Bob, you da man!! I agree, after purchasing all of the necessary
tools and replacement parts and not to mention the BEER needed to do
the job AND my time involved.....whew!! A bolt on unit is sounding
better and better.

Thanks again,

Dave


On Wed, 05 May 2004 10:07:42 -0400, (Bob
D.) wrote:

In article , D.B.
wrote:

Thanks Bob



Your welcome, Dave. I don't know if you need to check gear tolerances
and reshimm the gears when redoing seals. Assuming you do, TanPS
mentioned most of the tools needed for dealing with the upper and lower
housings.

Here are the cost from www.mercstuff.com:

Upper housing retainer wrench $48.00
Upper housing gear shimming tools $102.00 (both)
Pinion Shimming tool $100.00
Bearing carrier retainer wrench $55.00
Shim Kits $32.00 (all)

Total thus far almost $350.00

Not including the $70.00 shaft alignment tool (which SHOULD be done
whenever the upper is removed), if you need all the tools listed on the
mercstuff tools page, your looking at about $550.00 without tax or
shipping.

This does not even take into account the health of the driveshaft assembly
(yokes, ujoints), or gearsets once you tear into the drive.

Over the winter an aftermarket manufacturer of Alpha One drives came
online, Sterndrive Engineering Incorporated. Their website:
www.sterndrive.cc

They have complete new drives from $1195.00 with uppers at $595.00 and
lowers at $695.00. Units come with a 1 year warranty (warranty vague), and
is completely interchangeable with all OEM parts, although they state
gearsets should be either one type or the other.

So if your problem is upper seals, for the price of efforts and tools, you
can pretty much order a drive that is ready to bolt on.

I'm going to post a message to both the group and company to try to get
more information, as I am in the market for at least one new lower.

Hope this helps.

Bob Dimond