Fair price for alignment tool

[RandyJ]

Re: Fair price for alignment tool

I made my own using a piece of tubing found in those crappy shelves people buy to put over their toilets..the ones with the spring loaded thingy at the top to hold them in place. It fit perfectly and I was able to get the center by eyeball and measuring tape. If I were doing it regularly I'd invest in a real tool.
Speaking of bellows... is there such thing as a bellows expanding tool? I've dadam near killed myself a few times putting bellows on these old mercruisers I've got.

 

[Don S]

Re: Fair price for alignment tool

I made my own using a piece of tubing found in those crappy shelves people buy to put over their toilets..the ones with the spring loaded thingy at the top to hold them in place. It fit perfectly and I was able to get the center by eyeball and measuring tape. If I were doing it regularly I'd invest in a real tool.

Eyeballing center will cost you a $350 coupler and an engine pull. You cannot eyeball the alignment even with toilet shelve parts to help. You have only been lucky over the short term with your alignment checks, not the long term with your method.

 

[RandyJ]

Re: Fair price for alignment tool

Yeah..okay... It's very snug, does not bend...only real difference is no round centering device... that's why God invented compasses, protractors, and measuring tapes. I guess it is lucky since I've done this operation about 10 times and have never lost a coupler. My big check is to run the engine in the water for a couple of miles then put my hand on the coupler... if I can not feel significant heat then it's a good alignment/install.

 

[Don S]

Re: Fair price for alignment tool

Yeah..okay... It's very snug, does not bend...only real difference is no round centering device... that's why God invented compasses, protractors, and measuring tapes. I guess it is lucky since I've done this operation about 10 times and have never lost a coupler. My big check is to run the engine in the water for a couple of miles then put my hand on the coupler... if I can not feel significant heat then it's a good alignment/install.

Do what you want to do, but don't recommend it as a way for those, how shall we say " are Eyeball challeneged" people that don't have your supernatural ability you seem to have.
For us mear mortals, we need alignment bars with tight tolerances to save our expensive couplers so we don't have to remove the engine all the time to replace it.

 

[RandyJ]

Re: Fair price for alignment tool

Don S... I understand your point. I do not trust my own eyeballing. You'd be surprised how many shops I've talked to who do not even own an alignment tool and only eyeball the alignment. It is kinda scary. It is nice to have perfect "zero" tolerance, but it doesn't stay that way since engines move on the mounts every time you rev them up. The closer, the better but in actuality the perfect alignment remains only when the engine is at rest. If you can slide the outdrive in place and the bolts line up without being forced into place then you've got reasonable alignment, not perfect but reasonable. Any good mechanic should be able to feel when parts match up. If they have to force parts together then they shouldn't be working on boats or vehicles. The alignment tool is mostly just an aid in alignment and very nice to have. It makes the job easier.

 

[mkast]

Re: Fair price for alignment tool

Don S... I understand your point. I do not trust my own eyeballing. You'd be surprised how many shops I've talked to who do not even own an alignment tool and only eyeball the alignment. It is kinda scary. It is nice to have perfect "zero" tolerance, but it doesn't stay that way since engines move on the mounts every time you rev them up. The closer, the better but in actuality the perfect alignment remains only when the engine is at rest. If you can slide the outdrive in place and the bolts line up without being forced into place then you've got reasonable alignment, not perfect but reasonable. Any good mechanic should be able to feel when parts match up. If they have to force parts together then they shouldn't be working on boats or vehicles. The alignment tool is mostly just an aid in alignment and very nice to have. It makes the job easier.

I find it amazing what the uninformed will believe!
I suppose a timing light is just an aid, a good mechanic should be able to time an engine by ear.

 

[bruceb58]

Re: Fair price for alignment tool

If you can slide the outdrive in place and the bolts line up without being forced into place then you've got reasonable alignment, not perfect but reasonable

By making this statement I can tell you have never done the alignment the correct way. You can be way off on the alignment and still have the drives shaft go into the coupler.

A question for you...do you use a torque wrench when you attatch the drive too or should a good mechanic be able to "feel" the correct torque?

I'll fix it... I think.

Your signature says it all!

 

[RandyJ]

Re: Fair price for alignment tool

Hmmm... just for the sake of ending this argument and peeing contest.. let me just say this... if you have to have a veg-o-matic to cut onions then go buy one. I can cut onions with a steak knife, butcher knife, and fileting knife. If you are in the business of manufacturing and selling alignment tools then surely you would want everyone to get one. One guy told that he made one and I responded with how I did it. Now you're bashing me with your perfection. I'm perfectly capable of making emergency repairs in the field with whatever is available and have been doing a pretty good job of it for the past 40 years. If I were running a high dollar repair shop and working on new boats I'd want everything perfect every time. I'm trying to help a do-it-yourselfer do his own repairs in a reasonable way with minimal funds to invest.... no veg-o-matic required.

 

[RandyJ]

Re: Fair price for alignment tool

BTW...as for timing lights.... you have to set the timing manually before starting an engine the first time. I wouldn't want to run one long without checking it with a timing light. On most new vehicles a timing light is used more for diagnostics than for tune-up since the timing is computer controlled. All you can do it get it close then the computer dials it in the rest of the way... supposed to make it idiot proof.

 

[mkast]

Re: Fair price for alignment tool

Hmmm... just for the sake of ending this argument and peeing contest.

No argument intended. There are acceptable procedures concerning repairs to "anything".
Aligning an engine to the transom assembly without the aligning bar, "ain't it".

 

[RandyJ]

Re: Fair price for alignment tool

Kewl... you use a bar and I'll use a pipe. You pay $117 for your's and I'll get mine out of the scrap iron pile... the results are the same..... BTW the best use of a timing light is to use it correctly... hook the positive wire to the positive terminal of the battery, hook the negative to any ground or the negative side of the battery. The other wire can hook to any plug wire... the turn out the lights and go to the Booby Trap and get one of the dancers to come down for the party... remember to get a keg of beer....crank the engine and enjoy the show.

 

[RandyJ]

Re: Fair price for alignment tool

Oh yeah.... be sure to tell the dancer to dance in front of the blinking light .