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hey folks,
with the admin's permision that was given earlier when i was inquiring about my cobra conversion, id like to share a little of what i learned doing mine.
1st during dissasembly be carefull to use a soft, brass or even hardwood dowel or punch to push the threaded pin holding the trip cylinders to the drive. I used a heel bar with a sharp end and when i realized that part has to be reused i had some thread repair to do!!
now the rest of the dissasembly and bell housing install is pretty good, except for the water hose.i cut min based on the instructions and pictures within them and put the reducer on to find that with the 300psi double woven 3/4 hose supplied with the kit, i never could get it not to kink untill it was too short to work. i replaced it with a lighter walled hose and found a happy medium by cutting the omc hose a little shorter and turning the clamps away from the bellows and it works well, but i have to watch trimming up with the drive steered to the left, the hose pulls on the gimbal housing and stretches. All of this is to say that this is the only part that really shows that it is a coversion and not a complete i/o system designed by a manufacturer to work with each other. but its a heck of an upgrade when it comes to finding a reliable aftermarket drive, like sei.
ok again the instructions get you through the bell housing install, 2 words of caution though....1 the pins are hard to get an allen socket in, you may find a metric easier than the half inch or you may pollish a socket down, but if you don't you have a heck of a time getting it out of the pivot pins the first time 2 dont use the locktite until you are satisfied with your water hose placement. i took my housing off 5 or 6 times before i was happy and then glued the pins back a second time when i was done.
ok the shift cable info is pretty straight forward, you can look at the shift shoe on the bell housing and the shift arm and see they need to be straight to match up,
now the missing instructions!!LOL!! the conversion neglects one fact that makes the install quarellsome. the fact is you may have never dissasembled or removed a mercruiser style drive. which means there are a handfull of orings in the kit that get you wondering.
this is the easy part. take the one that fits the slight indention in the bell housing around the water port. thats where it goes. the big 3 inch or so by about a quarter inch should be glued in the bellows where the silver ring is so it stays ( i didn't know, but guessed and stuck it on the nose of the drive and it works, but might fall off , so glue it in the bell housing to be sure) now the remainders are for the drive shaft and they may look too small, but will go on, just put the big on on first and a small pic or pocket screwdriver carefully used will get the other two over the 1st.
now back to the instructions to finish up, and if you are interested in on of the driveshowers sei offers, it will fit with the conversion.
one final note, if you look at the webbing on the front of the drive to either side of the shift rod you can see the notch cut out and the fresh powder coating or paint that is put on (if you get the drive modified from sei) you will notice that it is evenly cut on both sides, if your boat, like mine needs more downtrim on the drive,first you can undo the trim cylinders and tie them up or down out of the way, with the drive tilted up you can access the webbing and cut it. you can cut back almost to the shift foot, but measure from the original end of the webbing and draw a paint line and use a hand saw, at least on the vertical cuts i used a sawzall and mine are not even, though i doubt it will hurt anything.
i believe i have mentioned all the technical issues i have had. maybe an addendum to the instructions specifying ways to work around the water hose issue and an addition to the kit instructions showing the location of all of the orings that come with the drive would help future customers through it a little easier.
alltogether a great idea and a great product. as with any conversion there is some minor compromise in installing it vesus oem assemblies, but this one is well worth the minimum setbacks and quirks of installing it.
thanks guys and please correct any thing i may have mistaken.
with the admin's permision that was given earlier when i was inquiring about my cobra conversion, id like to share a little of what i learned doing mine.
1st during dissasembly be carefull to use a soft, brass or even hardwood dowel or punch to push the threaded pin holding the trip cylinders to the drive. I used a heel bar with a sharp end and when i realized that part has to be reused i had some thread repair to do!!
now the rest of the dissasembly and bell housing install is pretty good, except for the water hose.i cut min based on the instructions and pictures within them and put the reducer on to find that with the 300psi double woven 3/4 hose supplied with the kit, i never could get it not to kink untill it was too short to work. i replaced it with a lighter walled hose and found a happy medium by cutting the omc hose a little shorter and turning the clamps away from the bellows and it works well, but i have to watch trimming up with the drive steered to the left, the hose pulls on the gimbal housing and stretches. All of this is to say that this is the only part that really shows that it is a coversion and not a complete i/o system designed by a manufacturer to work with each other. but its a heck of an upgrade when it comes to finding a reliable aftermarket drive, like sei.
ok again the instructions get you through the bell housing install, 2 words of caution though....1 the pins are hard to get an allen socket in, you may find a metric easier than the half inch or you may pollish a socket down, but if you don't you have a heck of a time getting it out of the pivot pins the first time 2 dont use the locktite until you are satisfied with your water hose placement. i took my housing off 5 or 6 times before i was happy and then glued the pins back a second time when i was done.
ok the shift cable info is pretty straight forward, you can look at the shift shoe on the bell housing and the shift arm and see they need to be straight to match up,
now the missing instructions!!LOL!! the conversion neglects one fact that makes the install quarellsome. the fact is you may have never dissasembled or removed a mercruiser style drive. which means there are a handfull of orings in the kit that get you wondering.
this is the easy part. take the one that fits the slight indention in the bell housing around the water port. thats where it goes. the big 3 inch or so by about a quarter inch should be glued in the bellows where the silver ring is so it stays ( i didn't know, but guessed and stuck it on the nose of the drive and it works, but might fall off , so glue it in the bell housing to be sure) now the remainders are for the drive shaft and they may look too small, but will go on, just put the big on on first and a small pic or pocket screwdriver carefully used will get the other two over the 1st.
now back to the instructions to finish up, and if you are interested in on of the driveshowers sei offers, it will fit with the conversion.
one final note, if you look at the webbing on the front of the drive to either side of the shift rod you can see the notch cut out and the fresh powder coating or paint that is put on (if you get the drive modified from sei) you will notice that it is evenly cut on both sides, if your boat, like mine needs more downtrim on the drive,first you can undo the trim cylinders and tie them up or down out of the way, with the drive tilted up you can access the webbing and cut it. you can cut back almost to the shift foot, but measure from the original end of the webbing and draw a paint line and use a hand saw, at least on the vertical cuts i used a sawzall and mine are not even, though i doubt it will hurt anything.
i believe i have mentioned all the technical issues i have had. maybe an addendum to the instructions specifying ways to work around the water hose issue and an addition to the kit instructions showing the location of all of the orings that come with the drive would help future customers through it a little easier.
alltogether a great idea and a great product. as with any conversion there is some minor compromise in installing it vesus oem assemblies, but this one is well worth the minimum setbacks and quirks of installing it.
thanks guys and please correct any thing i may have mistaken.