Transom Clamp Bolts REALLY Frozen

[Robert Wight]

Forgot to mention on my ’72 Evinrude that one of the bolts was so eaten up from salt water there as no way I was going to be able to back it out. So I just hack-sawed off the exposed portion of the bolt that was messed up, then did the heating and penetrating fluid treatment. Worked real good when I drilled the access holes through the bracket to get penetrant to the inner portion of the bolt threads. This one that I sawed off had the bracket threads messed up a little bit so I just ran a tap through it to clean it up.

Bob

1937 Champion D2C Deluxe Lite Twin
1954 Johnson CD-11
1955 Johnson QD-16
1957 Evinrude Fastwin 18
1958 Johnson QD-19
1958 Johnson FD-12
1959 Johnson QD-20

“Every 20 minute job is only a broken bolt away from a 3-day project.”
"Every time you remove a broken or seized bolt an angel gets his wings."

[Anonymous]

I was given a Mercury 400 that was attached to an old fiberglass boat. The owner of the boat wanted to keep the boat. The clamp screws had not been moved since the motor was installed when new in the 1960s and it sat outside it’s whole life. After trying heat from a map gas torch and solvent I went to plan B. Since this was out in a boat yard storage lot I went back home for more equipment. I returned with a generator and my dremel tool and HD cut off wheel. I sliced the underside of each clamp bracket lengthwise just deep enough to touch the threads of the screws. This allowed the bracket threads to expand and release the screw threads. I was able to loosen the clamps then and remove the motor from the boat. Then after running the screws all the way in and out and cleaning the threads, I vee’ed out the slots and welded the the slots shut. Followed by light grinding to blend the weld and Bob’s your uncle all done. No drilling and all the original threads were saved. Then I went and gave the motor away, and as it turned out was a good running outboard.

[PugetSoundBoater]

XR55- thats a great approach to the problem, kinda drastic measures ,but you got results, which you may not have ever gotten without cutting into the bracket.

"Some people want to know how a watch works, others just want to know what time it is"
Robbie Robertson

[Anonymous]

Yes it was drastic, but both sets of the threads were undamaged, no twisted screws or levers twisted or broken, no drilling, no needed replacement parts. After welding and minor blending of the weld, you could not tell if any repair had been done and it all was on the bottom and not visible from the top side. Just thinking outside the box came up with a strong good looking repair.

[PugetSoundBoater]

XR55-you did the cutting on the bottom side an the weld repair would be real hard to spot. Well done and good job!
Jim PSB

"Some people want to know how a watch works, others just want to know what time it is"
Robbie Robertson

[Mumbles]

Quite often I find the threads get galled if they have been seized and then forced to turn so if they don’t break off, I’ll cut them off, drill them out, chase the threads, and make new ones. The cast handle gets removed first before forcing them as it is brittle and will break quite easily.

[crosbyman]

Mumbles… really nice work

unfortunately few of us have your skills and…tools 🙂

Joining AOMCI has priviledges 🙂

[Robert Wight]

Very nice work indeed. Looks better than factory new.

Bob

1937 Champion D2C Deluxe Lite Twin
1954 Johnson CD-11
1955 Johnson QD-16
1957 Evinrude Fastwin 18
1958 Johnson QD-19
1958 Johnson FD-12
1959 Johnson QD-20

“Every 20 minute job is only a broken bolt away from a 3-day project.”
"Every time you remove a broken or seized bolt an angel gets his wings."

[fleetwin]

Mumbles is right, once froze up, the threads usually get galled even worse during heating/rocking/oiling attempts because of the aluminum threads on the clamp screws. Fortunately, the aluminum is easy to drill out….

[Anonymous]

Do it the way I suggested and all of the threads will survive in undamaged condition and no disassembly needed and no new parts are required.

[Author]

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