sponge, so I suck it out with a wet-dry shop vacuum and that works great! I do that after draining the engine block and other cooling drains into the bottom of the boat for winter. It has a bilge pump, that that leaves 1/2 inch of water under the engine.

Being Chevrolet-based, it’s nice to be able to buy some engine parts, like carb kits, starter, etc, at almost any auto parts store.
Dave

[dave-bernard]

for the filter just add a remote filter kit. mount where ever you want.
for the drain attach a hose to the drain hole then when you want to change oil attach an electric pump to the hose picks up from the bottom.

[outbdnut2]

dave-bernard wrote:

for the filter just add a remote filter kit. mount where ever you want.
for the drain attach a hose to the drain hole then when you want to change oil attach an electric pump to the hose picks up from the bottom.

Yes – I’ve thought about getting a remote filter and related parts from a junk yard. I know that in the early 1990’s (and maybe later), 4 WD Chevy S10s and GMC S15 “Jimmys” had my 4.3 engine block with the filter remote-mounted behind the left headlight because the drivetrain stuff was in the way under the engine. Getting around to doing it is another thing!
Thanks for the suggestions!
Dave

[Mumbles]

I think these might be the bellows you need.

https://www.ebay.com/p/1018868878?iid=132722911794

https://www.ebay.com/p/1018868878?iid=373213184887

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amuller

[kerry]

I have read about a guy who put a petcock valve in place of the oil drain plug, attatched a hose, ran it out the transom drain, and opened the valve when it was changing time. Yes, my wife’s 1998 GMC Jimmy had the relocated filter. If you dont need the four feet of hose that it uses, just ask for the adapter and filter mount and run new hoses.

If you have too many, AND not enough, you're a collector.

[amuller]

These are the exhaust bellows, not the universal joint bellows, which is 38176A1. It does appear that there are some of these around, generally costing about $120. Whether they are dried up and brittle is another question. When did they stop being made?

Thanks!

[Author]

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