BoatBanter.com - trim tab removal

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trim tab removal

On the alphas you can't grind on the bolt because it's down in a hole.
I'm guessing it's the same on the pre-alphas. That's why it is an
allen head. I'm pretty sure the cases won't come apart without
removing it as well. At least it's on the list of items I remove when
I split mine. That was why I suggested hammering an oversized torque
bit into it.

Drilling is an option but you need to make sure you get centered well.
Stainless is not partcularly hard, it's just stainless. The
surrounding material is a lot softer. If you choose to drill, center
punch first. Drill a small starter hole as it is easier to keep
centered. Then use a big enough bit for the second hole so that the
remains of the head simply falls off when you get past it.

The material of the trim tab is quite soft and another approach would
be to try to chisel it off from the bottom. It would be a chore
though.

Calif Bill wrote:
wrote in message
...
On Wed, 18 Oct 2006 21:58:25 GMT, "Jim" wrote:

wrote in message
. ..
On Wed, 18 Oct 2006 20:42:19 GMT, "James" wrote:

Mine is an allen head bolt. Is it stripped out where an allen wrench
would
go in? Those are pretty hard to strip.

Maybe you can hammer a big torque bit into it.

"basskisser" wrote in message
egroups.com...

let wrote:
Trying to replace trim tab on mercruiser outdrive.
5/16 bolt stripped by last owner. Any ideas how
to get it out.

Thanks

If you mean that the head is rounded off, as opposed to the threads
being stripped, Craftsman makes a set of sockets that work on rounded
heads.

Yes it's the 5/16 allen head bolt that stripped.
Kinda hard to get at.Maybe a long drill to drill it out?
How does the lower housing drop without removing
this bolt? Sorry 1st time boat owner know nothing
about outdrives,but eager to learn.
Thanks again

No No on drilling it out, It's stainless. Sometimes the allen socket on
these screws fill up with crud. You can scrape the crud out with a special
crud removing tool. If you don't have the special tool, a #1 long blade
screw driver will do.
Jim

Allen wrench fits in (no crud) Inside edges of allen
bolt rounded so wrench just turns inside head.
Doesn't a "cobalt drill bit" drill stainless?
Thanks for your help

Drilling is a last resort. I would try the next size allen wrench, and try
a metric wrench to see if that works with a little forcing. Grind down a
bigger wrench to fit the hole, and before drilling, take a dremel tool and
cut flats on the bolt head and use a wrench. Soak it with with some PB
Blaster before trying remove.

trim tab removal

wrote
How does the lower housing drop without removing
this bolt?

It stays with the LU, like so: http://www.mercstuff.com/images/wp08.jpg

trim tab removal

"Ernest Scribbler" wrote
It stays with the LU, like so: http://www.mercstuff.com/images/wp08.jpg

Come to think of it, though, there's a bolt in the trim tab cavity that goes
up into the upper, so you still need to get the tab out of your way. If it
comes down to drilling, it might be easier to drill/grind/burrow through the
tab than the bolt.

trim tab removal

I thought I remembered there was a reason I removed the trim tab when I
take off my lower unit. I only do the water pump every couple years so
the details get fuzzy. It comes back to me when I get out the tools
:-)

Drilling a big hole through the the front half of the tab might allow
you to get at that bolt and then drop the lower unit. Or might be able
to chisel the front half of the tab off.

Ernest Scribbler wrote:
"Ernest Scribbler" wrote
It stays with the LU, like so: http://www.mercstuff.com/images/wp08.jpg

Come to think of it, though, there's a bolt in the trim tab cavity that goes
up into the upper, so you still need to get the tab out of your way. If it
comes down to drilling, it might be easier to drill/grind/burrow through the
tab than the bolt.

trim tab removal

On Thu, 19 Oct 2006 10:02:19 -0400, "Ernest Scribbler"
wrote:

"Ernest Scribbler" wrote
It stays with the LU, like so: http://www.mercstuff.com/images/wp08.jpg

Come to think of it, though, there's a bolt in the trim tab cavity that goes
up into the upper, so you still need to get the tab out of your way. If it
comes down to drilling, it might be easier to drill/grind/burrow through the
tab than the bolt.

Come to think of it.How about melting the trim tab
with high heat source? Soft metal right?

trim tab removal

wrote
Come to think of it.How about melting the trim tab
with high heat source? Soft metal right?

Sounds risky. Wonder if the tab would melt before the aluminum?

trim tab removal

"jamesgangnc" wrote
Drilling a big hole through the the front half of the tab might allow
you to get at that bolt and then drop the lower unit. Or might be able
to chisel the front half of the tab off.

The trouble is that the area you need to go through to get to the through
bolt is the thickest part of the tab. Still could be done, though. What I
was thinking was saw off the fin then drill straight up toward the bolt that
holds the tab on. Once you find it, make a big hole up to it then drill all
around the bolt with a smallish bit until you remove enough material to get
the remains of the tab out.

trim tab removal