Re: bell housing
I just re-sealed my transom a few weeks ago on an alpha 1. I did the shift cable, shift shaft, u joint bellows, exhaust bellows, water hose - just about anything that would ever need to be replaced was. I had never done this before and It took me two long days. <br /><br />Here are a a few tips that I came away with.<br /><br />- when putting on the U-Joint bellows, remove the stainless steel wire in the bellows so it will be easier manage. Once the bellows are glued in place, feed the stainless wire back into it's track.<br /><br />- bring a propane heat and a very long breaker bar for those hinge pins. Took me several hours to free up. It needed lots of heat and torque.<br /><br />- use the exhaust tube and not the exhaust bellows if it's an option. It'll be much easier to put on and will save you needing the bellows expander tool. You also will not have to remove your shift shaft.<br /><br />-buy all the special tools you will need. Get them on ebay and re-list them when you are done.<br /><br />- bring a portable hot water pot to boil the ends of the hoses to make it easier to get over the nipple.<br /><br />- Don't force any bolts that won't come out easily. I managed to sheer off the bolt for the trim sender and it was a real hassle. Use lots of heat and penetrating oil and go slow.<br /><br />- I found that a socket wrech with and extention and a swivel head was essential.<br /><br />- Pay carful attention to the order in which you do things and always think a few steps ahead. This makes it much easier to get at hose clamps, etc. One mistake I made was that I did my shift shaft before my exhaust bellows and the whole thing had to be removed.
