i screwed up my lower unit.. with a torch.

[tjl76evinrude]

ive been working on a complete tear-down, tuneup and repaint of my 1976 evinrude 25, a motor thats pretty much always been a saltwater motor. this includes having been docked most of the time and in the water near other boats, all charging at some point frequently so electrolysis did its thing.. on the teardown of the spare lower unit that i wanted to use, i used a torch to heat up the stubborn screws which went well except for 1 screw(flathead screws suck). it took alot more torching than the others and put up a big fight. got it apart and along with everything else i cleaned, stripped and repainted the parts. now today i go for the gratifying re-assemble. looked great until i checked to see if the shaft turned. nope. to shorten the story up, after trying a few things it became painfully obvious that thanks to the extended torch use, i warped the thing. mainly the skeg took the damage so i was able to try the original non torched skeg that is banged up and it works fine.

do what you have to do, just careful with the torch use..