Refitting bell housing.

[IanFS]

Hi guys,

Alpha 1 Gen 1

Which is the best order in which to fit the bellows and water tube when replacing the bell housing? Or is there only one way?

I'm guessing the drive bellows and the exhaust bellows are fitted to the bell housing first, the water tube to the gimbal housing first and the shift shaft bellows to the cable first?

Is that right?

Also, does the shift cable bellows have to be fixed all the way back on the cable to the bell housing or can it be fitted further along, maybe an inch or two away?

 

[mrsaundep]

Re: Refitting bell housing.

Hi there,

Best advise is follow the manual, but I found (manual 6) the shift cable, water tube and exh/UJ bellows are mentioned in seperate sections and I found it confusing which to do first. I changed mine a couple of months back, and as I recall I done it in this order;
- Install new shift cable and bellow as per manual,
- Water hose onto bell housing,
- U joint bellows onto the bell housing,
- Exhaust bellows onto the gimbal housing (NOT bell housing first),
- Then offer up bell housing and attach water hose to gimbal housing, (I have read on here you need to cut 1/8" off a new hose or it will kink, bit I fitted a new one without cutting it and my cooling has been fine and dandy),
- Install U joint bellows to gimbal housing,
- Fit bell housing and install hinge pins,
- Fit exhaust bellows onto bell housing using expander tool to expand the bellows and pull it towards you onto the spigot on the bell housing.

It was the first time I have done one and all went o.k, well, my boat still floats anyway!

I did struggle with it TBH, I found it very fiddly, and as soon as you put the bellow adhesive on it starts to go tacky and I was rushing to get them on before it set (although I have read on here that opinon is divided and some say let it set before fitting?). It is also important to position the jubilee clips correctly or you will never get access to toghten them. I would never have been able to do the jubilee clips up without a 1/4" drive flexible extension for the socket and also the exhaust bellows expander is a must in my opinion. Good luck. Paul

(Where in Sussex are you? I am in Norwich).

 

[mrsaundep]

Re: Refitting bell housing.

Also, does the shift cable bellows have to be fixed all the way back on the cable to the bell housing or can it be fitted further along, maybe an inch or two away?

Not sure what you mean by this? Do you mean the aft crimped end? I positioned my cable, connected the bellows to the gimbal housing with juby clip, and then pulled the bellows about half its expanded length before crimping the small aft end. It seems fine, shifts fine and no leaks.

 

[IanFS]

Re: Refitting bell housing.

Hi mrsaundep

Thanks for the advice, I'm not far from Gatwick.

To be completely honest I tried installing it yesterday but had to abort it as I ran out of time. I tried attaching the drive and exhaust bellows to the gimbal housing first plus the water tube too. Only to find that I couldn't do up the drive bellows clamp and the shift bellows wouldn't reach the gimbal housing even at full stretch. I had attached it so that the bell housing end was very close to the brass clamp on the cable.

I think I should do as you say and attach the shift bellows to the gimbal housing then to the cable.