Had A New 60 HP Mercury Bigfoot Fitted - Had To Raise Motor & Elongate Hole In Transom For New Position Of Steering Arm

[jewgaffer]

Hi Raiders,

I had a new 60HP Mercury Bigfoot Motor fitted to my Side Console boat last year & had to have the motor raised a couple of holes to a higher position so that the cavitation plate would be just covered by water when the boat was at rest. I need to make sure that the boat is still completely waterproof - haven't had a chance to test it as yet - and this particular boat has always been "a dry boat" and didn't lose any water at all when driving uphill with the bungs out after retrieving the boat at the boat ramp after a long day on the water. I need some advice or ideas on fitting some sort of rubber product or something made for the purpose so as to completely fill the gap in the transom where my steering arm goes thru as the existing holes for the steering arm had to be elongated to over double the size rather than going to the expense of modyfying the transom well and then repainting the area etc.

As always your advice will be very much appreciated as I am very fussy about not having any water sitting in the hull when the bungs are in - I always put my boat away with the bungs out so as to drain out any rainwater immediately and also to aerate the inner hull and to prevent any associated rot inside the hull.

Maybe a rubber surround is made for the specific purpose? perhaps Huey or Geoff aka Geoff on Fishraider would be familiar with a suitable product?

Photo taken before my new 60hp Merc Bigfoot motor was fitted and shows the same copper steering arm which moves from side to side inside the transom well when the steering wheel is turned.

This photo was taken after the new 60hp mercury motor was installed - the left side entry of the steering arm is the main offender because of it's size and the possibilty of sea water splashing into the area or allowing back wash to come into the hull- doesn't show up very well in the photo but the hole to accommodate the steering arm inside the transom well had to be elongated to over two times it's original size.

I need to have this area addressed so that I can get back out on the water without any further ado once my hip joints have been replaced, operations which I expect will commence in a few weeks.

Cheers

jewgaffer

Edited June 1, 2011 by jewgaffer

[austral]

we had the same sort of problem on dads boat (haines 17L) but we went the quick fix and just used some silicone.

ill be interested in what you find for your boat as the silicone doesnt really last.. good luck..stevo..

[Geoff]

Byron To assist members a bit further I will take a photo , next week when I get home , of the actual area your describing .

Would you like me to mail to you for inclusion or add it as a post

Geoff

[Blood Knot]

Not exactly sure what your after from the pic Byron but perhaps what you need is a rubber bellows (similar to what you might see on the bottom of a gear stick) or a blank rubber grommet that you could punch a hole in close to the size of your steering arm. Might be worth having a nose around Clark rubber to see what you can find.

Cheers Blood Knot

[Dorado 2]

Maybe fibreglassing can be an option that I would use, and then just cut the hole out again using a holesaw so that it all comes out neat.

Cheers

[dunc333]

hi jewgaffer nice choice of motor ,i have one to and yes i had to lift mine about 50ml not sure what your describing but i think your talking about where steering cable goes through hull if so you can buy rubber grommets from the bigger boating stores called slop stoppers and they will do the trick.and what i also are thinking your sterring arm on the port side is hitting your transom wall which i see now from pic ,maybe you could sika a slop stopper inside your hull to water proof hole,or if you have a spare $1000 which i dont, you could put in hydrolic steering and there would be no need for cutting hole,cheeers dunc333

Edited June 2, 2011 by dunc333

[jewgaffer]

Byron To assist members a bit further I will take a photo , next week when I get home , of the actual area your describing .

Would you like me to mail to you for inclusion or add it as a post

Geoff

Thanks all for the advice so far Geoff thanks for offering to take a photo and posting it up of the "elongated hole" where the steering arm enters the left hand side of the transom well. I like Dunc333 suggestion of using a rubber grommet known as a slop stopper. I wonder what sizes they are available and whether a slop stopper can be slightly modified for a nice neat fit where the steering arm travels from side to side into the port side of the transom well. Thanks for that Duncan it sounds like a handy rubber product just made for the job, something that I was hoping would come out of my post.

Cheers

jewgaffer

[Geoff]

Byron To assist members a bit further I will take a photo , next week when I get home , of the actual area your describing .

Would you like me to mail to you for inclusion or add it as a post

Geoff

There are 2 photos below , the first showing the steering arm in the cut out.

The contrast of the white "lower" or previous cut out section is difficult to see , in fact it looks as though it has been filled in when it has not.

The second photo with a piece of blue paper added shows the lower cut out more clearly.

The hole size is approx 60 mm wide X 100mm high.

Perhaps someone knows of a waterproof fitting that can be fitted , say , with a few screws or is it to be a welded cover plate.

Geoff